GPhC Registration Assessment Pass Rates 2026: What the Data Shows
The overall pass rate for the June 2026 GPhC Common Registration Assessment was 83% — 2,748 of the 3,326 candidates who sat on 16 June 2026 passed, the strongest summer result since 2021. The November 2025 sitting produced 62%. The spread inside each sitting is wider still: first-attempt candidates passed at 85% in June 2026, while third-attempt candidates in November 2025 passed at 47%. Below: the published numbers sitting by sitting, and what they mean if you are coming through the OSPAP route.
The exam behind the numbers, briefly
The registration assessment — now formally the Common Registration Assessment (CRA), delivered jointly by the GPhC and the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland — is the final examined step in how to register as a pharmacist in the UK. It is computer-based, sat at Pearson VUE test centres in two sittings a year (June and November), with both papers taken on the same day:
- Part 1 — Pharmacy and healthcare calculations: 40 calculation questions in 2 hours, roughly 3 minutes each. There are no answer options — you type the number. Every question is multi-step, and an approved calculator is permitted.
- Part 2 — Safe and effective pharmacy care: 120 questions in 2.5 hours — 90 single best answer questions (about 1 minute each) and 30 extended matching questions (about 2 minutes each) — covering clinical therapeutics, law and governance, and calculations embedded in clinical scenarios.
Two rules shape everything in the pass-rate data. First, you must pass both parts in the same sitting — there is no compensation between papers, and a passed paper carries nothing forward. Second, Part 2 is not the open-book exam older colleagues remember: you cannot bring a BNF. Where a question needs reference material, extracts — BNF and BNFC pages, SmPCs, prescriptions, controlled drug registers, MAR charts — are supplied on screen, and the GPhC's 2026 framework states that common guidelines will not be provided. Speed inside a supplied extract is itself an examined skill. For dates, framework changes and a week-by-week revision plan, see our full guide to the GPhC registration assessment in June 2026.
Pass rates by sitting: the verified numbers
Every figure below comes from the GPhC's published results announcement for the sitting named. Always check which sitting a quoted pass rate belongs to — the difference between a June and a November figure is routinely 15 to 20 percentage points.
| Sitting | Candidates | Passed | Overall pass rate | First-attempt pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2024 | 2,776 | 2,081 | 75% | 77% |
| November 2024 | 1,146 | 667 | 58% | Not broken out |
| June 2025 | 2,913 | 2,247 | 77% | 80% |
| November 2025 | 1,174 | 722 | 62% | 60% |
| June 2026 | 3,326 | 2,748 | 83% | 85% |
The pass mark is not fixed. A standard-setting panel sets it after each sitting using a modified Angoff method, so the mark moves with question difficulty while the standard stays constant. In June 2025 the pass marks were 24 out of 40 for Part 1 and 79 out of 120 for Part 2; in November 2024 they were 28 and 82. Never revise towards a past pass mark — aim comfortably above it.
One number the headlines miss: in June 2025, 84% of candidates passed Part 1 and 86% passed Part 2 — yet the overall pass rate was 77%. The gap is the same-sitting rule at work. A meaningful share of candidates pass one paper, fail the other, and lose the whole sitting. Candidates who treat calculations as an afterthought to clinical revision, or the reverse, sit precisely in that gap.
First attempt vs resit: the gap inside the gap
The GPhC breaks each sitting down by attempt number, and the pattern is consistent: your first attempt is statistically your best one.
- June 2026: first attempt 85%, second attempt 59%, third attempt 65%.
- June 2025: first attempt 80% (2,016 of 2,503), second attempt 53% (142 of 269), third attempt 63% (89 of 141).
- November 2025: first attempt 60%, second attempt 68% (300 candidates), third attempt 47% (62 candidates).
In June 2025, barely half of second-attempt candidates passed (53%), against 80% of first-timers. November 2025 shows a rare inversion — second-attempt candidates outperformed first-timers — but the explanation is cohort mix rather than any resit advantage: November first-timers are often candidates whose training or eligibility fell out of step with the main June cycle.
The practical reading is blunt: do not bank on the resit. Easing off because a second attempt feels like a safety net puts you on the weaker side of every distribution in the table above.
Why June and November produce such different results
The paper is not easier in June. The passing standard is held constant between sittings through standard setting and item response theory, and the GPhC sets no target pass rate. What changes is who sits. June is dominated by first-time candidates finishing their foundation training year on the standard cycle. November is roughly half resitters: in November 2025, only 51% of the 1,174 candidates were sitting for the first time.
The published history bears this out. Since 2021, November sittings have ranged between 56% and 66% overall, while the last three June sittings ran 75%, 77% and 83%. If you ever compare courses or cohorts on pass rates, insist on sitting-matched, first-attempt figures — anything else mixes two different populations.
Where OSPAP graduates sit in this data
OSPAP graduates sit the identical exam — same papers, same pass marks, same attempt limit. The GPhC's per-sitting announcements break results down by attempt number, not by training route, so there is no separately published OSPAP pass rate in the current results. What the OSPAP — Overseas Pharmacist Assessment Programme route changes is not the exam but the preparation runway, and the disadvantages are structural:
- BNF fluency. A UK MPharm graduate has used the BNF for four years before foundation training; an OSPAP graduate compresses that into a one-year diploma plus the training year. Part 2 rewards knowing the structure of a monograph well enough to pull an answer out of a supplied extract in seconds.
