What BMJ OnExamination does

BMJ OnExamination is a UK-based online medical exam revision platform operated by BMJ Publishing Group Limited, serving individual medical professionals, students, and institutional healthcare training organizations. The platform offers 40+ exam-specific question bank products covering postgraduate specialty examinations (MRCP, MRCS, MRCOG, MRCPCH, MRCPsych, MRCGP, FRCA, FRCS, FRCPath, MRCEM, FFICM), Specialty Certificate Examinations across multiple disciplines, undergraduate finals and Years 1–3 products, the new Medical Licensing Assessment (MLA), and professional licensing exams (PLAB, PSA, NMC Part 1 CBT). Underlying technology is a cloud-based question delivery platform with native iOS and Android applications supporting offline revision and score syncing, plus a recommendation/ranking layer (Core Questions / High Impact Questions) that prioritizes content based on clinical-tutor scoring and peer performance data from a 210,000+ user base.

The product surface includes mock tests simulating exam-day conditions, personalized daily revision notifications, peer-comparison performance analytics indicating pass likelihood, group learning with leaderboards, and a freemium tier (10 free questions daily) that funnels users into paid subscriptions. Content is produced by clinicians, exam experts, and past examiners aligned to Royal College curricula, with BMJ's terms disclosing LLM-assisted draft generation subject to mandatory human expert review. The company has disclosed adoption of generative AI in content production workflows, alongside conventional ML-driven question ranking and predictive analytics features.

BMJ OnExamination operates a dual go-to-market: direct-to-consumer e-commerce subscriptions through its website and mobile apps (pricing £4.99–£209.99 depending on exam and duration, typically 1–12 months), plus institutional sales of voucher-code packages to NHS trusts and medical schools. The platform reports 99.9% website uptime and processes over 8,000 questions answered per hour globally. The product is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BMJ Publishing Group Limited (incorporated in England and Wales, company no. 03102371), headquartered at BMA House, Tavistock Square, London, with operating presence in Cardiff.

Name

BMJ OnExamination

Legal name

BMJ Publishing Group Limited

Website

https://onexamination.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

BMJ OnExamination is a UK-based online exam preparation platform offering 40+ medical question bank products for postgraduate doctors, medical students, and international healthcare professionals seeking UK registration, distributed via subscriptions and NHS institutional packages.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Medical Exam Preparation Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132)

akta.pro primary industry

Test Item Banks, Question Authoring & Assessment Design Tools (EDAFADAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Online Exam Delivery & Test Administration Platforms (EDAFADAA)

Keywords

• Medical exam revision
• Online question banks
• Medical education platform
• Exam preparation software
• Healthcare e-learning

Headquarters

HQ city

Cardiff

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Individual Subscriptions: Time-limited subscriptions (1-12 months) to exam-specific question banks. Customers choose exam product and subscription duration. Pricing varies by exam type and ranges from £4.99 to over £200 for 12-month access.
2. Institutional Packages: Tailored institutional packages for medical schools, NHS trusts, and other healthcare training organizations. Includes voucher code access, usage reporting, and group management tools.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

BMJ OnExamination sells subscription-based access to 39 exam-specific question bank products for medical students, postgraduate doctors, international medical graduates, and nurses preparing for UK and international medical examinations. The platform delivers curriculum-aligned practice questions, mock tests, peer benchmarking, and personalized revision tools via web and mobile apps, with parallel institutional packages for NHS trusts and medical schools.

