AMC CAT MCQ exam format: questions, timing and patient groups

How many questions are in the AMC CAT MCQ?

The AMC CAT MCQ has 150 multiple-choice questions, each with five options and one correct response, in a single session of 3 hours 30 minutes. It is the Australian Medical Council's multiple-choice examination for international medical graduates, computer-administered at Pearson VUE test centres in Australia and overseas as a single computer adaptive exam. The eligibility guide sets out who can sit the exam and what has to be in place before you apply.

The AMC sets dates and fees and can change them. The AMC CAT MCQ dates page lists every window in the current list with the date scheduling closes.

One exam, six patient groups

The CAT MCQ examines the whole blueprint in one sitting. The AMC divides its 150 questions by patient group, and questions are randomised across the blueprint rather than grouped by subject.

The AMC also classifies each question by clinician task: data gathering, data interpretation and synthesis, and management. It does not publish a share for each task. The AMC's free book Australian Medicine in Context lists the patient presentations and professional practice topics that the AMC describes as a guide to what is examinable.

That structure has a practical effect on preparation. A candidate who has revised one specialty at a time, and who has never practised switching between them, loses time on every transition. Mixed practice across the patient groups is closer to the examination than block revision by specialty, and the study plan guide sets out how to build it in.

What computer adaptive means

In an adaptive test, the difficulty of the next question depends on the answers already given. The AMC says each candidate sits a customised exam. The first question is chosen at random, a correct answer is followed by a more difficult question and an incorrect answer by a less difficult one, and the ability estimate is recalculated after every response. Scoring is based on ability rather than the number correct, and results are reported on a scale of 0 to 500 with 250 as the pass. The AMC applied a small increase to the pass standard for exams from 2026, and the pass is still reported as 250.

Three consequences follow for the candidate in the chair.

• Each question must be answered before the next is shown. There is no going back, no changing an answer and no review at the end, so each question is decided when it appears.
• A run of hard questions does not mean you are failing. The test raises difficulty when answers are correct.
• There is no negative marking, and the AMC expects all 150 questions to be completed. Not completing them can produce a fail with insufficient data to obtain a result.

The pass mark page explains adaptive scoring and the 250 pass in more detail.

The single best answer question

Each question has three parts. A clinical scenario sets out a patient as they would present, with an age, a setting, a history, examination findings and often results. A lead-in asks one specific question, such as the most likely diagnosis, the most appropriate next investigation or the most appropriate management. Five options follow, of which one is the correct response.

Other options may be partly correct. Only one is the most appropriate next step for this patient, at this point, in the Australian setting described. Options that are correct in principle but premature, or correct elsewhere but not standard in Australia, are the usual distractors. The practice questions guide works through an example in detail.

Pacing

Three hours 30 minutes for 150 questions gives about 84 seconds a question. That is enough to read a short scenario, identify what is being asked and choose between five options, provided the candidate does not stall.

Pacing is where unrehearsed candidates lose marks. A question that has taken three minutes has already cost the time of another question, and the extra time rarely converts into a correct answer. Working to a fixed pace, deciding on the balance of probabilities and moving on is a skill that has to be practised under a clock rather than assumed.

Australian practice is the reference point

The AMC sets the CAT MCQ at the level expected of newly qualified graduates of Australian medical schools who are about to begin intern training. Candidates trained in other health systems can choose an option that is correct where they trained but not standard here, particularly in antibiotic choice, thresholds for imaging, immunisation schedules, screening programmes and referral pathways.

Reading Australian guidance alongside question practice closes that gap faster than reading a general textbook. The knowledge entries in this platform name the Australian guideline behind each principle for that reason.

Preparing for the format

Beyond clinical knowledge, the format rewards two things. The first is fluency with scenario questions, which comes from practising five-option questions with full explanations for every option rather than only the correct one. The second is stamina, because the last thirty questions of a three and a half hour exam are where tired candidates rush.

The free diagnostic uses the same five-option format, samples every patient group and gives a first read on every subject before any longer practice. The free mock test adds the exam's pace and its no-going-back rule.