Effective EDAIC Part 1 Study Plan: 6-Month Timeline

A big exam like the EDAIC Part 1 is not passed by cramming in the final fortnight. It is passed by a plan you can actually sustain across a busy clinical rotation — one that spreads a vast syllabus over months, protects your recovery on call, and builds in enough feedback to tell you when you are ready. This guide gives you exactly that: a week-by-week, six-month plan for the 2026 sitting, designed around roughly 10–15 hours a week, with question targets and review cues you can lift straight into your calendar.

The 2026 written exam falls on Saturday, 19 September 2026. If you count backwards, a full six-month plan starts in the week commencing 23 March 2026. If you are reading this later than that, do not despair — there is a compressed three-month variant near the end, and the principles hold whatever your start date.

How many hours you really need

Let us be honest about the numbers, because unrealistic plans are the ones that collapse. Most candidates who pass Part 1 first time put in somewhere between six and nine months of structured preparation. For a resident working full-time, 10–15 hours a week is a sensible, sustainable target for the bulk of that period, rising to 20–25 hours in the final six to eight weeks as revision intensifies and you swap new reading for questions and mocks.

As a rough guide, 10–15 hours a week across 26 weeks adds up to roughly 250–350 hours of focused work. That is enough to cover the syllabus properly, work through several thousand practice questions from an EDAIC question bank, and sit multiple full mocks — provided the hours are spent well. Two hours of active recall beats a whole evening of passive re-reading, so the aim is not to maximise hours but to maximise retrieval per hour.

There is no official minimum, and your baseline matters enormously — a trainee with strong physics and statistics needs far less time on Paper A than someone returning to basic sciences after years of clinical work. Sit a short diagnostic set in week one and let your own weak spots, not a generic average, set your priorities.

Work backwards from 19 September 2026

The single most useful planning move is to anchor everything to the exam date and count back. For 2026 that means:

• Exam: Saturday, 19 September 2026 — both papers on the same day.
• Registration deadline: 11 June 2026 (earlier, 12 May 2026, for candidates from countries where ESAIC recognition is mandatory).
• Plan start for a full six months: week commencing 23 March 2026.

Register early rather than leaving it to the deadline — popular centres fill up, and a fixed, confirmed date is a powerful motivator. The full practicalities (fees, eligibility, documents, centres) are covered in our EDAIC 2026 dates, fees and registration guide, and the exam format itself in the EDAIC Part 1 guide. Note that the deadline lands in week 12 of the plan below — do not let it sneak up on you.

The three phases

Divide your six months into three phases, each with a different job:

1. Coverage (weeks 1–14). Work through the whole syllabus, one topic at a time, alternating Paper A (basic sciences) and Paper B (clinical). The goal is exposure and first-pass understanding of all 14 topics — not perfection.
2. Consolidation (weeks 15–22). Stop chasing new material and start closing gaps. Drive your revision with per-topic analytics: drill your weakest areas, review with spaced repetition, and begin timed mocks.
3. Simulation (weeks 23–26). Rehearse the real thing. Full-length, timed mocks under exam conditions, tight error analysis, and a deliberate taper into exam day.

Two principles run through all three phases. First, set weekly goals, not daily ones. A night on call, a sick child, one bad day — and a rigid daily plan shatters. Weekly targets let you make up on a free Sunday what you lost on a Tuesday. Second, respect the Pareto principle: roughly a fifth of the syllabus generates a disproportionate share of questions. Anaesthetic pharmacology, cardiovascular and respiratory physiology, and acid-base balance are worth getting genuinely solid before you polish rare details. Both papers are scored independently and you must pass both, so never let Paper A drift just because clinical topics feel more comfortable — a point we expand on in our strategies to pass EDAIC Part 1.

The 6-month plan, week by week

The tables below map the 14 official syllabus topics — six in Paper A, eight in Paper B — across the coverage weeks, alternating papers so both progress in parallel. Question targets assume a busy resident and are deliberately achievable; treat them as a floor on a good week and ease off on a post-call one. "Review" tells you what to revisit that week using spaced repetition, so older topics never fade while you learn new ones.

