Booking the GPhC Registration Assessment: Eligibility, Deadlines and Fees

Who can apply

You must be an approved foundation trainee pharmacist. The rules about when you may apply depend on when your foundation training started and on your Statutory Education Body. Northern Ireland trainees need at least 39 weeks of training completed by the assessment date. In the June 2025 example, applicants for the Great Britain sitting also needed 39 weeks of training completed by the closing date and a satisfactory week-39 progress report.

To register as a pharmacist you must also meet other criteria beyond passing the assessment. The GPhC pages we read do not set those out, so check the registration section of the GPhC website once you pass. If you are qualified outside Great Britain and following a different route, confirm with the GPhC that you are entitled to sit the assessment before you pay anything.

The application process, step by step

1. Check the sitting page. The GPhC publishes a page for each sitting with the date, the application window and the key deadlines. Bookmark it and note the dates in your calendar, with a reminder a week before each.
2. Decide on adjustments first. If you need reasonable adjustments for a disability, a health condition or another reason, apply before the adjustment deadline. In June 2025 it fell on 24 February, about ten weeks before the application deadline of 6 May.
3. Complete the application. Use your myGPhC account. Northern Ireland trainees apply through the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland.
4. Pay the fee. The fee is non-refundable. A new fee applies if you re-apply after a nullification.
5. Wait for approval. For June 2025, approval was notified through myGPhC by 13 May. The notification confirms you can sit.
6. Check your test centre. You are allocated the closest available centre to the address on your myGPhC account. There is a short window to change it in the scheduler, so check the address first.

The GPhC contact for the assessment is regexam@pharmacyregulation.org, with a telephone number of 0203 713 8000 on its assessment page. For Northern Ireland, contact the Society.

Dates: what is confirmed

The assessment is usually held twice a year, in summer (June) and autumn (November), on one agreed date for all candidates. These sittings are confirmed from GPhC pages and results announcements.

Third-party trackers list a November 2026 sitting and a June date still to be confirmed. We do not rely on them. If you are planning a gap between finishing training and sitting, base the plan on the GPhC page, not on a calendar site.

The June 2025 timeline as a template

Because the sitting follows a pattern, the 2025 timeline is useful for working backwards. If the June 2026 or June 2027 schedule is similar, the application window would open in early spring and close roughly seven weeks before the exam. Do not treat the following as the schedule for any other year.

Fees

The GPhC regulations state that a non-refundable application fee applies for each sitting. They also state that a new fee applies if you re-apply after a nullification. The amount is not set out in the regulations text we read, and the GPhC site was in maintenance when we last checked. We therefore do not quote a figure. Look at the sitting page, and budget for a fee at every sitting you attempt.

Because the fee is non-refundable, it matters when you withdraw. Withdrawing from a sitting does not count as an attempt, which protects your limit of three sittings, but it does not return the money. That makes the decision a mix of readiness and cost: do not apply for a sitting you know you will not be ready for, and do not stay in a sitting when illness makes a pass unlikely without first speaking to the GPhC.

• Other costs to plan. Travel to the test centre, accommodation if the nearest centre is far, time off work, and revision materials.
• Not included here. Registration fees after you pass, which are set separately by the GPhC.
• Our own pricing. MedPass UK pricing is on the pricing page, and no figures are quoted in this guide.

Attempts and the time limit

You may sit the assessment up to three times within the registration time limit. You are not guaranteed three sittings, because the time limit also applies. Withdrawing from a sitting does not count as an attempt. Read the current regulations for how the limit is counted in your case, and ask the GPhC if your situation is unusual, for example after a break in training.

Test centres and the day itself

Delivery is on computer at Surpass-partnered test centres across the UK. There is no paper option and no remote option. The GPhC has a contract for test-centre delivery that runs to 2029. You sit at the allocated centre on the agreed date, with approved photo ID. Our exam day guide covers permitted items, the break between parts and a routine for each part.

Special circumstances

Three situations in the regulations are worth knowing before they happen.

• Reasonable adjustments. These have their own deadline, set earlier than the application deadline. Arranging supporting evidence can take weeks, so start as soon as you know you will sit.
• Misconduct. If a finding of misconduct is made, there is a short window to appeal, which the regulations give as 14 days. Follow the instructions in the decision letter at once.
• Nullification. The GPhC can nullify a sitting in some circumstances, in the circumstances the regulations set out. A nullification decision cannot be appealed, and a new fee applies if you re-apply.

Illness or circumstances that you knew about before the sitting are not grounds for an appeal. If you are not fit to sit, withdraw before the day and keep your evidence.

Timing your first sitting

Most trainees sit in the first sitting after completing their training year, but eligibility depends on your training start date, so the choice between June and November is not always free. If you have both options, weigh three things. First, how many weeks of structured revision you can protect before each date. Second, whether your work pattern changes in the weeks before the exam. Third, the closing date, which arrives about seven weeks before a June sitting and so lands in the middle of your revision.

Reported pass rates differ between summer and autumn, but they are not a reason to choose one. Choose the sitting you can prepare for properly. A prepared candidate in November is better placed than an under-prepared candidate in June, and a withdrawn sitting does not use an attempt, though the fee is lost.

Questions to ask the GPhC before you apply

Email regexam@pharmacyregulation.org if any of the following is unclear. Keep the reply, because rules are applied to the written position.

• Does my training start date mean I am eligible for this sitting?
• Which of my documents count as evidence for the 39-week milestone?
• How many sittings do I have left within my registration time limit?
• Do I need an adjustment, and what evidence is required by the deadline?

A booking checklist

• Confirm eligibility and your 39-week date against the sitting page.
• Note the adjustment, application and approval dates in your calendar.
• Check your myGPhC address, because it drives your centre allocation.
• Budget for the fee and for travel.
• Decide, before the closing date, whether you are ready, using a timed mock and the study plan.
• Read the pass mark and scoring guide so you know what a result means.

Back to the GPhC registration assessment hub. If you do not pass, read resits and what to do after the exam.