A total of 2666 candidates sat the registration assessment on 17 and 18 March 2021, with 2352 candidates who passed the assessment; an overall pass rate of 88.2%. Since 2011, pass rates for the registration assessment have ranged from 72% to 95%.
1310 candidates sat the assessment on 17 March, with a pass rate of 90.2%. On 18 March, 1356 candidates sat the assessment, with a pass rate of 86.4%.
The registration assessment was postponed from June 2020 and moved online, in response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The full analysis from the March 2021 registration assessment will be discussed by the GPhC Council later this month.
GPhC Chief Executive Duncan Rudkin said:
“Congratulations to the candidates who passed our recent online registration assessment. This truly is a great achievement, particularly given the challenges these candidates faced. I also want to thank the tutors, education and training providers and employers who supported candidates throughout this extremely difficult year.
“We know that candidates who haven’t passed this sitting will be very disappointed. We hope the guidance we have developed will help them understand their options for next steps and are grateful to all of the organisations and individuals across pharmacy who will also provide them with support and advice.
“We expect there are a number of factors that may have contributed to this relatively high pass rate. This year has obviously been very different compared to previous years and it is not possible to determine with any degree of certainty which factors would have had the most significant impact.
“We are confident that we have maintained the overall standard required to pass both sittings and that all successful candidates have suitably demonstrated the knowledge, skills and experience needed to practise safely and effectively. We wish the successful candidates all the best in their future careers.”