First, please sign up to our online ‘Introduction to the AKT’ webinar by emailing england.ksspc.gpschool@nhs.net
In addition to resources such as this course and dyslexia assessments, there are a few key things to know:
Study leave: As part of your contract, you have access to up to 30 days of study leave per 12 months full-time equivalent. Depending on your placement, some of those days may be taken to attend the teaching programme. You can also take 5 of these days for private study to prepare for the AKT. Remember to plan in advance (there are only 4 sittings of the AKT per year so make sure you submit study leave requests with plenty of notice).
Study budget: You can use your study budget to apply for a course to help you with the AKT. This could include ‘in-person’ courses or virtual ones. You can potentially also access one of the online question banks for free per academic year via the hospital library, who can often give you an access code.
Exam leave: The day of the exam is classed as ‘exam leave’ and should not come from your annual or study leave days.
Revision plans: Within the deanery’s curriculum team, we think that preparing for the AKT takes a good 3-4 months. The intensity of revision is likely to increase as you get closer to the exam and it is sensible to factor-in down-time for rest, holidays, family events and exercise.
We recommend using the RCGP Curriculum topic guides as your starting point. Make a list of them and plan out when you are going to cover each topic. Ideally, aim to cover each topic 2-3 times as repetition aids learning and will help improve your knowledge.
Using this approach, you could aim to spend longer on your first run-through (making notes, reading textbooks, watching webinars), then less time on subsequent reviews (condensing notes to mindmaps or flashcards). You could, for example, aim to spend the first 2 months going through each topic area in depth, then having a month each for second and third run-throughs.
Ultimately, it is hard to advise on how each individual should best prepare. If you have long commutes and childcare responsibilities, you may find revising in the evening isn’t productive or realistic, therefore look at your circumstances and try to put together a plan that you think works for you. Remember to build in flexibility and downtime, and don’t be afraid to change your approach if you don’t think it’s working.
If you’re still struggling to put together a revision plan, WellMedic has produced a template 12 and 16 week AKT revision plan that you could use as a starting point – AKT Revision Plan
Learning sets (or group learning) can be a useful addition to your independent studies. Each training programme has a curriculum-focussed approach to learning which includes learning sets. This may take place as part of the main group teaching, such as Peer Pod sessions, or separately as part of an AKT revision group.
Participating in learning sets can help improve your understanding of a topic, as well as covering topics in more detail or from a different angle than you may have been able to do by yourself. Speak to your Training Programme Director for more information about AKT Learning Sets in your area.