The best OKAP qbank for 2027: five question banks compared

The OKAP is 260 multiple-choice questions spread equally at random across the 13 BCSC sections, each scored as its own subtest, and every item sits at one of three cognitive levels: recall, interpretation, or decision making and clinical management. A bank that fits the OKAP covers all 13 sections and all three levels.

The OKAP is norm-referenced and has no passing score. Your scaled score is compared with all examinees and your percentile with residents at the same training level, so the goal is steady improvement across sections rather than clearing a cut-off. Testing time is 4 hours 30 minutes for 260 items, just over a minute per question, so timed practice matters as the exam approaches.

A practical default is to make whichever large bank your program provides your primary bank (or the BCSC Self-Assessment Program if you are an AAO member paying yourself) and to add free questions for extra review rather than paying for two.

On the figures listed on 26 September 2026, here is how the five line up for the March 11–14, 2027 OKAP:

These are the two largest banks in this comparison by listed question count. The BCSC Self-Assessment Program is the AAO's own bank: 4,500+ questions with discussions tied directly to BCSC content, timed tests, BCSC excerpts, peer comparison statistics and up to 65 self-assessment CME credits. Because the 13 OKAP subtests parallel the 13 BCSC volumes, its reports by BCSC section and chapter line up with your OKAP score report.

OphthoQuestions is an independent bank that went live in 2011. Its base plan lists more than 3,400 questions for $329.99 (6 months) or $359.99 (12 months), with tutor and timed modes, percentile scores and leaderboard rankings, and CME through East Tennessee State University. Its About page says questions are written by recently board-certified ophthalmologists or trainees. Add-ons such as Premium (281 questions, $199.99) need an active base subscription and expire with it.

If you are an AAO member who wants practice data organized like the OKAP score report, the Self-Assessment Program is the more direct fit and, at $299 a year, costs less. If you are not a member, OphthoQuestions' 12-month plan ($359.99) costs less than the nonmember Self-Assessment price ($429), and if your program already pays for OphthoQuestions it is the established choice.

It can be, especially if your program pays or you want percentile scores and leaderboard rankings. OphthoQuestions has run since 2011, its base bank covers both the OKAP and the WQE, and the AAO's Board Prep Resources page lists it. A 2019 BMC Medical Education survey found that the degree of use of online question banks such as OphthoQuestions was significantly correlated with OKAP percentile (p < 0.001), though correlation does not prove the bank caused higher scores.

Before paying yourself, weigh these points from its own pages:

BoardVitals' ophthalmology bank lists more than 750 questions and is built for the ABO Written Qualifying Examination and the AOBOO ophthalmology WQE, with topics mapped to WQE content-outline percentages; we found no OKAP-specific product. Plans cost $149 for one month, $249 for three and $409 for six, with a free trial that needs no credit card. Its strengths include a mobile app, adaptive learning and comparison with the national average.

Two points matter for OKAP use. The WQE does not use the OKAP's 13-section BCSC structure, so its topic mix is organized differently, and a pass guarantee has no OKAP equivalent because the OKAP has no passing score. BoardVitals therefore fits WQE preparation after residency more naturally than OKAP preparation.

StatPearls has a similar board-certification focus (ABO and AOA). We could not load its live page on 26 September 2026; an archived copy from 21 March 2025 listed 3,004 questions linked to 689 PubMed-indexed review articles and $199 a month or $599 for six months. Current figures are unverified.

Free options differ mainly in how many questions you get and whether access expires.

The AAO resources below are case challenges and review material rather than timed exam-format blocks, so they do not rehearse OKAP pacing. As listed on 26 September 2026:

Early in the academic year, do untimed practice by BCSC section alongside your reading. The AAO's 2026–2027 BCSC reading schedule runs from July 2026 and sets aside February 27 to March 10, 2027 to review all volumes, so pair each reading block with questions from the same section. Read every explanation, including for questions you got right, and log misses by section.

From January, consider adding timed blocks at just over a minute per question, and before March sit at least one full-length timed mock to rehearse pacing and the optional 10-minute break (offered once 2 hours 15 minutes have passed or 130 items have been answered). Score reports arrive in late April, and your Keyword Report lists the topic of every item you missed by BCSC book; use it to set next year's drills.

If you want a bank organized the same way, OphthoMentor's original questions follow the 13 BCSC-aligned subspecialties. Every question has an explanation, many with a clinical decision flowchart, and the site has weak-topic drills, a spaced-repetition review queue, a readiness dashboard and resident discussion threads. It is a one-time payment with no subscription: Free opens 65 questions, five from every subspecialty, Core ($319, 12 months) opens the full bank, and Residency ($619) gives the same access for 36 months. Because it is smaller than the AAO and OphthoQuestions banks, it works best as a first bank or a second source alongside one of them.