My SCA exam mini-guide 🎉
Your SCA mini-guide if you are a GP trainee.
Guys, I cannot believe it—I’ve officially finished my final, final exams as a doctor! 🥹🎉
As you’ve probably seen, I passed (thank God for that 🙌🏾), but I won’t lie, this exam season was not easy. Not only was there a lot of content to cover, but life was also life-ing, and personal things made the journey even tougher.
One thing I promised myself was that once I got through this, I would share the resources that helped me and ensure people have the right information. Because honestly? You can be given false hope for an exam that is VERY important, VERY expensive, and NOT easy.
So here’s a mini guide to help anyone preparing for the SCA! If I forget anything, I’ll definitely do a part two. And if you have any questions, drop them in the comments! 💬
Give Yourself ENOUGH Time to Prepare
Do not be like me. 😭 Start at least three months before your exam. And honestly? One month before your three-month study period starts, take time to:
✅ Understand what the exam is about
✅ Speak to people who have done it – get tips!
✅ Watch YouTube videos (I’ll link some below)
This way, when your actual three-month study period begins, you can jump straight into practicing—because this exam is all about practice, practice, practice.
Find a Study Group
Having a consistent study group is key. Even if you start with a group of three, make sure you have at least one or two people you can consistently study with throughout.
Personally, I didn’t have a single group I could study with everyday, so I had to create my own schedule to make sure I got in enough practice:
📅 Monday: Supervisor session
📅 Tuesday: GP friend study session
📅 Wednesday: VTS group
📅 Thursday & Saturday: Friends’ study sessions
📅 Even my non-medic friends helped me practice!
So whether it’s one group or a mix of people—give yourself time to practice.
The Best SCA Study Resources
Here are the resources I used and found helpful. By the way your study budget will cover one SCA revision course, as they can be quite expensive so speak to people who have done the course and see what will work for you.
💡Royal College of GPs (RCGP): They offer free information sessions where they go through example cases, explain the marking criteria, and provide insights into the exam. They also run a two-day intensive programme (paid), which some of my friends found really helpful. I didn’t personally take this course, but for those who did, it provided structured guidance and useful exam techniques.
💡 E-MEDICA SCA Course & Case Bank – A structured program with useful case banks. I reviewed cases with a friend who did the course and we found this so helpful. E-medica has been pivotal in a lot of my exam prep over the years so I would recommend them.
Website: https://emedica.co.uk
💡 Nigel Giam Course – Great for understanding the exam. It includes actor-based practice, but do it early, not too close to the exam (trust me, last-minute will stress you out!).
Website: https://www.mentormeducation.com
💡 SCA revision – This is a website with hundreds of SCA cases covering a wide range of topics. Some cases felt more complex than what appeared in the actual exam, while others were quite similar. I’d recommend using this resource during your practice to identify any knowledge gaps.
Website: https://www.scarevision.co.uk
💡 SCA Approach Website & WhatsApp Group – Found this in my final month, and it was a game-changer! They provide summaries & lectures on common conditions and free weekly live practice sessions with actors
Whats App group:
Website: https://sca-approach.co.uk
💡 SCA Smasher – I joined one of their free sessions and loved their feedback, so I signed up for their mock exam (cheapest one I found!). It included, audio feedback (super helpful!), personalized insights on repeated phrases & shared management plans and helped me feel confident & exam-ready!
Whats App group:
💡 Well Medic – This was another great resource—I signed up for their platform and accessed case examples, which I found helpful to listen to on my way back. They also held monthly sessions focused on specific topics, making it another great place to practice.
Website: https://www.wellmedic.co.uk
Key Study Tips & Must-Know Topics
📌 Common conditions are COMMON.
Make sure you master the basics—asthma, COPD, rashes, skin conditions, and other things you’ll actually see in GP practice. Note down the conditions in your practice that come up again and again. Do not just concentrate on the harder/uncommon conditions only.
📌 Get comfortable with ethical dilemmas.
