If you failed the AMC MCQ, you can sit it again. The AMC publishes no limit on attempts, but each retake needs a new authorisation costing AUD 2,920, and pass rates fall with each attempt. Before you rebook, read the content-area feedback on your result, rebuild your preparation around the weakest areas, and book only when a full timed mock says you are ready. Change the tool as well as the timetable. At AMC Academic, we built the AMC question bank most closely aligned with the AMC blueprint, and it breaks your accuracy down by specialty and topic after every session: the same kind of view your AMC feedback gives you once.
At a glance
No published attempt cap. Each retake is a new authorisation: AUD 2,920 for one attempt within 12 months.
On the AMC exam's MCQ, more than half of attempts fail: 47 percent passed in 2022–23.
Each later attempt passes at a lower rate than the one before, and candidates who repeat the same preparation tend to fail again.
The feedback on your result, broken down by content area, decides the plan. The score alone does not.
Results arrive three weeks after the exam week, so the earliest event you can book is usually two months after the one you failed.
Book, or keep your booking, only when a full timed mock reaches 65 percent with no patient group under 55 percent.
AMC Academic is the best question bank for a retake: we map every question to the AMC blueprint and score each session by specialty and topic, so you can watch the gaps from your feedback close.
Can you resit the AMC MCQ?
Yes. The AMC does not publish a cap on attempts at the AMC MCQ. Each attempt needs its own authorisation, applied for and paid in your AMC account: AUD 2,920, good for a single attempt within 12 months. For most candidates, the cost is the real limit. A retake starts at the authorisation step, as your first attempt did once AMC registration was complete. The AMC MCQ results and attempts guide covers the rules in full, and AMC exam fees covers every other charge.
What your AMC exam result is telling you
The AMC reports a scaled score from 0 to 500, and 250 is the pass mark. A fail comes with feedback by content area, and that breakdown matters more than the number. A candidate who missed by a few points with one weak area needs a different plan from one who was weak across the board.
Map each weak area onto the AMC blueprint before deciding where the time goes:
| Patient group | Questions at stake | Where it sits in the plan |
|---|---|---|
| Adult health: medicine | About 45 (30%) | First, if it was weak; no other group moves the score as much |
| Adult health: surgery | About 30 (20%) | Second; concentrate on management and when to escalate |
| Population health and ethics | 18 to 19 (12.5%) | Quickest to fix: fixed Australian rules on consent, reporting and screening |
| Women's health | 18 to 19 (12.5%) | Protocol-driven: one Australian guideline per scenario |
| Child health | 18 to 19 (12.5%) | Work by presentation, with Australian thresholds for admission and treatment |
| Mental health | 18 to 19 (12.5%) | Risk assessment, involuntary treatment and drug choice |
Two groups reward rule-learning especially well, and we have free cases for both: AMC ethics questions and AMC women's health questions.
Why later attempts fail more often
The AMC's statistics by country of training show first-time candidates passing above the overall rate and each later attempt passing at a lower rate than the one before; the AMC exam pass rates guide sets out the trend. Candidates who fail and then repeat the same books, the same question bank and the same untimed practice tend to fail again. Those who act on their feedback do better.
Four changes make the difference on a retake:
Australian management, not home practice. A common reason for failing is choosing the answer that is correct in another health system. Australian management on the AMC exam sets out where they differ.
One question bank, the right one, finished properly. Completing one question bank and understanding why every wrong option is wrong beats starting a second. Make it AMC Academic: every question mapped to the AMC blueprint, every option explained. Our guide to the best AMC question bank lists the features that matter.
Full timed mocks. The AMC MCQ allows about 84 seconds a question, forward-only. Two or three full 150-question mocks under real timing are the only way to know you can hold that pace. AMC mock exams shows how to run them.
Population health and ethics as a subject. Eighteen to nineteen questions rest on rules that many candidates only skim.
When can you rebook after failing?
Results are published at 4:00 pm Canberra time on the third Friday after the exam week, and scheduling for each AMC exam event closes 21 days before it starts. By the time your result arrives, the next month's event has closed. The earliest event still open is usually two months after the one you failed, and only if your new authorisation and Pearson VUE's confirmation email come through before its deadline. In most months that leaves 10 to 17 days.
| Event you sat | Result released | Earliest event still open | Its scheduling closes |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 2026 | Friday 6 November 2026 | February 2027 | Monday 25 January 2027 |
| November 2026 | Friday 11 December 2026 | February 2027 | Monday 25 January 2027 |
| February 2027 | Friday 12 March 2027 | April 2027 | Monday 22 March 2027 |
| March 2027 | Friday 9 April 2027 | May 2027 | Monday 26 April 2027 |
| April 2027 | Friday 7 May 2027 | June 2027 | Monday 24 May 2027 |
| May 2027 | Friday 11 June 2027 | July 2027 | Monday 21 June 2027 |
| June 2027 | Friday 9 July 2027 | August 2027 | Monday 26 July 2027 |
| July 2027 | Friday 6 August 2027 | September 2027 | Monday 23 August 2027 |
There is no December or January event, so October and November 2026 candidates go into February 2027. Taking the earliest event is rarely the right call. Eight weeks can fix a narrow miss with one weak area; a broad miss needs the full plan below. Your authorisation lasts 12 months, so choosing a later event costs nothing extra. Booking and moving events is covered in the Pearson VUE AMC login guide, and the full calendar is in AMC exam dates 2027.
