The number of students passing the summer pharmacist registration exam is the lowest it has been since 2019, figures published today have revealed.

Just 75% of trainee pharmacists passed the common registration assessment for pharmacists this year, held jointly by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) and Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

This year's pass rate is lower than the 77% that passed last summer, which was down from 80% in summer 2022, and 82% in 2021.

No summer assessments took place in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Prior to that, pass rates had dropped even lower to 72% in 2019, from 79% in 2018 and 78% in 2017.

A total of 2,776 candidates sat the registration assessment on 25 June 2024, with 2,081 candidates passing the assessment.

Commenting on this year's results, Duncan Rudkin, chief executive of the GPhC, congratulated the candidates who had passed.

And he added: 'The registration assessment is one of the ways we test trainee pharmacists to ensure they understand how to apply knowledge appropriately and in a timely way. This means they can make professional judgements when practising.

'For those who unfortunately didn’t pass the assessment, there are a range of options available, with all the relevant information on the June 2024 registration assessment page.'

Support for students who did not pass

Mr Rudkin pointed disappointed or struggling students to the charity Pharmacist Support, which provides help with mental health and wellbeing as well as practical advice on steps like re-sits and appeals.

The Pharmacist Support website said it was 'only natural' to feel disappointed if trainees had failed the assessment.

Concerns around training and assessment

A recent report from the Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) highlighted as many as 40 percentage points difference between registration assessment pass rates of students from different pharmacy schools over the last five years.

It also raised concerns around the ‘huge’ attainment gap for black-African students, which it said has been ‘consistently below’ that of other groups for over a decade.