- UK law learned late. Your home-country degree taught your home country's law. Controlled drug schedules, emergency supply conditions, responsible pharmacist rules and prescription validity are UK-specific — and the Board of Assessors' feedback on the June 2025 sitting flagged prescription validity and the conditions for an emergency supply among the areas answered least well.
- Calculation conventions under time pressure. The examiners' feedback repeatedly highlights UK-style dose expressions (a dose written as 150mg/kg/day in three divided doses rather than a fixed amount twice daily), rounding at the correct stage of a multi-step calculation, syringe graduation marks and displacement volumes. All of it is learnable — but it punishes anyone practising from non-UK question banks.
- Practice-framed questions. The CRA asks for the most appropriate action for this patient, judged against BNF and NICE positions. Where your home guidelines differ on a first-line choice, trained instinct works against you until you retrain it.
If you are still at the planning stage, start with the OSPAP eligibility requirements, and choose your provider with the end exam in mind — teaching style and exam support differ more between the universities offering OSPAP than their entry criteria do.
What to prepare, paper by paper
| Paper | What it actually tests | Highest-yield preparation |
|---|---|---|
| Part 1 — calculations | Multi-step arithmetic at 3 minutes per question, using UK dose expressions, rounding conventions and realistic supply decisions | Daily timed sets in the final six weeks; drill displacement volumes, infusion rates and quantities to supply; practise deciding when to round up, down, or mid-calculation |
| Part 2 — clinical therapeutics | UK first-line choices per BNF and NICE, interactions, high-risk drug counselling, MHRA safety alerts | Generic-name recall; first-line treatments for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, asthma and infections; counselling points for lithium, methotrexate, valproate and anticoagulants; timed question sets at one per minute |
| Part 2 — law and governance | UK-only legislation applied to scenarios: controlled drugs, emergency supply, responsible pharmacist, professional standards | Two dedicated revision weeks; learn controlled drug schedules 2 to 5 cold; work emergency supply conditions until they are automatic |
For OSPAP graduates, the timing advice matters as much as the content. Build exam preparation into the foundation training year from the start rather than cramming the final eight weeks, use UK-written question banks only, and treat your first sitting as the attempt — the first-attempt data above is the reason.
The three-attempt limit — and what happens if you use them all
You get a maximum of three attempts at the Common Registration Assessment. A failed sitting consumes a full attempt even if you passed one of the two papers, because both must be passed together. Two protections exist, both rewarding early action: withdrawing before the sitting does not use an attempt, and if verified exceptional circumstances affect you on the day, the GPhC's formal process can mean the sitting does not count — raise it promptly, with evidence.
Exhaust all three attempts and you cannot join the register on your current qualification; in practice the way back means requalifying through a further GPhC-accredited course — confirm your options with the GPhC directly before assuming any route exists. For an OSPAP graduate that is a brutal outcome — the diploma alone is a five-figure investment once fees and living costs are counted, as our breakdown of the real cost of OSPAP in the UK shows. The attempt limit is the strongest argument for over-preparing the first sitting rather than quietly budgeting for a second.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the current GPhC registration assessment pass rate?
The most recent sitting, June 2026, had an overall pass rate of 83% — 2,748 of 3,326 candidates passed, the strongest summer result since 2021. First-attempt candidates passed at 85%. The November 2025 sitting came in at 62%. Across the last five sittings the overall rate has ranged from 58% to 83%, so always check which sitting a quoted figure refers to.
Why is the November pass rate so much lower than June?
Because of who sits in November, not a harder paper. Only 51% of November 2025 candidates were first-timers; the rest were resitting, and resit pass rates generally run well below June first-attempt rates. Since 2021 the November sitting has ranged between 56% and 66%, against 75% to 83% for the last three June sittings. The passing standard itself is held constant between sittings.
How many attempts do you get at the GPhC registration assessment?
Three. You must pass both parts in the same sitting, and a failed sitting uses a full attempt even if you passed one paper. Withdrawing before the sitting does not use an attempt, and verified exceptional circumstances raised promptly through the GPhC's formal process can stop a sitting counting. After a third unsuccessful attempt you cannot register without requalifying through an accredited course.
Is there a separate pass rate for OSPAP candidates?
No. Every trainee sits the identical Common Registration Assessment — same papers, same pass marks, same attempt limit — and the GPhC's per-sitting results are broken down by attempt number, not training route. The risks for OSPAP graduates are structural: less time with the BNF, UK law learned in one year rather than four, and UK-specific calculation conventions that punish overseas question banks.
What are the pass marks for Part 1 and Part 2?
They change every sitting. A standard-setting panel fixes them after the exam using a modified Angoff method, so the standard stays constant while the mark moves with question difficulty. In June 2025 the pass marks were 24 out of 40 for Part 1 and 79 out of 120 for Part 2; in November 2024 they were 28 and 82. Treat past marks as reference points and aim well above them.
If your route to the GPhC register runs through OSPAP and the Common Registration Assessment, the data says one thing clearly: protect your first attempt. Global Pathways helps overseas pharmacists plan the whole journey — OSPAP eligibility checks, university applications and exam-focused preparation. Book a free consultation.