Only 667 of the 1,146 candidates who sat the General Pharmaceutical Council’s registration assessment on 12 November passed – a pass rate of 58 per cent.

The number of candidates sitting the assessment for the first time was 523 (46 per cent of the total), of whom 269 passed. There were 499 second time sitters of whom 324 passed. Of the 103 third time sitters there were 57 passes.

Last year 1,067 graduates took the registration assessment in the autumn, with 700 (66 per cent) passing. In November 2022, when there were 937 candidates, the pass rate was 56 per cent.

In the November 2024 sitting, the part 1 passing score was 28 marks out of a possible 40. In total, 71 per cent of trainee pharmacists achieved this. The part 2 passing score was 82 marks out of a possible 120, and 70 per cent of trainee pharmacists achieved this.

Feedback from drawn from candidate performance by the Board of Assessors suggests that trainee pharmacists should use the example questions available via the GPhC website to understand the style and format of questions. They should also become familiar with the onscreen platform used to deliver the assessment and its functionality.