The resources we would actually use — organised by when they are most useful, not simply by whether they are a book, website or video.
Primer
Makes the physics make sense. Use it when you are meeting a topic for the first time.
Finisher
Adds detail and exposes gaps once the underlying concepts already make sense.
Reference
Something to dip into when one concept needs a different or deeper explanation.
Our approach
Learn a manageable section, then use questions alongside the teaching to reinforce it and check your understanding. If a question exposes a gap, go back to the concept while it is still fresh.
As the exam gets closer, shift the balance progressively towards mixed practice and full timed papers.
A useful revision loop
This page focuses on resources for learning and consolidating the physics. The question-practice part is what The Physics Bank is built to provide.
First
Before choosing revision resources, anchor yourself to the current College guidance and specimen questions.
The current Physics paper is 40 five-part True/False questions, giving 200 individual decisions over 2 hours. The specimen questions are particularly useful because they show genuine College question style rather than somebody else's interpretation of it.
Primers
These are the resources we would reach for when a topic is new or still feels like a collection of facts.
A concise, radiology-specific first pass through the syllabus. The fourth edition was released in 2026 with updated illustrations, corrections and removal of material no longer considered relevant to the exam.
Best for: establishing the shape of the syllabus without starting with a dense textbook.
Visual teaching from medical physicist Brian Nett covering X-ray production, interactions, dose, image quality, detectors, CT components and reconstruction. It is not FRCR-specific, which is part of the appeal when terse exam notes have skipped the intuitive explanation.
Best for: X-ray and CT concepts where you know the rule but still cannot picture why it is true.
A first-principles MRI course from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. It builds the subject properly from signal and contrast through relaxation, spatial encoding, pulse sequences and more advanced concepts.
This is a full 56-video course, not a rapid FRCR revision series. It goes deeper than you need simply to pass Part 1. Start early, or use individual lectures selectively when MRI refuses to click.
Best for: the trainee who has read an MRI chapter twice and still feels they are memorising magic.
An excellent free BMUS series from Dr Colin Deane at King's College London. It moves from waves and tissue interactions through transducers, image optimisation, artefacts, Doppler and ultrasound safety, continually linking the physics back to what happens at the scanner.
Best for: building a practical mental model of ultrasound rather than memorising equations and artefact lists.
Structured FRCR teaching
Once the fundamentals are beginning to make sense, structured FRCR teaching becomes more useful.
The SRT Trainee Hub includes a full 2024 FRCR Part 1 Physics course split into 15 concise videos and a newer 2026 abridged update focused on high-yield material. We would use this to consolidate a first pass rather than as the only way of learning the physics.
Best for: structured, exam-focused consolidation once you have started building the underlying concepts.
The finisher
A resource can be excellent and still be the wrong first exposure. Farr is the clearest example.
Comprehensive, compact and written specifically for trainee radiologists preparing for FRCR Physics. We prefer it once you already understand the fundamentals. As a first exposure it can feel dense; later in revision, that density becomes its strength.
Our take: excellent finisher; harder work as a primer.
Best for: working back through the syllabus near the end, tightening detail and exposing what your primer simplified or omitted.
References
You should not feel any obligation to complete these. They are there for targeted gap-filling and rabbit holes.
Despite the name, this is not an MCQ bank. MRIQuestions is a huge free collection of explanations built around the individual questions people actually have about MR physics and technology.
Best for: the moment you understand most of an MRI topic but still have one irritating 'yes, but why?' question.
The Radiology Integrated Training Initiative includes a dedicated 8a Physics module and is free to NHS employees through e-Learning for Healthcare. The wider R-ITI programme is enormous, so completing it does not need to become another revision objective.
Best for: selective gap-filling when another source has covered something too briefly or you want a different explanation.
A 682-page handbook written primarily for medical physics education. You do not need to read it for Part 1. It is here because occasionally you want to stop reading revision summaries and find a detailed, authoritative account of a technical topic.
Best for: the unusually deep rabbit hole — not routine FRCR revision.
Listen differently
These are enrichment resources rather than systematic Part 1 courses. Use them when you want the subject to feel more like radiology and less like a syllabus.
A general radiology podcast from Andrew Dixon and Frank Gaillard with expert guests. Browse the back catalogue for episodes on imaging physics, modality technology and emerging techniques rather than trying to work through it systematically.
Best for: the commute, and hearing imaging technology discussed as part of real radiology.
An investigative MRI safety podcast built around real accidents, how they happened and what could have prevented them. It does not replace learning the safety syllabus, but it makes the reasons behind those rules considerably harder to forget.
Best for: making MRI safety memorable rather than another isolated list of zones, projectiles and emergency procedures.
A note on MCQ books
We favour a relatively slow first pass: learn a manageable topic, then use questions alongside the teaching to reinforce what you have just covered and check your understanding. Your mistakes tell you what needs another look before you move on.
As the exam approaches, progressively increase the amount of mixed question practice and timed work.
We have deliberately not included MCQ books or other question banks in this resource guide. Older MCQ books in particular need some caution: fundamental physics does not change, but scanner technology, terminology, radiation-protection legislation and accepted practice do.
The resources above are therefore focused on learning and consolidating the physics. For the question-practice part, that is what we built The Physics Bank to do.
Put the learning into practice
The Physics Bank is designed to sit alongside your teaching, not just appear at the end of revision. Finish a topic, practise it while it is fresh, use the explanations to identify gaps, revisit the weak point and come back.
As your coverage improves, move towards mixed practice and then the full 40-stem, 2-hour mock format.
Built for repeated retrieval
715 five-part stems · 3,575 True/False decisions · topic practice · explanations · a complete free mock.
Compare full-access optionsYou do not need the most resources. You need the right resource at the right time.
Build the understanding slowly. Test it as you go. Revisit what you get wrong. Then make your practice progressively more exam-like.
Last reviewed: September 2026
