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Step 1 form guide Hard
Step 1 NBME 23: what's on it and how hard it is
NBME 23 has 67 questions in our copy. The average question is 78 words long and 80% take two or more steps to answer. It leans most on blood and immune system, brain and nerves and reproductive.
- Difficulty (0–100)
- 75
- Average question
- 78 words
- Take 2+ steps
- 80%
- Have an image
- 21%
When to take it
Extra practice early on. It is an older form: shorter questions and more straight recall than today's exam, so don't read much into the score.
Students say it feels harder than the questions really are.
Our original practice examsSystems it tests most
Share of the questions in each system.
- Blood and immune system18%
- Brain and nerves15%
- Reproductive10%
- Heart and vessels10%
The full breakdown
Every system and subject, what the questions ask, and what changed from older forms.