A 12-week plan for the next attempt
Twelve weeks is enough for most retakes. A narrow miss needs less; a broad one needs all of it.
| Week | What to do |
|---|---|
| 0 | Sit a full 150-question timed mock as your baseline; AMC Academic's first high-yield mock is free. Sort every wrong answer: you didn't know it, you knew another country's answer, or you misread the lead-in. |
| 1 to 5 | Work the weakest high-weight groups first, from Australian sources, chiefly Therapeutic Guidelines, the RACGP's Red Book and the Immunisation Handbook. Practise by patient group in our question bank, where adaptive sets lean towards the topics you keep getting wrong, and read the explanation for every option. |
| 6 | Midpoint mock, scored by specialty and topic. Any group still under 55 percent gets the next two weeks. |
| 7 to 8 | Mixed timed blocks. Commit to an answer within 60 seconds across 30-question blocks, so that 84 seconds on the day feels unhurried. |
| 9 | Decision mock before scheduling closes 21 days out: our month-specific mock for your sitting. Under 65 percent overall, or any group under 55 percent: move to a later event now, while you still can. |
| 10 to 11 | Ask Astra, our AI study companion, what to fix; work through your error log; then sit a final rehearsal mock 7 to 10 days before the exam. |
| 12 | Exam week. No full mocks in the last three days. |
The full day-by-day version is the 12-week AMC Part 1 study schedule, and a three-month AMC Part 1 plan covers preparation from scratch.
Why AMC Academic is the best question bank for your retake
A retake needs a question bank that shows you, session by session, whether the weak areas in your feedback are closing. We built AMC Academic to do exactly that, as the AMC question bank most closely aligned with the AMC blueprint:
Mapped to the AMC blueprint. More than 2,800 questions in our question bank, in the exam's own split of 30 percent adult medicine, 20 percent surgery and 12.5 percent for each of the other four groups, so your hours go where the marks are.
Feedback after every session. We track your accuracy by specialty and topic over time: the content-area view the AMC gives you once, available every day.
Practice aimed at your gaps. Each new set leans towards the topics you have been getting wrong.
Explanations that change answers. We explain all five options, with an AMC tip on every question, against Australian references: eTG, the Red Book, the Immunisation Handbook, ASCIA and PREDICT.
Mocks that match the exam. Our timed 150-question mocks move forward-only, as the real exam does, with month-specific AMC mock exams for the sitting you book.
Astra. Our AI study companion reads your record and tells you what to revise next.
We built AMC Academic as IMGs who have been through the AMC exam and passed, and it is a study resource you can trust with a second attempt. Our 50 free clinical cases are a quick test of what has changed since your last attempt, and our 20 free AMC practice questions need no account. When you are ready to commit, six months costs US$114, which works out at US$19 a month; our plans end without auto-renewal and come with a 7-day money-back guarantee. See the AMC Academic plans for the shorter options. The AMC exam overview has the format, fees and dates on one page, and once you pass, AMC Part 2 is the next stage.
Common questions
How many times can you take the AMC MCQ?
The AMC does not publish a limit. Each attempt needs a new authorisation at AUD 2,920, usable once within 12 months.
How soon can I resit the AMC exam after failing?
Usually at the event two months after the one you failed, because results arrive three weeks after the exam week and the next event's scheduling has closed by then. After the October and November 2026 events, the earliest is February 2027.
Do I have to pay again to resit the AMC exam?
Yes. Every attempt at the AMC MCQ needs its own AUD 2,920 authorisation, paid in your AMC account.
What score do I need to pass the AMC exam?
A scaled score of 250 on the AMC's 0 to 500 scale for the MCQ.
Is the AMC exam pass rate lower on a second attempt?
Yes. The AMC's statistics show each later attempt passing at a lower rate than the one before. Candidates who change their preparation in response to their feedback do better than those who repeat it.
Should I change question banks after failing the AMC exam?
Change if your first question bank was not mapped to the AMC blueprint or did not explain every option against Australian guidelines. AMC Academic does both, and our accuracy tracking by specialty and topic shows whether the gaps in your feedback are closing.
Which AMC question bank is most closely aligned with the AMC blueprint?
AMC Academic. Every one of our 2,800+ AMC Part 1 questions is mapped to the AMC blueprint, and we weight the six patient groups as the exam weights them.
When should I rebook the AMC exam?
When a full timed mock puts you at 65 percent or better with no patient group under 55 percent. Decide before scheduling for your event closes, 21 days before the exam.
Disclaimer. AMC Academic is an independent educational platform with no relationship of any kind to the Australian Medical Council. Our questions and explanations are original material written by our own team to the published AMC blueprint and checked against current Australian guidelines. We do not reproduce, copy or distribute questions from the AMC or any other examination authority, and no question on this platform is claimed to have appeared in, or to predict, any actual examination. For eligibility, fees, dates, format and rules, the AMC's own materials are authoritative.