Part A: scanning fast in 15 minutes

What Part A really tests

Reading Part A gives you 15 minutes for 20 items. There are four short texts on one clinical topic, for example a dose table, a flowchart, a patient leaflet and a page from a guideline. The items are matching (which text contains this?), short answers and sentence completion. When the 15 minutes end, Part A is closed and you cannot go back to it. There is no extra checking time.

That is about 45 seconds per item. You cannot read every word and still finish. Part A is closer to a work task than a comprehension test: it is like checking a ward protocol to find one number before you act. Your job is to find, not to understand everything.

The items do not follow the order of the texts. Item 9 might come from Text D and item 10 from Text A. This is why a quick map of the texts at the start saves time later.

Skimming and scanning are different jobs

Many candidates who run out of time are doing a third thing: reading. They start at the top of a text and read line by line until they reach the answer. This feels safe, but it is slow, and they do it again for every item.

A minute-by-minute plan

1. Minute 0 to 1: map the texts. Look at each text for about 15 seconds. Note what it is and its main headings. In the paper test, write a two- or three-word label next to each one (A = dose table, B = flowchart, C = leaflet, D = guideline). On computer, say the labels to yourself.
2. Minutes 1 to 4: matching items. These ask which text contains a piece of information. Most can be answered from your map without close reading. Spend no more than 15 to 20 seconds on each.
3. Minutes 4 to 13: short-answer and sentence-completion items. For each item, decide what kind of answer you need (a number, a drug name, a time, a body site), choose the most likely text from your map, then scan for it.
4. Minutes 13 to 15: fill every gap and check spelling. Go back to the items you skipped and write your best answer for each one. Then check that every copied word matches the text letter by letter.

Keep a clock in view. A useful check is the halfway point: at minute 7 or 8 you want to be past item 10.

What to scan for

Before you scan, choose an anchor: the thing that will stand out on the page. Good anchors are easy for the eye to catch even at speed.

• Numbers and units: mg, mL, mmol/L, hours, %, kg. If the item asks how often or how much, scan for digits and units, not words.
• Names: drugs, devices, tests and roles (for example pharmacist or wound care nurse). Names often start with a capital letter or appear in bold.
• Headings and subheadings: they tell you which part of a longer text to look in.
• Table rows and columns: find the row first (the condition, drug or score), then move across to the column the item asks about.
• Condition words: if, unless, except, before, after. Items about what to do in a special case often sit next to these words.

Copy the answer exactly

In Reading Part A, answers must match the text and be spelt correctly. A misspelt answer gets no mark. You may use an abbreviation only if it appears in the text.

Because the answer is already on the page, copying is the safest method. Do not write the answer from memory or from your clinical knowledge, even when you know the topic well.

• Keep plurals as they are in the text: tablets is not tablet.
• Copy the unit when the text gives one with the number.
• Do not add words from other parts of the text. The shortest phrase that answers the item is the safest.
• For sentence completion, read the whole sentence with your answer in it. It should read correctly and match the text.

Skip, come back, and never leave a blank

Some items are harder to find than others. If you cannot find your anchor within about 40 seconds, mark the item and move on. A hard item is worth the same one mark as an easy one, and two easy items are worth more than one hard one.

When you come back, you often find the answer quickly, because by then you have seen more of each text.

A blank can never score. Before the 15 minutes end, write something for every item. For a matching item, write the letter that seems most likely from your map. For a short answer, write the most likely word or number from the text you think is right.