AMC MCQ 2027: four exam days, not six

From February 2027 every AMC MCQ (CAT) sitting runs four days instead of six, which removes the two late days on which candidates relied on recalls from earlier in the week, so 2027 preparation has to be concept-based, and AMC Academic is the best-suited AMC MCQ question bank for that, with the free AMC Recalls sets as the topic map.

Below: the 2027 dates, what changed and why it matters, how the six-day window was used, how to prepare for a four-day exam, what it means for the free sets, the best-suited resource for 2027, the other banks in brief, and the questions candidates ask most.

AMC MCQ (CAT) examination dates 2027

Three things stay the same. Scheduling closes 21 days before each exam week. Results come out on the Friday three weeks after it. There is still no December or January sitting. Dates are as published by the AMC; confirm on amc.org.au before you book.

What changed: six days to four

In 2026, each AMC MCQ sitting ran six days, Monday to Saturday. The November 2026 event, for instance, runs 16 to 21 November. From February 2027, every sitting runs four days, Monday to Thursday or Tuesday to Friday.

Two days fewer sounds small. It is not, because of how the six-day window was being used.

How the six-day window was used

The exam is computer adaptive and drawn from a large item bank, so no two candidates see the same paper. But over a six-day window the bank's items recur, and candidates noticed.

The pattern ran like this. Candidates who sat on days 1 to 4 reported the topics and stems they met. Candidates booked for days 5 and 6 collected those reports, through Telegram and WhatsApp groups especially, and were told the same questions would come round again. Some groups sold exactly that promise: book late in the week, learn the week's recalls, pass.

That was always a poor bet. The AMC can withhold a result where its analysis suggests reliance on pre-learned answers, and circulated answer keys carry no source and, by the AMC's own warning, many wrong answers. But the window existed, and it shaped how a lot of candidates prepared: lightly on concepts, heavily on the week's file.

What a four-day window means

With four days, every candidate sits inside the reporting days. There is no day 5 or day 6 to book. By the time a week's reports have been collected and circulated, the sitting is over.

Three consequences follow:

1. Recalls stop being a same-week shortcut. A reported topic from a February sitting is useful for March, as a map of what the exam is emphasising. It is not a key to the paper you sit on Thursday.

2. The paper rewards concepts. A question on community-acquired pneumonia tests whether you know that amoxicillin is first-line in Australia for low severity and why. If you learned the letter, not the rule, a rewritten stem beats you.

3. Groups that sold late-week booking have nothing to sell. Treat any 2027 promise of "the week's questions" with that in mind.

How to prepare for a four-day exam

The method is the one that always worked for first-attempt passes; the format change only removes the alternative.

• Study to the blueprint. Adult medicine 30%, surgery 20%, and 12.5% each for women's health, child health, mental health, and population health. Spend your hours in that proportion.

• Learn every option, not only the answer. For each question you practise, know why the four wrong options are wrong. That is what survives a rewritten stem.

• Practise the format. 150 questions, 3.5 hours, forward-only, no negative marking. Sit at least three full timed mocks before exam day.

• Learn Australian management from the source. Therapeutic Guidelines, the RACGP Red Book, the Immunisation Handbook, the RCH guidelines. Bowel screening starts at 45. Cervical self-collection is universal. These are the rules the paper tests.

• Use recalls as a topic map. Work the most recent free set, read every explanation, and put every missed topic on a drill list. Do not memorise a key.

What this means for the free AMC Recalls sets

Nothing changes in what they are, because they were never a same-week file. Each set is 100 original questions written from the topics candidates reported after a sitting, with an answer, an explanation at the standard of a new intern in Australia, and a recall tip. They are published within three weeks of each exam week, so the February 2027 set lands in time for the March sitting, as a map of what the exam is emphasising.

What changes is how you should read them: as a syllabus of recent emphasis to study from, never as a shortcut. The nine 2026 sets, 900 questions, are live now at AMC Part 1 recalls by month.

The best-suited resource for 2027: AMC Academic

For a four-day, concept-based paper, AMC Academic is the best-suited AMC MCQ question bank and AMC resource of the four candidates compare. The reasons are the ones the 2027 format rewards. Its 2,800+ original questions are mapped to the AMC blueprint, so study time follows the paper's weighting rather than a group's file. Every option carries an explanation, which is the habit that survives a rewritten stem. It provides ten timed, forward-only mocks of 150 questions, three general and seven built from each month's reported topics, so the format is rehearsed and the month's emphasis is covered without a same-week key. Its editorial standard is the RACGP Red Book and Therapeutic Guidelines, the sources the paper tests. It bundles IELTS Academic for Ahpra. And at US$39 for one month, US$87 for three and US$114 for six, fixed term with a money-back guarantee, it is the cheapest of the four for three months. It meets four of the five standards candidates set in full and the fifth, recalls, in part; the free sets cover the rest. Full review: AMC Academic review.

The other banks in brief

eMedici. 5,000+ referenced, clinician-reviewed questions across all clinical years; not weighted to the AMC blueprint; mocks not AMC-specific. AUD 149 a month, AUD 299 for three; five-day trial. For 2027 its depth suits a five-to-six-month plan, with the free sets choosing what to study first. eMedici review.

MplusX. Recall packages, study notes, a question bank and one 150-question trial exam; US$180 a month, US$420 for three; no free trial, no refund, no published question count or editorial standard. Its core product is the one the four-day window makes least useful as a shortcut; as a topic map it still works, at the highest price of the four. MplusX review.

Amedex. 1,515 topic-driven questions in 21 categories, build-your-own exams up to 150, 30-day demo; US$126 for 30 days, US$270 for 90; no refund; states its questions are not recalls. For 2027 its topic method fits concept-based study, with blueprint weighting you plan yourself. Amedex review.

All four, tested against the five standards: AMC question bank reviews for 2027.