Just 58% of trainee pharmacists passed the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)'s national registration assessment this November, the regulator has announced.

This brings the pass rates back down almost to November 2022 levels of 56%, following a 10% rise to 66% in November 2023.

And it comes as summer pass rates have seen a steady decline since the pandemic.

This year's November assessment was the largest autumn sitting in recent years, with 1,125 candidates taking the GPhC registration assessment - up from 1,067 last year.

Nearly half (46%) were taking the assessment for the first time this November, while 44% were undertaking their second attempt and 9% their third.

Around half of each of these groups passed the assessment, with 269 first time sitters passing, 324 second time sitters passing, and 57 third time sitters passing.

Chief strategy officer at the GPhC, Louise Edwards, congratulated those who passed the registration assessment.

'We look forward to welcoming you onto our register and wish you every success in your future career,' she said.

And she highlighted GPhC resources for those who did not pass at this sitting.

Ms Edwards added: 'The pass mark for candidates was set in the same way as usual, where the pass mark is based on the difficulty of papers to ensure the standard across different years. The overall pass rate is one of the lower we’ve seen for the November sitting.'

Wellbeing charity Pharmacist Support has also shared guidance for those who have failed the assessment, saying: 'Feelings of anger and disappointment are common. Take some time out to relax with friends and family, and don’t be embarrassed about feeling upset.'

And it highlighted its Listening Friends service and cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) techniques that trainees might find helpful.

Board of assessors highlights clinical and calculation issues in GPhC November assessment

Feedback from the board of assessors highlighted particular issues around the way candidates rounded numbers during their calculations, 'did not not follow specific rounding instructions stated in the question' or 'failed to apply knowledge of the practicalities of providing a specific dose'.

The assessors also said that questions around cardiovascular conditions, drug interactions, patient safety and adverse effects were answered 'less well' during part two of the assessment.

And they highlighted other topics answered 'less well', saying that trainee pharmacists should know:

  • the different insulin preparations and their time action profiles,
  • how to treat common respiratory conditions, including acute and chronic asthma in
    both adults and children,
  • how to advise on common conditions that may present in the pharmacy, including safety-netting,
  • how to advise on pain management,
  • how to advise on the use of medicines in breastfeeding,
  • how to find information efficiently within documents such as a summary of product characteristics (SmPC).