The results of the common registration assessment for pharmacists, held jointly by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) and Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland (PSNI), have been published.
Chief Strategy Officer at the GPhC, Louise Edwards, said:
“Congratulations to all those who passed the registration assessment. We look forward to welcoming you onto our register and wish you every success in your future career.
“For anyone who unfortunately did not pass the assessment at this sitting, there is information on our website on what you can do next.
“The pass mark for candidates was set in the same way as usual, where the pass mark is based on the difficulty of papers to ensure the standard across different years. The overall pass rate is one of the lower we’ve seen for the November sitting.”
The Board of Assessors, which sets and moderates the registration assessment, has published feedback drawn from candidate performance in the November 2024 registration assessment.
See the November 2024 assessment page
The charity Pharmacist Support can provide help with mental health and wellbeing as well as practical advice.
Go to the Pharmacist Support website
There is a full explanation of how answers are marked and how results are awarded on the registration assessment page.
Candidates do have the right to appeal a result. There are strict criteria for appeals to be considered. For information on appeals and nullifications, please see our guide.
Further information and statistics
| Candidates | Number | % of total |
|---|---|---|
| Total number of candidates | 1,146 | 100% |
| Overall pass | 667 | 58% |
| Overall fail | 479 | 42% |
| Candidates | Number | % of total |
|---|---|---|
| Number of first-time sitters | 523 | 46% |
| Number of second-time sitters | 499 | 44% |
| Number of third-time sitters | 103 | 9% |
| First-time sitters: pass | 269 | 24% |
| Second-time sitters: pass | 324 | 29% |
| Third-time sitters: pass | 57 | 5% |
| Registration year | Total sitting | Total passing | Pass rate (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1067 | 700 | 66% |
| 2022 | 937 | 525 | 56% |
| 2021 | 959 | 584 | 61% |
| 2019 | 1057 | 731 | 69% |
| 2018 | 834 | 544 | 65% |
Notes for editors
For successful candidates there is information on registration in the applying to register section.
For unsuccessful candidates there is information, including a guidance document on next steps as well as help and support, in the results and registration section of the November 2024 assessment web page.
Previous sittings with pass marks equivalent or lower to the November 2024 sitting are as follows:
- November 2016 - 41%
- November 2022 - 56%
- November 2017 - 58%