SLLE Laboratory Study Plan: 6 Weeks, or 2 If You Are Late

Last verified: 31 October 2026. Exam dates and rules change, so check the SCFHS licensing exam page and the SLLE content guideline (PDF) before you start. This is an independent guide with no link to SCFHS, Prometric or any government body.

The SLLE has 200 questions across nine sections, and unplanned revision will not cover them in a few weeks. This plan splits your time by section weight, gives each of the four big sections its own week, and puts the calculation questions into a short daily drill. What each section contains is in the exam content guide; the application steps and booking are in the registration and exam day guide.

Numbers to build your plan on

Split your time by section

The official weights are ranges. The question counts below are the distribution of our 200-question mock exams (see the exam content guide):

The four big sections alone are 134 of 200 questions, or 67% of the exam, so they take four of the six weeks. The five smaller sections total 66 questions, and each is less than half the size of a big one, so they share one week. Do not skip a small section: 12 questions is 6% of the exam, and its topics are short and easy to memorise.

The 6-week plan

The plan assumes one to two hours of study a day. Pick your exam window on the SCFHS page (announced registration windows: 1–24 November 2026, 1–24 December 2026 and 3–21 January 2027), then start the six weeks ahead of your Prometric booking. Each week has the same rhythm: five days of reading and practice, one day to review the week's mistakes, and one light day.

Week 1: Baseline and Blood Bank

1. Day 1: take the free practice test (10 free questions), no sign-up. Look at your percentage in each section and note your three weakest.
2. Days 2–6: Blood Bank, 32 questions. Start with blood groups, antibody work-up and ABO discrepancies, then crossmatch, then components and reactions, then hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn (HDFN).
3. Calculation drill: RhIG dose, and dilutions.

Week 2: Clinical Chemistry

1. 34 questions across ten topics. Put glucose and glycated hemoglobin, acid-base and blood gases, electrolytes, enzymes and lipids first.
2. Endocrinology and tumor markers, drug monitoring and toxicology, and molecular techniques (PCR) are shorter topics; give them the last two days.
3. Calculation drill: anion gap and the Friedewald equation.

Week 3: Hematology

1. 34 questions. Start with the complete blood count and red cell indices, then the other tests (reticulocytes, ESR, G6PD), then cell morphology and differentials.
2. Then leukemias and flow cytometry, then coagulation and hemostasis, where candidates often confuse one test with another.
3. Calculation drill: corrected reticulocyte count.

Week 4: Microbiology

1. 34 questions across ten topics, the widest section. Start with general principles, specimen handling and sterilisation, then Gram-positive cocci, then Gram-positive bacilli, then Enterobacterales, then the other Gram-negatives.
2. Give antimicrobial susceptibility testing a full day.
3. Mycology, virology and parasitology go at the end of the week: each is a small topic, and its questions mostly link an organism to a specimen and a distinguishing test.

Week 5: The five small sections

1. One day each: urinalysis and body fluids, immunology and serology, histo- and cyto techniques, laboratory operations, and patient safety and professionalism.
2. In laboratory operations, focus on sensitivity and specificity, quality control and Westgard rules, safety, and laboratory mathematics.
3. In patient safety and professionalism, read the Saudi law of practicing healthcare professions, patients' rights and professional ethics; the questions are text-based and are won by reading.
4. Day 6: a quick review of every calculation.

Week 6: Close the gaps and sit the full mock

1. Days 1–3: go back to your error notebook and redo every question you missed. Then open the practice area, choose your weakest topics and do 10 questions from them each time.
2. One or two days before the exam: take one full mock exam (see the next section).
3. Last day: review only the mistakes from the full mock, and do not open a new topic.

The full mock exam, two days before the real one

The aim is to rehearse the exam before you sit it. Take it in one session in the same order:

• 200 questions in two parts, 120 minutes each, with a 30-minute break between them.
• No phone, no notes and no calculator, as in the exam hall.
• Do not stall on a long question. Flag it and come back if time remains.
• Afterwards, do not look only at the total. Open each section's result: the section with the lowest percentage is what you review on your last day.

Calculations: a daily drill of 15 minutes

Calculation questions are few but are won by repetition and lost by a wrong unit. Start in week 1 and give them 15 minutes a day instead of leaving them to the end. For each problem, write the formula first, then put in the numbers, then check the units.

The 2-week plan if you are short of time

With only two weeks you cannot cover everything in depth, so build the plan on the four big sections (67% of the exam):

How to handle your mistakes

• Read the explanation of every option, not just the correct answer. Today's wrong option can be tomorrow's right answer.
• Write the cause of each mistake in one phrase: missing fact, mixed up two tests, calculation slip, or rushed reading. You will usually find one cause repeating.
• Redo missed questions after two days, then after a week. When you answer one correctly twice in a row, take it out of your notebook.

What this site adds to your plan

• The free practice test: 10 free questions in English from the exam's sections, with the answer, its explanation and your percentage in each section, no sign-up.
• The practice area: practise section by section, with every option explained in Arabic and English, an error notebook and practice on your weakest topics.
• The full mock exam of 200 questions in 240 minutes, the same question count and total time as the real exam. The remaining questions and the full mock exam need a paid pass.

This is an independent exam preparation website with no link to SCFHS, Prometric or any government body.