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Two topics have appeared in every CCE ever sat.
We analysed all 21 RACGP clinical exam public reports so your CCE exam preparation starts with what matters. See which topics keep coming back, where candidates lose marks, and what to study first.
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Likelihood tiers for every recurring topic
A printable priority matrix built around your confidence
A 6-week study plan with a six-point case checklist
WHAT IT COSTS TO GUESS
Study everything, and you'll run out of weeks.
The CCE blueprint covers the whole of general practice. Without a way to prioritise, preparation becomes a reading list with no end, and the marks that decide a near-miss never get practised.
The Squeeze
The three most recent CCEs had the three lowest CCE pass rates, with the largest cohorts yet.
The Shift
Diagnosis and management rose from 36% to 46% of assessed criteria between 2023.1 and 2026.1.
The Near Miss
In 2026.1, about two-thirds of unsuccessful candidates landed just below the pass mark.
The Blind Spot
Assumptions, missed agendas, no safety-netting. The same pitfalls appear in every report with structured feedback.
WHAT'S IN THE PLAYBOOK
15 pages. Ten years of exam reports, distilled.
Built from every RACGP clinical exam public report (CCE, RCE and OSCE) published from 2016 to 2026, and designed to be printed and planned from, not skimmed and forgotten.
Likelihood tiers
Every recurring topic ranked by how often it has appeared, from near-certain to occasional.
Your priority matrix
Rate your confidence against each topic's frequency and read off what to study first. Printable, with tick boxes.
Where candidates lose marks
862 examiner comments grouped into the themes that recur, sitting after sitting.
A 6-week study plan
A week-by-week structure, plus a six-point checklist to run on every practice case.
Cohort statistics
Pass rates and cohort sizes from 2016 to 2026, including the first-attempt trend.
How the exam is built
The CCE format and how assessed criteria are weighted, so you know what each case is really testing.
WHY WE MADE THIS
Everyone gets the same advice: know everything.
The public exam reports tell a far more useful story, but it is spread across 21 PDFs and ten years. Most registrars read one or two. We reviewed all of them, counted what kept coming back, and turned it into a plan you can actually work from.
Built by a practising Australian GP who has been through fellowship
Every figure traced to a published RACGP public exam report
Updated for the 2026.1 CCE report
Part of a library of practical resources read by GPs and registrars across Australia
2 in 3
unsuccessful candidates in the 2026.1 CCE landed in the band just below the pass mark.
RACGP 2026.1 CCE PUBLIC EXAM REPORT
The margin is small, and it is usually won or lost on technique. The playbook shows you where to point your practice.
THE PRIORITY-FIRST METHOD
Three steps to focused CCE exam preparation.
1
Download it
Enter your email. Instantly download the PDF.
2
Rate yourself
Mark your confidence on each topic in the priority matrix. Your study order falls straight out of it.
3
Work the plan
Follow the 6 weeks and run the six-point checklist on every practice case you do.
THE SHORT VERSION, IF YOU'D RATHER READ IT HERE
What topics come up most in the CCE?
Across the ten CCE sitting reports from 2021.2 to 2026.1, two themes have appeared every time. An Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health case discussion was present in all ten, and a chronic disease or multimorbidity case was the other constant.
Close behind, in seven or eight of ten sittings, are professionalism and complaints, mental health, child health, women's health and cardiovascular disease. A rural setting features just as often.
The exam is also shifting. The three most recent CCEs (2025.1, 2025.2 and 2026.1) produced the three lowest CCE pass rates, between 79% and 81%, with the largest cohorts yet. First-attempt pass rates fell from 93% in 2023.1 to 82% in 2026.1, and diagnosis and management grew from 36% to 46% of assessed criteria over the same period.
Where candidates lose marks is remarkably consistent. Assumptions, overlooking the patient's agenda, missing safety-netting, jargon, single-issue focus and missed prevention appear in every report with structured feedback. These are technique problems, and technique improves with deliberate, observed practice.
None of this tells you which cases you will get. It tells you where the evidence points, so your CCE exam preparation goes where it is most likely to count. That is what the playbook is for.
FREE · 15 PAGES · SEPTEMBER 2026 EDITION
Get The CCE Playbook
Likelihood tiers, your priority matrix and a 6-week plan, built from every RACGP clinical exam public report since 2016.
You'll also join our free newsletter for practical GP updates. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.