Psychiatry trainees (and others intending to sit the CASC) are a highly diverse group of people, and it is not our intention in writing this book to suggest to you that we know the “best and only” way to prepare. Some trainees may choose to read this book with many months to go and follow our advice religiously, whereas some may choose to pick it up the night before the exam, scouting for extra tips. You’ll find no judgment here! By this stage of your careers, those of you sitting this exam will have passed many exams before. It is our firm opinion that you know your strengths and weaknesses and will have a good idea yourself of how long you personally want and need to allocate for preparation. Trust yourself and trust your instincts. Still – in the interest of helping to shape those instincts, we would like to pass on some wisdom that we have gained whilst preparing for and sitting the exam, and to make some gentle suggestions about how we believe that you can best prepare for success. It is the collective experience of this book’s authors that a successful preparation should ideally bear in mind four primary considerations: fluency, criticism, momentum, and kindness.