Product overview

BMJ OnExamination is a platform of 40+ exam-specific question bank products for medical professionals and students. The portfolio includes postgraduate exam products (MRCP Part 1 & 2, MRCOG Part 1 & 2, MRCPCH AKP/FOP/FOP-TAS/TAS, MRCPsych Paper A & B, FRCA Primary & Final, FRCS General Surgery & Trauma & Orthopaedics, MRCS Part A, MRCEM, MRCGP AKT, FRCPath Haematology, MSRA), specialty certificate examinations (SCE in Acute Medicine, Endocrinology & Diabetes, Geriatric Medicine, Respiratory Medicine, Neurology), undergraduate products (Medical Student Finals, Medical Student Years 1-3), professional exams (PLAB, PSA, NMC Part 1 CBT, MLA), and sub-specialty exams (DCH, DRCOG, EDIC, EECC, ESEGH, ESENEPH, FFICM, First FRCR Physics). The platform includes shared features: a mobile app for offline revision, daily question notifications, mock tests, peer comparison analytics, core questions prioritization, group learning, and institutional access packages.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• MRCGP (AKT) Question bank for the MRCGP Applied Knowledge Test, with 2,455 questions written by GP trainers, sold via time-limited subscription to GP trainees preparing for the MRCGP AKT exam.
• MRCP Part 1 Question bank with 3,190 questions fully aligned with the Royal College of Physicians curriculum, sold via tiered monthly subscriptions to doctors preparing for MRCP Part 1.
• MRCP Part 2 Written Question bank with 1,820+ questions aligned with the Royal College of Physicians curriculum, sold via subscription to doctors preparing for MRCP Part 2 Written.
• Medical Student Finals Comprehensive question bank covering all topics for final year medical students, with thousands of questions, personalized features, and links to BMJ Best Practice.
• Medical Student Years 1 to 3 Question bank of 1,500+ SBA, MCQ and EMQ questions for medical students in years 1-3 integrating basic science and clinical medicine.
• MLA (Medical Licensing Assessment) Question bank of 2,000+ questions covering all six domains tested in the Medical Licensing Assessment.
• EECC Cardiology exam revision with 300 questions covering the full EECC curriculum, including 50 image questions.
• FRCPath Haematology Part 1 Question bank of 250 SBAs for FRCPath Haematology Part 1 exam preparation.
• DCH Diploma in Child Health exam revision with 900+ questions written by experienced paediatricians.
• DRCOG Diploma of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists exam revision with 350+ questions developed by experienced Obs and Gynae clinicians.
• EDIC Part 1 European Diploma in Intensive Care Medicine Part 1 question bank with 384 MCQs and 765 SBAs.
• ESEGH (Gastroenterology & Hepatology) Expertise in Gastroenterology & Hepatology exam revision with 360+ questions written by consultants.
• ESENEPH European Specialty Exam in Nephrology revision with 240+ questions covering key exam topics.
• FFICM Intensive Care Medicine Fellowship of the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine exam revision with 1,000+ questions in exam format.
• First FRCR Physics FRCR First Exam Physics module revision with 280+ exam format MCQs.
• Final FRCA Final FRCA exam revision with 800 SBA questions mapped to curriculum with detailed answer explanations.
• Primary FRCA Primary FRCA exam revision with 1,080 SBA questions covering pharmacology, physiology, physics, clinical measurement, and data interpretation.
• FRCS General Surgery FRCS General Surgery exam revision with 1,015+ questions based on previous exams and hot topics.
• FRCS Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgery FRCS Trauma & Orthopaedic exam revision with 430+ EMI and SBA practice questions mapped to the Royal College of Surgeons' ISB Section 1 curriculum.
• MRCEM Primary SBA Emergency Medicine exam revision with 590+ Single Best Answer Questions mapped to the curriculum.
• MRCPCH: AKP MRCPCH Applied Knowledge Paper exam revision with 330+ questions written by experienced paediatricians.
• MRCPCH: FOP MRCPCH Foundation of Practice exam revision with 930+ questions matched to the syllabus.
• MRCPCH: FOP/TAS Combined MRCPCH FOP and TAS exam revision with 1,722 questions covering both papers.
• MRCPCH: TAS MRCPCH Theory and Science exam revision with questions mapped to the RCPCH curriculum.
• MRCOG Part 1 Question bank with 1,490 questions covering all aspects of the MRCOG Part 1 curriculum.
• MRCOG Part 2 Question bank with 691+ questions for MRCOG Part 2 exam preparation.
• MRCPsych Paper A Question bank of 970+ questions for MRCPsych Paper A exam mapped to the current curriculum.
• MRCPsych Paper B Question bank of 270+ questions with 220+ best answer MCQs and 50+ extended matching questions for MRCPsych Paper B.
• MRCS Part A 1 & 2 Question bank of 2,020+ questions for MRCS Part A exams with detailed explanations and key learning points.
• MSRA Medical Specialty Recruitment Assessment exam revision with 840+ interactive practice questions.
• NMC Part 1 - CBT Nursing and Midwifery Council CBT exam revision with 315+ questions in the same format as the actual exam, covering professional standards and adult nursing domains.
• PLAB Question bank of 1,250+ questions for the PLAB 1 exam, fully up to date and reviewed to reflect GMC exam format, for international medical graduates seeking UK registration.
• PSA (Prescribing Safety Assessment) Question bank of 110 questions testing prescribing knowledge and judgement skills for safe medicine practice.
• SCE in Acute Medicine Specialty Certificate Examination in Acute Medicine question bank mapped to the JRCPTB curriculum.
• SCE in Endocrinology & Diabetes Question bank of 625 questions for the SCE in Endocrinology and Diabetes exam mirroring the Royal College of Physicians curriculum.
• SCE in Geriatric Medicine Question bank of 245+ questions for the SCE in Geriatric Medicine covering acute illness, palliative care, chronic disease, osteoporosis, and orthogeriatrics.
• SCE in Respiratory Medicine Question bank of 190+ questions for the SCE in Respiratory Medicine written by expert clinicians.
• SCE in Neurology Question bank of 230+ questions for the SCE in Neurology covering cerebrovascular disease, spinal cord disorders, motor neurone disease, and neuro-inflammatory disorders.
• SJT (Situational Judgement Test) Situational Judgement Test revision written by expert authors covering professional scenarios for medical students and foundation trainees.
• Institutional Subscription Packages Tailored institutional packages for medical schools, NHS trusts, and healthcare training organizations, providing voucher code access to BMJ OnExamination question banks with usage reporting and group management tools.

