GPhC Registration Assessment

Seminar
A feedback review
GPhC Feedback
September assessment 1
st
sitters more likely to fail
Pass rate historically stable so below 80% not a
problem
Reduction in pass rate due to use of whole syllabus
MEP, DT and standards documents will not be re-
introduced
March edition of BNF will be used from now on
No bias between community and hospital
Any legal/clinical/policy changes that take place up to
6 weeks before the exam are examinable
Exam Content
GPhC will not provide a % breakdown for topic areas

What do we know
20% of the exam based on paediatrics
May be more paediatrics in calculations section
All areas of the syllabus covered
Focus on decision making!
Exam Content
Questions longer than before
More patient focused
Decision making based on scenarios
Pick most likely/most appropriate/best answer
Questions checked to ensure not contradictory
Calculations may appear in closed and open books in
addition to calculations section
Exam Content
Closed book
26 simple completion
21 classification
24 multiple completion
19 assertion reason
Open book
20 simple completion
12 classification
16 multiple completion
12 assertion reason
+ 20 Calculation questions

Exam Content
Writing style
No highlighting of key words
Positive statements where possible
Answers in ascending or descending order
No capitals at beginning of options unless brand names
All questions will have a stem, key and distractors
Completion of part statements is avoided.
Medical terminology used
Abbreviations explained unless in BNF
Exam Content
Papers checked for response patterns and removed if
identified
Breakdown of syllabus will be same for open and
closed papers
Interaction between questions removed
Marker questions included to check performance
against previous cohorts

Exam Content and Review
Question options will not be mutually exclusive
Drugs used should be contemporary to practice
Knowledge expected to be able to make decisions
Commonly used drug and common side effects are
fair game
All questions are reviewed after the exam
Questions that are wrong, ambiguous too easy or too
hard are removed (not many)
If you think a question is wrong, challenge
invigilators!
Legal vs Ethics
If a question had a patient scenario where the legal
and ethical responses contradicted each other,
should you go for the legal answer or patient safety
answer?

Board of assessors response: (Mair Davies)
The question would be removed from the assessment
in the approval stage as there are opposing answers,
both of which could be right. It would not make the
final paper.
Exam Answer Sheet
What do I need to do to pass?
70% overall on both papers (aggregate marks)
119 / 170 questions overall
70% overall on calculations
14 / 20 questions overall

Calculations result forms part of the overall mark
If 70% on closed and 100% on calcs need 60% on
open for minimum pass!
GPhC advice for exam preparation
Sample and Past papers
Do not revise/memorise past papers
Sample papers prior to 2012 likely to be out of date
Do not cover full exam syllabus

Review whole of syllabus and performance standards
Dont question spot or avoid revising areas as will
fail.


GPhC advice for exam preparation
Annotation of books
Annotation allowed
Not information direct from textbooks
No inserts or cut and pastes
Highlighting and tabs ok
Focus of exam is application so less risk of cheating
Decision on what is acceptable will be pragmatic
Invigilators may remove resources for review




Day 1 Pharmacist Standard?
Trainees who pass the exam meet this standard
Virtually impossible to define
GPhC will not define specifically

Identifying the required standard
Assessment syllabus
Professional standards
Learning outcomes
Educational standards and outcomes
Adjustments to Assessments
Adjustments for disability / ILP are available
Onus on trainee to request adjustment
Evidence required
Must remain Fit to Sit
Appeals and Remarking
Appeals
Fit to sit declaration appeals unsuccessful
Appeals based on being close to the pass mark
always fail.

Remarks
Allowed at trainee request for a fee
Exam marked electronically
Error rate negligible
All fails remarked by hand