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Questions from this summer’s professional registration assessment with advice about possible pitfalls and what the examiners are looking for have been released for the first time by the General Pharmaceutical Council’s (GPhC) independent board of assessors.
The move is an attempt by the professional regulator to help preregistration trainees who sat the two papers in June 2015 to reflect on their answers and help them identify how they can improve in the future.
It comes only weeks after this summer’s candidates and some of their tutors complained that the questions were too difficult and failed to reflect current practice. This summer the pass rate fell to 74% — the lowest for three years.
Source: General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)
GPhC chief executive Duncan Rudkin hopes publishing some exam questions will help preregistration trainees understand what is expected from them
“We hope that the board’s decision to publish a number of questions from the papers, as well as the learning points for each question, will help preregistration trainees to improve their understanding of what is expected from candidates and reflect on how they can best prepare to sit the assessment,” says GPhC chief executive Duncan Rudkin.
The GPhC has also written to the British Pharmaceutical Students Association (BPSA), which took up the trainees’ complaints with the professional regulator.
The letter directs the BPSA to the GPhC website where it has published flowcharts explaining how the papers are set and the pass mark agreed.
The report into this summer’s exam by the board of assessors will be considered by the GPhC at its meeting next month. It will be published and given to the BPSA on 7 September 2015.