Quantifiable outcome

• 210,000+ medical professionals have successfully revised for exams using BMJ OnExamination
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature10 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Quesmed: Quesmed provides free and paid medical exam revision question banks for UK postgraduate exams. It overlaps directly with BMJ OnExamination's exam portfolio and target audience of UK medical trainees.
• Pastest: Pastest offers question banks and revision resources for UK medical postgraduate exams (MRCP, MRCS, MRCOG, MRCGP). It directly competes with BMJ OnExamination in the same UK medical exam preparation market with overlapping exam coverage.
• Passmedicine: Passmedicine provides online question banks for medical exams, particularly UK-focused MRCP and PLAB preparation. It is a direct competitor in online medical exam revision with a similar subscription model.
• AMBOSS: AMBOSS provides a clinical knowledge platform with question banks and study tools for medical students and physicians. It is a direct competitor offering integrated learning, exam prep, and clinical reference for similar user segments.

Broad incumbents

• UWorld: UWorld is a leading question bank provider across multiple professional domains including USMLE medical exam prep. While operating broadly in test prep, its medical division directly competes for medical exam revision mindshare globally.
• Medscape: Medscape is a major medical education and reference platform offering news, clinical tools, and CME/MOC activities for physicians. As a broad incumbent, it reaches BMJ OnExamination's audience through complementary educational offerings.
• Kaplan Medical: Kaplan is a major test preparation company with a medical division offering prep courses for USMLE and other exams. As a broad incumbent, it serves overlapping medical exam prep needs with established brand and large content library.

Others

• BMJ Best Practice: BMJ Best Practice is a sister product from BMJ Publishing Group providing clinical decision support and point-of-care reference for clinicians. It is thematically aligned as a sibling BMJ learning resource with cross-sell and integration opportunities.

Emerging players

• StatPearls: StatPearls provides medical education content, board review questions, and clinical reference for healthcare professionals. It overlaps with BMJ OnExamination in question-based learning for medical trainees and continuing education.
• Geeky Medics: Geeky Medics provides free medical education resources including OSCE guides and question banks for medical students. It targets the same medical student audience with complementary free content that competes at the awareness stage.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/onExamination
• Facebookfacebook.com/onExamination
• Instagraminstagram.com/bmjonexamination

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about BMJ OnExamination