AMC CAT MCQ Blueprint: 150 Questions, Six Patient Groups and Adaptive Scoring

Few licensing bodies publish as clear a blueprint as the AMC does for its CAT MCQ examination. The specification document sets out the number of questions, the time, the patient groups and their weightings, and the way an adaptive test produces a result. Candidates who read it plan better than those who rely on hearsay. This article summarises the specification and turns it into a preparation structure.

The examination

• 150 multiple-choice questions, 3.5 hours, computer-administered.
• Computer-adaptive: the test selects each question according to performance so far. Each question must be answered before the next appears, and candidates cannot return to earlier questions.
• Items are randomised across the blueprint, so the patient groups are interleaved rather than sectioned.
• All 150 questions must be answered. The AMC warns that failing to complete the examination may leave insufficient information to determine ability reliably.

The blueprint

• Adult health, medicine: 30 per cent (about 45 questions)
• Adult health, surgery: 20 per cent (about 30)
• Women's health (obstetrics and gynaecology): 12.5 per cent (about 19)
• Child health: 12.5 per cent (about 19)
• Mental health: 12.5 per cent (about 19)
• Population health and ethics: 12.5 per cent (about 19)

The specification describes each group: adult health spans the breadth of adult and aged care; women's health covers gynaecology and obstetrics with all the principles of adult health; child health runs from fetal development through adolescence, including developmental disability; mental health covers assessment, diagnosis and management including mental-state features and investigations; population health covers screening, surveillance, vaccination, epidemiology, legislation and disease-management programmes, with ethics.

Scoring

Results are reported on a scale of 0 to 500, with a passing score represented at 250. From 2026 the AMC has integrated a slightly higher cut score into the same scale after routine benchmarking against Australian medical schools; the reported pass mark still reads 250. Because the test is adaptive, a pass reflects answering questions above the cut score correctly rather than reaching a fixed percentage.

Turning the blueprint into a plan

1. Allocate study time by weight, tilted to weakness. Half the paper is adult medicine and surgery; half the preparation should be too, unless a baseline shows a weaker group.
2. Do not neglect the four 12.5 per cent groups. Together they are half the paper. Pakistani candidates often under-prepare mental health and population health and ethics, which use Australian frameworks and legislation.
3. Practise the no-return rule. Decide, answer, move on. Mock sessions should disable going back.
4. Use the AMC's own materials. The specification contains sample questions, and the AMC's free practice app provides 210 blueprint-aligned questions with feedback, refreshed in April 2026.
5. Rehearse 3.5 hours. Stamina and decision speed are part of the standard.

What comes after

A pass in the MCQ opens the next step of the Standard Pathway: the AMC Clinical Examination or a workplace-based assessment programme, then the AMC Certificate and registration with the Medical Board of Australia through AHPRA.

What this means for you

The blueprint is the syllabus; the adaptive rules are the exam technique. FAME's AMC-1 question bank is tagged by the six patient groups with the AMC's weightings, and its timed sessions follow the 150-question, forward-only format.

Two questions candidates ask

Can I skip a question and come back? No. In the adaptive format each question must be answered before the next is presented and there is no return to earlier items. Practise committing to an answer, because the real test gives no second look.

Does the AMC publish sample questions? Yes. The specifications document ends with sample items across the patient groups, and the AMC's free preparation app provides 210 practice questions with feedback, with a refreshed set from April 2026. Both are the examiner's own view of the standard.

Sources and references

• AMC: CAT MCQ examination specifications (blueprint, format, scoring, sample questions)
• AMC: FAQs on the 2026 pass standard update
• AMC: Standard Pathway