FRCR Part 1 2025

Overview of FRCR Part 1

The FRCR Part 1 exam is the first part of the FRCR examination and assessing knowledge of radiological anatomy and radiological physics. There are two exam papers which comprise the FRCR Part 1: anatomy and physics. These are sat as separate examinations on separate days.

Anatomy

The anatomy exam is computed-based and consists of 100 questions consisting of images from radiological studies (plain radiographs, CT, MR, ultrasound, fluoroscopy, nuclear medicine studies etc.) with an arrow pointing to a structure. Each question will have one image with one arrow pointing to one structure and an accompanying question (e.g. “Name the arrowed structure” or “Name the artery which passes through the arrowed structure” etc.). There is a textbox where candidates can input their answer. The exam lasts for 90 minutes, so there is approximately 54 seconds per question.

The exam aims to cover all parts of the curriculum and roughly equal weighting is given to the following imaging modalities:

• Cross-sectional
• Plain radiographs
• Contrast studies

Also, the following body areas are given roughly equal weighting in the examination:

• Head, neck and spine
• Chest and cardiovascular
• Abdomen and pelvis
• Musculoskeletal

The following are key points to keep in mind for the FRCR Part 1 Anatomy exam:

• Only normal anatomy is included in the exam. There is no pathology which will be shown in the exam.
• Normal variants are included in the exam and you should have a good knowledge of all common normal variants in the different parts of the body and their radiological appearance on different modalities.
• Paediatric imaging is included in the examination so you should have a good understanding of paediatric anatomy, particularly MSK!
• If you are asked to name a structure and are given both the right and left structure on the image then you must state whether the arrowed structure is the LEFT or RIGHT (e.g. Head of LEFT caudate nucleus). If you are only given one side (e.g. only an image of the left hand) then there is no need to state the side. NOTE: Sometimes even if you are given both the left and right side it is not always clear which side the arrowed structure is on. Only state LEFT or RIGHT if you can 100% say from the given image which side the structure is on.
• Read the question carefully as not all questions are “Name the arrowed structure”. Some questions may ask you to state an anatomical structure which passes through the arrowed structure. Some questions may not have an arrow on the image and may ask you to name the anatomical variant in the image. These are just examples of potential questions, the key is to read the question carefully and answer the question you are asked!
• Ensure your spelling is accurate as this is expected in the examination. Some minor spelling mistakes may be forgiven but don’t count on this! However, mixing up ileum and ilium would not be forgiven and rightly result in 0 marks.

Anatomy Marking and Pass Mark

Each question in the anatomy FRCR Part 1 Anatomy exam is marked as follows:

• 2 marks = Fully correct answer
• 1 mark = Partially correct answer (e.g. answer is correct but a side [left or right] has not been provided where it should have been)
• 0 marks = Incorrect answer

The pass mark is highly variable and changes from sitting to sitting depending on the difficulty of the exam and how challenging candidates found the exam at that sitting. The pass mark is usually somewhere within the region of 60-80%.

Physics

The physics exam is computer-based and consists of 200 individual questions. There are 40 stems in the exam, each with five statements which must be answered as either true or false by the candidate. The FRCR Part 1 Physics exam assess your knowledge of radiological physics and how this applies to the different imaging modalities used in radiology. Each statement is answered as either true or false. There are 200 questions in the exam and 2 hours to complete it. This gives approximately 36 seconds per individual statement, or 3 minutes per stem and the 5 true/false statements which accompany each stem.

The following are key points to keep in mind for the FRCR Part 1 Physics exam:

• Understanding of the underlying physics concepts is vital to success in this exam. It is very difficult to understand and retain information for the physics exam if you do not understand the underlying concepts. It is important to read about these concepts, repeatedly, until you understand them. There are also helpful online resources and YouTube videos which simplify some of these concepts and make them easier to understand.
• Do as many practice questions as possible. You will find, particularly with more challenging topics, that doing a lot of practice questions will help with your understanding of the concepts.
• Read the statements carefully. Sometimes only the units or number may be changed in a statement and this will change an otherwise correct statement from true to false, or vice versa.

Physics Marking and Pass Mark

Each answer is awarded either 1 mark for the correct answer or 0 marks for the incorrect answer. There are a total of 200 marks available (1 per individual true/false statement).

The pass mark is usually around 75% but this will vary from sitting to sitting depending on the difficulty of the exam and how challenging other candidates found the questions.

Exam Dates and Venues

Exam Dates

There are 3 sittings for the FRCR Part 1 exam in 2025 – March 2025, June 2025 and September 2025:

March 2025:

• Physics – Thursday 13 March 2025
• Anatomy – Friday 14 March 2025

June 2025:

• Physics – Thursday 12 June 2025
• Anatomy – Friday 13 June 2025

September 2025:

• Physics – Thursday 11 September 2025
• Anatomy – Friday 12 September 2025

Exam Venues

In the UK, the exam will be held in the following locations: Belfast, Bridgend Wales, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, London, Manchester, and Plymouth.

Internationally, the exam will be held in the following locations: Egypt, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Singapore.

Please note the above dates and venues are subject to change and you should check the RCR website for the most up to date information.

Our Top Pick Resources for Anatomy and Physics

Anatomy Top Pick

Physics Top Pick

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