Phase 1 — Coverage (weeks 1–14)

By the end of week 14 you will have touched every topic once and banked roughly 1,400–1,500 practice questions. You will not feel "finished" — nobody does — and that is fine. Coverage buys you a map, not mastery.

Phase 2 — Consolidation (weeks 15–22)

This is where marks are made. Let your per-topic mastery analytics, not your comfort zone, decide what to drill.

Phase 3 — Simulation (weeks 23–26)

Now you rehearse. Each full mock mirrors the real format — 60 MTF questions per paper, no negative marking — so you build stamina and pacing, not just knowledge.

A realistic daily template

Weekly targets only work if you know how to spend an ordinary day. Here is a template that flexes around clinical life and lands around 10–15 hours across the week.

On a normal working day, aim for two short, high-value blocks. Do 20–30 minutes of flashcards or active recall in the morning — on the commute, over coffee, before the list starts. Then in the evening, spend 60–90 minutes in two halves: read or watch a focused explanation of the week's topic for 30 minutes, then do 30–45 minutes of timed questions on it and read every explanation. That is roughly two hours, most days.

On an on-call or post-call day, protect your recovery and drop your ambitions. Fifteen to twenty minutes of flashcards on your phone is plenty; if you are wrecked, do nothing and reclaim the time at the weekend. Study you cannot remember the next day is not study. This is exactly why the plan is built on weekly, not daily, goals.

At the weekend, take one longer block of two to three hours for a mock or a deeper topic, and a second lighter session for spaced review of older material. Keep at least half a day genuinely free — six months is a marathon, and burnout costs more marks than a missed session ever will.

Use MTF questions from day one

The most common planning mistake is to treat questions as a final-month activity — "I'll read everything first, then test myself." Do the opposite. Attempt questions on a topic from the day you start it, before you feel ready. Early testing exposes gaps far faster than re-reading and tells you where to spend your limited hours.

The EDAIC's Multiple True/False format rewards precision: each stem carries five independent statements, and there is no negative marking, so you answer every one. Practise this from the start using our EDAIC question bank, where each of the five statements is explained individually with a source reference. Read all five explanations, not just the ones you got wrong — the statements you guessed correctly are hidden weaknesses. For more on turning a question bank into a learning engine rather than a quiz, our best books and resources for EDAIC Part 1 sets out how references, revision aids and questions fit together.

A simple rule keeps you honest: do not move on to a new topic until you can answer most of the questions in the current one. Coverage without comprehension is just page-turning.

Spaced repetition and flashcards

Without reinforcement you lose a large share of new material within days — the forgetting curve is steep and indifferent to how clever you felt on the day. Spaced repetition beats it by scheduling reviews at widening intervals: review new material after roughly one day, then three days, then a week, two weeks and a month. Each successful recall stretches the next interval and moves the fact into durable memory.

Build this into the plan through the "Review" column above and through flashcards for the things worth memorising outright: definitions, equations, normal values, drug facts and classifications. AnesCORE's flashcards handle the scheduling for you, surfacing the cards you are about to forget and spacing the ones you know cold, so a ten-minute session on a busy day still targets your genuine weak points. Make cards as you go rather than in a panic at the end, and prioritise weak topics in your early reviews while letting strong ones drift to longer intervals.

Your mock exam schedule

Untimed, open-book questions teach you to answer questions; timed, closed-book mocks teach you to pass an exam. The plan schedules them deliberately:

• A full paper mock a fortnight apart across consolidation (weeks 18 and 20), each followed by error analysis by topic — not just a score, but a clear list of what to re-drill.
• Weekly full mocks through simulation (weeks 23–25), building to sitting both papers back-to-back to rehearse the real day's length and fatigue.

Sit each one properly: a quiet room, no notes, no phone, strict time limits, and a target pace of around 60–90 seconds per question with a habit of flagging and moving on. AnesCORE mocks reproduce the real format of 60 questions per paper, and its Exam Room lets you sit a timed mock alongside colleagues if you want the pressure of company. Check the exact format details against the EDAIC Part 1 guide so nothing on the day surprises you. Track your scores over time: a rising line is reassuring, a plateau is a signal to change tactics — more weak-spot drilling, more spaced review, or simply more sleep.

