AMC CAT MCQ · AHPRA Standard Pathway · adaptive CBT · 3.5 hoursLive mocks · daily

AMC CAT 2026 — your gateway into AHPRA registration in Australia

150 adaptive MCQs · 3.5 hours · IRT-scaled marking · pass band ≥250. Our adaptive mock engine mirrors the real Pearson VUE difficulty calibration, surfaces your stable ability band, and projects your scaled score before you spend AUD 2,700 on the live sitting.

View AMC CAT mock packs View 2026 syllabus

Aligned with AMC · amc.org.au
Standard Pathway gateway exam
Adaptive difficulty — IRT-scored

Hero photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

AMC CAT · Adaptive

Q 88 of 150

Geriatric medicine vignette · falls in residential aged care

Difficulty calibration

Medium-hard band

Engine has converged on your ability estimate · 6 items above mean

Scaled score projection

282 · above pass band

Comfortable clearance · 32 points above 250 threshold

3.5 hours

Duration · single sitting

150

Adaptive MCQs

See live

Official fee

Year-round

Pearson VUE booking

What is the AMC CAT MCQ

The gateway into Australia's Standard Pathway

Administered by the Australian Medical Council (AMC), the Computer-Adaptive Test is the first step for IMGs from non-recognised medical schools seeking AHPRA general registration.

Conducting body: Australian Medical Council (AMC), delivered by Pearson VUE.
Eligibility: Primary medical qualification from a non-Australian/NZ institution recognised by AMC + completed AMC portfolio + EPIC source verification.
Mode: Computer-Adaptive Test (CAT) — difficulty adjusts to your performance in real time.
Structure: Single sitting of 150 MCQs delivered over 3.5 hours (210 minutes).
Marking: +1 for correct, 0 for incorrect — no negative marking. Final score is IRT-scaled, not raw.
Pass mark: Scaled score ≥250 on the AMC reporting scale.
Language: English only — IELTS / OET pre-requisite handled separately via AHPRA.

2026 cycle · key milestones

AMC portfolio submissionRolling · year-round
EPIC source verification4-8 weeks typical
Eligibility letter issuedWithin 2 weeks of verification
Pearson VUE bookingAny available slot · year-round
Result release2-4 weeks post-sitting
Eligibility windowTypically 2 years

Always confirm portfolio requirements and current fees on the official AMC site at amc.org.au.

Why AMC CAT feels different

Adaptive difficulty, Australian context, downstream pathway implications

Adaptive — not fixed-form

Unlike USMLE Step 1 or FMGE, the CAT recalibrates after every item. Two candidates see different question sets and difficulty curves. Our engine replicates this so your prep mirrors reality.

Australian-context cases

Expect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) health, Closing the Gap framework, tropical infectious diseases (melioidosis, Ross River, dengue), and rural/remote service delivery contexts.

IRT-scaled scoring

Your scaled score depends on which items you got right, not just how many. Getting hard items correct early matters disproportionately — our analytics show your converged ability band.

Pathway implications

A pass unlocks the AMC Clinical Examination (OSCE) or the Workplace-Based Assessment route. Your CAT score also influences competitiveness for limited intern placements.

Our AMC CAT library

What you get on PractiseExam.com

True adaptive engine

Every mock is 150 MCQs at 3.5 hours, delivered through our IRT-calibrated engine that mirrors Pearson VUE's difficulty branching — not a fixed-form imitation.

6,000+ MCQ bank

Curated to the AMC's 16-domain blueprint with emphasis on Australian clinical guidelines (RACGP, NPS MedicineWise) and ATSI health competencies.

IMG-aware explanations

Explanations call out where Australian practice diverges from your home-country guidelines — paediatric immunisation schedules, S8 prescribing, Medicare billing context.

Pricing

Mock packs · pay-as-you-go

Stack as many adaptive sittings as you need. No subscription — book your Pearson VUE date with confidence.

Pricing is being updated — please check back shortly.

Continue with the full prep guide

Syllabus Exam pattern Eligibility Exam dates 2026 Application form Registration fee Preparation strategy Best books Previous-year papers Sample questions Pricing Scaled score guide Result 2026 Pearson VUE centres After AMC CAT — clinical path Exam-day tips Standard vs Competent Authority

Frequently asked

The most asked AMC CAT MCQ questions

AHPRA Standard Pathway vs Competent Authority Pathway — which one am I on?+

If your primary medical qualification is from the UK, Ireland, US, or Canada (and you hold the relevant board certification), you may qualify for the Competent Authority Pathway and skip the AMC CAT entirely. Everyone else — including IMGs from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Philippines, the Middle East and most of Asia/Africa — must enter via the Standard Pathway, which begins with the AMC CAT MCQ.

Who exactly needs to sit the AMC CAT MCQ?+

IMGs holding a primary medical qualification from a medical school NOT on the AMC's Competent Authority list, who intend to seek general registration with the Medical Board of Australia (via AHPRA). You must first build an AMC portfolio, complete source verification through EPIC, and receive AMC eligibility before booking your CAT appointment at Pearson VUE.

How does the computer-adaptive scoring work — and why do early questions matter so much?+

The CAT engine starts you at a medium-difficulty calibration and adjusts each subsequent question's difficulty based on your running performance. Early questions disproportionately influence the engine's initial estimate of your ability, which then determines the difficulty band you stabilise in. Final scaled scores are computed via item-response theory (IRT) — not raw correct/total — so two candidates with the same raw score can end up with very different scaled scores. Our adaptive mock engine replicates this exact behaviour.

What does a scaled score of 250 actually mean?+

AMC reports scaled scores rather than percentages. 250 is the long-standing pass threshold and represents the standard-setter's minimum-competence benchmark on the underlying IRT scale (mean ~250, SD ~30). Roughly speaking, a 250 corresponds to consistently answering medium-difficulty items correctly. Scores above 280 are considered strong and improve your competitiveness for limited internship placements.

After AMC CAT, what's the clinical pathway?+

Clearing the MCQ qualifies you to sit the AMC Clinical Examination (an OSCE-style assessment of 16 stations covering medicine, surgery, paediatrics, obstetrics, psychiatry). Alternatively, eligible candidates may pursue a Workplace-Based Assessment (WBA) through an accredited Australian health service. Successful completion of either route earns the AMC Certificate, which is the basis for AHPRA general registration.

When are results released and how do retakes work?+

Provisional results are typically available within 2–4 weeks of your appointment, with official certification following. There is no statutory cap on attempts, but each sitting is a full AUD ~2,700 fee, and AMC requires a minimum gap (usually 1 month) between attempts. Your eligibility window must remain valid — extensions are possible but require fresh portfolio verification.

Is the AMC CAT really year-round, or are there test windows?+

Year-round. Once AMC issues your eligibility, you book any available Pearson VUE slot within your validity window — there are no fixed national sitting dates the way NEET-PG or FMGE have. This flexibility is a double-edged sword: candidates often delay the booking indefinitely. We recommend locking a date the day your eligibility lands.

150 adaptive MCQs · 3.5-hour CBT · IRT scaled-score projection

Project your AMC CAT scaled score before you spend AUD 2,700

A full-length, IRT-calibrated AMC CAT mock. Scaled-score projection within the hour.

View mock packs See the prep plan

Take a full mock

AMC CAT 2026 — your gateway into AHPRA registration in Australia

Aligned with AMC · amc.org.au

Standard Pathway gateway exam

Adaptive difficulty — IRT-scored