Shutterstock.com
The percentage of pharmacist trainees who passed the registration assessment in September 2015 was 64% — three percentage points higher than the September 2014 pass rate, according to data released by the professional regulator on 23 October 2015.
The pass rate for first-time candidates was 56%, rising to 69% for trainees sitting the assessment for the second time, and dropping to 52% for those facing their third attempt, according to the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).
GPhC chief executive Duncan Rudkin says the assessment is an “important tool” in judging who can join the professional register.
The overall figure was lower than the 69% pass rate for the assessment in September 2013.
The GPhC told The Pharmaceutical Journal that it is reviewing the data it publishes about the registration assessment. The decision follows the release of more information about the June 2015 assessment after two freedom of information requests from a registrant and a member of the public.
“These data were published as part of our commitment to use the knowledge gained from our regulatory services in order to promote improvement in the quality of pharmacy care and services,” says a GPhC spokesperson. “We continue to review what information we will publish both in relation to the registration assessment, as well as wider regulatory data.”
On 9 October 2015, the GPhC published anonymised individual candidate results according to their pharmacy school and the following week new information appeared on its website listing the pass rates for each training provider with more than 13 trainees.
