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PLAB 2 practice data: where candidates actually lose marks

Every Plabity station is a spoken consultation marked criterion by criterion against a PLAB-style rubric. That produces something no textbook has: measured hit and miss rates for individual mark scheme items across real practice attempts. This page reports those numbers, updated nightly, with no hand-waving about methodology.

Miss rates by marking domain

Across 233 rubric-marked practice sessions, the share of criteria missed in each PLAB marking domain:

Criterion miss rates by domain, all stations, rebuilt nightly. Sample: 233 graded sessions.
DomainCriteria assessedMissed
Clinical management354351.9%
Data gathering498448.8%
Interpersonal skills165526.3%

The most-missed criteria

Individual mark scheme items with the highest miss rates (minimum 10 attempts each):

Criteria ranked by miss rate. "Station" links the full guide where one exists.
CriterionStationMiss rateAttempts
Mentioned referral to a cardiology / heart specialist Chest pain - Mr Daniel Cartwright, 47 97% 33
Counselled on smoking cessation (referral to clinic or NRT) Chest pain - Mr Daniel Cartwright, 47 97% 33
Counselled on physical activity Chest pain - Mr Daniel Cartwright, 47 94% 33
Asked if patient has been hospitalised before Chest pain - Mr Daniel Cartwright, 47 94% 33
Mentioned at least one of: beta-blocker, statin, ACE inhibitor for secondary prevention Chest pain - Mr Daniel Cartwright, 47 94% 33
Counselled on diet Chest pain - Mr Daniel Cartwright, 47 94% 33
Mentioned repeat troponin at 6 hours and/or 12 hours after pain onset Chest pain - Mr Daniel Cartwright, 47 94% 33
Asked about a stop-start pattern when passing urine Request for a PSA test - Mr Robert Ingram, 57 93% 14
Offered written information or a leaflet about PSA testing Request for a PSA test - Mr Robert Ingram, 57 93% 14
Asked about recent head injury or trauma Sudden severe headache - Mrs Helen Beresford, 53 91% 11
Asked about breathlessness, fatigue, palpitations or dizziness (mets / anaemia screen) Breast lump - Mrs Sarah Kershaw, 44 91% 11
Asked about loss of consciousness or confusion Sudden severe headache - Mrs Helen Beresford, 53 91% 11
Asked about light sensitivity (photophobia) Sudden severe headache - Mrs Helen Beresford, 53 91% 11
Asked about blood thinners / anticoagulants / aspirin Sudden severe headache - Mrs Helen Beresford, 53 91% 11
Mentioned at least one other differential (meningitis, GCA, migraine, tension) Sudden severe headache - Mrs Helen Beresford, 53 91% 11

Methodology

  • Every data point comes from a real spoken practice session marked against the station's mark scheme, criterion by criterion.
  • Criteria need at least 10 attempts to appear; aggregates rebuild nightly, so regrades and new sessions are always reflected.
  • Aggregates are anonymous and station-level. No transcripts, names or identifiable details are ever published.
  • Practice attempts are not exam attempts: absolute rates will differ from exam day, but the relative ordering of what gets missed is the actionable part.

See also: the PLAB 2 mark scheme · the most common stations

Find out where you drop marks, in eight minutes.

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