The last 30 days

From roughly mid-August, shift gears decisively. Stop acquiring new content — the returns on a brand-new topic four weeks out are small and the anxiety is large. Ramp mocks up to weekly, then repair the specific gaps each one reveals, and keep flashcards ticking over daily; this is when spaced repetition repays the earlier discipline. Revisit your five weakest topics one last time, but keep a light touch on your strengths to keep them warm. Sort logistics now, not later: confirm your centre and travel, book accommodation if you need it, and re-read the candidate instructions so you know exactly what is allowed in the hall. Above all, protect sleep — a debt built in the final weeks quietly erodes everything else.

The last week

The final week is about arriving fresh, not learning more. Sit your last full mock early in the week — never the day before. After that, taper: short, calm sessions on flagged facts, high-yield lists and flashcards, nothing new or heavy. Nail down the practicalities so exam morning is boring: your registration confirmation, a valid photo ID (the same document you registered with), and several black pens. Electronic devices — phones, smart watches, calculators — are not permitted, so leave them behind. Travel the day before if your centre is not local. Then, on the eve of the exam, stop. A good night's sleep will do more for your marks than one more hour of questions.

If you only have 3 months

Starting in mid-June rather than March? A compressed plan is demanding but workable if you can push closer to 18–22 hours a week. Halve the coverage phase by pairing topics: cover two syllabus topics per week for about seven weeks, always one Paper A and one Paper B, front-loading the high-yield areas (pharmacology, cardiovascular and respiratory physiology, regional anaesthesia, intensive care). Give consolidation about three weeks of intense analytics-led weak-spot drilling, and reserve the final two to three weeks for simulation with two or three full mocks.

The trade-offs are real: fewer spaced-repetition cycles and no room to drift. Lean harder on questions and mocks from day one, be ruthless about the Pareto topics, and accept that some rare details will go uncovered. It is a genuine route to passing — just a tighter one, with a smaller margin for the bad weeks that clinical life guarantees.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many months should I prepare for the EDAIC?

Most candidates who pass first time prepare for six to nine months. Six months, at a sustainable 10–15 hours a week, is enough to cover the full syllabus, build a large bank of practised questions and sit several mocks. If your basic sciences are rusty or you are working long clinical hours, lean towards the longer end so you have room for multiple spaced-repetition cycles rather than a single rushed pass.

How many hours per week do I need to study?

For most working residents, 10–15 hours a week is a realistic and effective target through the bulk of preparation, rising to roughly 20–25 hours in the final six to eight weeks. Quality matters more than raw hours: time spent on active recall, timed questions and mocks is worth far more than the same time spent re-reading notes. Plan around weekly totals so a heavy on-call week does not derail you.

Can I pass EDAIC Part 1 in three months?

Yes, many candidates do, but it is demanding and leaves little margin. A three-month plan means covering two syllabus topics a week, leaning heavily on questions and mocks from the outset, and finding closer to 18–22 hours a week. It works best if you already have reasonable baseline knowledge across both papers. If you are starting from a low base or cannot protect the hours, giving yourself more runway is the safer choice.

How many practice questions should I do before the exam?

Aim for at least 1,500–2,000 high-quality MTF questions under timed conditions as a sensible floor; many well-prepared candidates do considerably more. Quantity alone is not the goal — analyse every error, read the explanation for all five statements, and revisit weak topics until your per-topic scores rise. Tracking accuracy by topic is what turns raw volume into targeted improvement.

When should I start sitting mock exams?

Begin full, timed, closed-book mocks once you have completed a first pass of the syllabus — in this plan, around week 18, roughly two months out. Sit a full paper mock roughly every fortnight during consolidation, then increase to weekly through the final month, working up to sitting both papers back-to-back. Starting earlier than that tends to demoralise more than it teaches, because you are testing material you have not yet covered.

Start planning today

The best study plan is not the most ambitious one — it is the one you can keep to until 19 September 2026. Anchor it to the exam date, protect your recovery, drive it with questions and mocks, and let your own analytics tell you where to spend each hour. If you would rather have the schedule built and recalibrated for you, AnesCORE's AI study-plan generator works backwards from your exam date and adjusts as your real progress comes in, all in a browser with nothing to install. AnesCORE is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by ESAIC. Create your free AnesCORE account and turn this plan into your plan.