On March 3, 2014, the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) retired Form 5 and 6 of the Step 1 NBME Comprehensive Basic Science practice exams (CBSSA). CBSSA Form 16 is accessible as of March 3rd and is available in both regular and expanded feedback.
The NBME created CBSSA for students to have content that is similar to the USMLE Step 1 exam.
According to the NBME site, “All forms of CBSSA started on or after March 3rd will appear on a different longitudinal performance profile due to changes in the minimum passing score for Step 1 and due to changes to the CBSSA score scale. In addition, CBSSA forms completed prior to March 3rd will not be rescored or compared longitudinally against those started after this date.”
There are currently 6 forms available for practice.
The CBSSA Forms for Step 1 are: 7, 11, 12, 13, 15 and 16 – Cost $50/exam
The CBSSA Forms with expanded feedback are 7, 11, 12, 13, 15 and 16 – Cost $60/exam
For more information see the NBME site/announcement here.
Any recommendations on which ones to take now that some are new & some of the old ones have been retired? Also, any recommendations on which one to take at the beginning of studying versus the end? Thanks.
Thank you for your inquiry. The NBME Assessments range from oldest to newest in the following order; NBME 7, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16. It is a good idea to take the older assessments first working your way through to the latest form a couple of weeks prior to your USMLE Step 1 exam.
I am only planning on taking 3 throughout the month of May, my last one being 11 days before the real thing. Is that enough to gauge if I am ready or should I take more?