We encounter these daily, but we don’t always reflect on them. In the exam, you will face one—so understand how to handle these in real practice. When they come up in clinical practice ask your supervisor to talk through with you, attend the the practice meeting and listen to how they deal with safeguarding issues, complaints, etc.
📌 Master the art of Shared Management Plans.
This exam is about your patient and their needs, not your own agenda. You need to understand their ICE—ideas, concerns, and expectations—early on and ensure you address these throughout the consultation. I would even recommend introducing your management plan by acknowledging ICE (just my opinion). One thing I had to work on was being mindful of the phrases I used. For example,
Instead of saying, “We should…”, say “We could consider…”
Instead of “I think you need…”, say “How do you feel about…?”
Shared decision-making is EVERYTHING in this exam.
📌 Use your real-life GP cases as practice.
Every patient at work is a potential SCA case—so treat them like it! I found that in the actual exam, I almost forgot they were actors and just treated them like my actual patients. So, I would say practice the structure and those communications skills on real life patients, because this isn’t just about an exam, it is for life.
📌 Have a structured approach.
Structured Approach to History-Taking – This is crucial to ensure you don’t miss key parts of the history. Even if the patient has already mentioned something, it's important to prime the case by summarizing and confirming details. Everyone’s structure will be slightly different, but I’m happy to share what I used and why—just leave a comment, and I’ll send it over.
📌 Time yourself STRICTLY.
The exam is 12 minutes per case—and time flies. Be disciplined with your timing when you are practicing.
You need to be strict with yourself. You have 12 minutes in total. Aim to complete data gathering within 6 minutes, start clinical management no later than 6 minutes, and round off by 10 minutes 30 seconds. This gives you enough time for safety netting, follow-ups, and any additional patient concerns..
Data gathering 🕐 (first 6 minutes)
Clinical management 🕐 (round off by 10:30 - 11 minutes)
Round-up, safety-netting & follow-ups 🕐 (last minute)
📌 Improve your consultation skills.
Practice active listening & rapport-building (huge marks here!)
Since it’s a virtual exam, record yourself & review your body language.
Allow the people you are practicing with and watching you to give you honest feedback, that is the only way you’ll improve, and one thing that truly helped me. I was not afraid of being criticism and correction - it made me better.
📌 Prepare for cases where you have NO idea what’s happening.
Managing uncertainty is part of GP life!
If unsure, be safe—but don’t just defer to tests. Use your data gathering to make an informed decision, start practicing cases that may not have a clear diagnosis of management plan.
YouTube videos to watch before you start.
Here are some YouTube videos I found helpful when I was first trying to understand the SCA exam—what to expect, how it's structured, and key insights from others who had taken it. These videos gave me a solid foundation before diving into my structured revision. I’d recommend watching them early on to get a feel for the exam format and common challenges.
Okay, this post is getting long, so I’ll stop here! 😆 But if you have any questions, I’m happy to do a Part 2 with even more details.
To anyone preparing for the SCA—you’ve got this! 💪🏾✨ Study smart, practice like crazy, and trust yourself.
Would you like me to share my personal study structure? Let me know! 😊
#SCAExam #FinalExams #DoctorLife #GPTraining #MedicalJourney
Final Thoughts
This blog is for my GP trainees, but honestly, I wish I had access to this kind of information before and during my own exam prep!
I also want to remind you that you are more than your exams—please take care of yourself. Lean on your community, allow people to help you, and give yourself grace because balancing work, studying, and life is no small feat. This blog isn’t exhaustive, but I’ve tried to summarise key points without making it too long.
Again, THANK YOU for being here! Let me know your thoughts in the comments, share any topic suggestions, share this with your friends, and I’ll see you next week!🚀
✨ Signed, Dr J
(aka Joyce Omatseye)
I am not a training Doctor, but found your post very interesting, informative and applicable to other client-focused work. Congratulations on making it through these exams Dr Joyce 😍.