Account, Pricing & Access

Premium Features, Pricing, and How to Upgrade

PathologyLabTraining has three access tiers: Free, Premium, and Organisation. This article tells you the upgrade steps first, the organisation-access options next, and then lists every Premium feature with where to find it in the app.

How to upgrade to Premium (5 steps)

1. Open Pricing from the main menu (top navigation on desktop, hamburger menu on mobile).
2. Choose monthly or annual — the annual plan is discounted.
3. Complete checkout via Stripe or Paystack, depending on your region.
4. Your account unlocks immediately. If a feature still shows a lock icon, sign out and back in once to refresh your session.
5. Manage billing, change plan, or cancel at any time under Account Settings → Subscription.

How to get Premium through your NHS Trust, hospital, university, or employer

If your NHS Trust, hospital, university, or training provider (your employer or institution) holds an active subscription, you get Premium-equivalent access without paying yourself. Three ways to join your organisation on the platform:

1. Invitation email — click the link your administrator sent, create your account or sign in, and access is applied automatically.
2. Invite code — go to /invite, enter the code your administrator shared.
3. Institutional email or SSO (SAML) — sign in with your hospital or university email. If your organisation has SAML SSO configured, click Sign in with SAML on the login page, enter your institutional email, and complete the usual log-in with your identity provider.

Organisation admins can invite members and check subscription status from Organisation Dashboard.

How we decide your access when you sign in

1. Platform admin? → full access.
2. Part of an organisation with active premium or a running trial? → Premium-equivalent access.
3. Active personal Premium subscription? → Premium.
4. Otherwise → Free.

If you have paid for Premium but a feature still shows a lock, sign out and back in to refresh your session. If it persists, email [email protected].

Premium features list

Upgrading to Premium unlocks the following features. Each bullet also shows where to find it in the main menu.

• Full Practice Test bank — every question across all 12 specialties and NHS Bands 2 to 8. Menu: Practice Tests.
• Virtual Laboratory — the full library of laboratory simulations across Haematology, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Transfusion, Histology, Coagulation, Immunology, Virology, Genomics, and Andrology. Menu: Virtual Laboratory.
• LIMS Training — end-to-end Laboratory Information Management System workflows including the 9-step Haematology validation checklist and Biochemistry result authorisation. Menu: LIMS Training.
• AI Interview Coach — rehearse real interview questions out loud or in writing and get structured feedback at Band 5, 6, 7 and 8 levels. Menu: AI Coach (also called Interview Practice).
• NHS Application Support — guided drafting for personal statements and competency-based answers aligned to the NHS KSF. Menu: NHS Application Support.
• IBMS / HCPC Portfolio tracker — advanced evidence collection, reflection editor, witness sign-offs, and PDF export aligned to IBMS and HCPC standards. Menu: Portfolio.
• Specialist simulators — QC Simulator, Method Validation, Root Cause Analysis, Critical Values, SHOT Cold Chain, POCT Device, Equipment & Cold Storage, Specimen Reception, ACDP Biosafety, Sample Transport, Non-Conformance/GDPR, Incident Reporting, UKAS Audit, EQA Investigation, SOP Writing, Presentation Skills Trainer, Clinical Advisory, Communication Critical Values, Major Haemorrhage simulation. Menu: Training Dashboard or the simulation cards on your dashboard.
• Interview Preparation tools — Person Specification generator, STAR Answer Builder, NHS Values preparation, Escalation scenarios, Mock EPA, Guide and Tips. Menu: Interview Prep.
• Priority support — direct email route for questions that need a human answer.

If you see a small lock icon on any feature card, it means your current tier does not include it — see the upgrade steps at the top of this article.

What the Free tier includes

Anyone with a free account can:

• Read every career, training, and interview guide article without limits
• Take a sample of Practice Test questions from each specialty
• Use the Interview Explorer and Specialty Explorer to browse content
• Use the basic portfolio tools

Free is the right tier to try the platform before upgrading.

Where to find each Premium feature after upgrading

I want to…	Where it lives
Take a Practice Test	Practice Tests in the main menu
Run a Virtual Lab scenario	Virtual Laboratory
Work through a LIMS simulation	LIMS Training
Rehearse an interview answer	AI Coach (or Interview Practice)
Draft an NHS application	NHS Application Support
Build portfolio evidence	Portfolio
Open a specialist simulator	Training Dashboard or tiles on your main dashboard
Manage billing	Account Settings → Subscription