I'm sitting Part 2A in October and finding the physics component significantly harder than Part 1 physics, which I passed at 68% about 18 months ago. The modality-specific physics for MRI and nuclear medicine in particular feels like a different exam. I'm 12 weeks out and averaging about 2.5 hours of revision per day.
My mock scores are around 55–60% on the physics sections and 70–75% on the clinical radiology sections. I need 60% overall to pass, so mathematically I'm borderline right now. The problem is the physics questions in 2A test application rather than pure theory — they give you a patient scenario and ask why a specific artifact is appearing.
For those who've passed Part 2A recently: did you find dedicated physics mock papers worth the time, or is it better to focus on clinical cases and shore up physics with the curriculum documents? I'm worried about spending too long on physics and letting my clinical scores slip.
The application-style physics questions are where people lose marks because they're not drilling enough case-based physics. Pure theory gives you the foundation but you need to practice translating it to clinical scenarios. Find physics questions embedded in clinical radiology case banks, not just standalone physics papers.
55–60% in physics at 12 weeks out isn't a disaster but you can't coast. I'd allocate 60% of your study time to physics until you're consistently above 65% in mocks, then rebalance. The PassMedicine FRCR bank is the most representative for physics questions I've found.
I sat 2A in March and passed with a 64% overall — physics brought my score down from what I expected. What helped was going through the RCR curriculum document physics section and mapping every topic to at least 2–3 clinical scenarios in my head before the exam. The artifact and protocol optimization questions are where most people lose marks.
MRI physics is particularly heavy in recent sittings from what I've heard. K-space, parallel imaging artifacts, and sequence optimization questions all come up regularly. Don't neglect PET-CT physics either — it's a bigger chunk than you'd expect from the curriculum weighting.
I passed 2A back in March after being in almost exactly the same position — mid-50s on physics mocks about 10 weeks out. The thing that actually moved the needle for me was stopping random question drilling and instead going modality by modality, almost like resitting a mini-exam for each one before moving on. MRI physics clicked once I stopped treating it as an extension of Part 1 and accepted it's basically a new subject. Nuclear medicine was brutal but honestly 2-3 focused weeks on it was enough to get comfortable.
Also worth looking at free frcr career opportunities resources while you're in prep mode — I found some practice material there that helped me see what the exam is actually testing beyond just recall. You've got 12 weeks which is genuinely enough time. Don't panic at 57%, I've seen people go from there to passing with a solid month of focused modality work.
Bit of an update from me — I'm in a similar boat, sitting October as well. Was hitting 54% three weeks ago and just got 61% on my last mock, so the trajectory is finally moving in the right direction. MRI physics clicked a bit more once I stopped trying to memorise everything and actually worked through the k-space stuff properly.
One thing that helped me was mixing in some career-focused reading alongside the physics grind, found some useful stuff through free frcr career opportunities which gave me a bit of motivation when the revision felt pointless. Good luck in October, it's reassuring there are others in the same position right now.
Update from me — just hit 63% on a full mock last weekend, so things are moving in the right direction finally. MRI physics is still my weak spot but I've been drilling the k-space and pulse sequence stuff hard this week and it's starting to click. I'm sitting in October too, so we're on the same timeline.
One thing that's actually helped me is mixing up the question types rather than staying in one modality for too long. I also stumbled across some decent free stuff while looking into post-FRCR options, like this free frcr career opportunities page which wasn't what I was looking for but had some useful Q&A format content I ended up working through. Good luck to you — 12 weeks is enough time if you stay consistent.
I sat Part 2A in March and came from almost exactly the same position — passed Part 1 at 66%, then hit a wall with the modality physics. What actually moved the needle for me was stopping trying to understand everything and instead doing question banks in timed blocks, then going back to the book only for the specific topics I kept getting wrong. The MRI physics clicked way faster that way. Also spent an hour going through free frcr career opportunities content which gave me a better sense of what examiners actually care about in terms of clinical application, which helped frame how I revised the nuclear medicine stuff.
57% at 12 weeks out is honestly fine, don't panic. I was at 54% eight weeks before and passed comfortably. The physics does feel like a different exam but it's a smaller question volume than the clinical modules so gains come quicker once you find your weak spots. You've got enough time.