GPhC Pass Mark vs Pass Rate: How the Registration Assessment Is Scored

Pass mark is not pass rate

Search results for "GPhC pass mark" are dominated by news stories about the pass rate. They are different measures. The pass mark is the score a candidate needs. The pass rate is the share of candidates who reached it. The first is set before the sitting by judging the paper. The second is known only after the results.

This matters for how you read the news. A high pass rate does not mean the paper was easy for you, and a low one does not mean the standard moved up. The cohort, the difficulty of the questions and the pass mark all change from sitting to sitting.

How the standard is set

The GPhC says the numerical pass mark is not fixed. Since 2016 it has been set before each sitting by judging the difficulty of each question, so that the same level of competence is required whether the paper is slightly harder or slightly easier. A Board of Assessors maintains the standard, and results are awarded through a published Mark Awarding Algorithm.

The practical result is a pass mark that moves. Trade-press reports of earlier years put the average June pass mark between 63% and 70%. One recent Part 1 pass score was reported as 25 out of 40, or 62.5%. Treat those numbers as a range of what has happened, not as a target. No official number tells you what the next sitting will need.

Two parts, two gates

The assessment has two parts. Part 1 is 40 calculations with typed numerical answers. Part 2 is 120 multiple-choice questions, made up of 90 single best answer questions and 30 questions in 15 extended matching sets. You must reach the standard in both parts in the same sitting. The GPhC issues a mark for each part as well as the overall outcome.

The consequence is plain. Strong clinical knowledge does not compensate for weak calculations, and fast arithmetic does not compensate for weak judgement. Check the current regulations for how a partial result is treated at your next sitting, because rules for carrying results forward should be read from the GPhC and not from a forum.

What one mark is worth

Every item carries one mark, whether it is a 30-second law recall or a four-step infusion calculation. No marks are deducted for wrong answers or omissions. That has three effects.

• Always answer. A blank scores zero, and a guess might score one. Flag and return, but never submit with gaps.
• Spend time evenly. Part 1 allows three minutes a question, and Part 2 allows 75 seconds. A hard calculation that takes eight minutes costs you two other calculations.
• Choose method over perfection. If you cannot finish a long problem, go on. An easy item later is worth exactly the same.

Part 1 is 40 items, so one calculation is 2.5% of that part. Part 2 is 120 items, so a question is under 1% of it. A weak Part 1 therefore moves your outcome faster per item, which is a good reason for the daily routine in our study plan.

What we know about recent pass rates

The GPhC reported a 58% overall pass rate for November 2024, with 667 of 1,146 candidates passing. Trade-press reports of GPhC figures put summer 2025 at 77% (2,247 of 2,913 candidates) and autumn 2025, sat on 11 November, at 61.5%.

The pattern is that summer and autumn are not directly comparable. Across a longer run, summer sittings have ranged from about 72% (2019) to 82% (2021), and November sittings from 56% to 66% since 2021. Do not infer that one sitting is easier. Different cohorts sit them, and the standard is set by the paper.

Results and what they show

The GPhC or the Society (in Northern Ireland) sends results to each candidate individually. The notice shows the pass mark, your mark for each part and the overall outcome. For the November 2024 sitting (12 November), results were issued on 16 December 2024, about five weeks later. Dates for later sittings should be read from the GPhC sitting page.

Published results are final. The GPhC says marks are not reviewable and a candidate cannot request a re-mark. Its quality assurance document states that no candidate marks have been changed in quality assurance since 2011. Appeals are possible only on procedural grounds or exceptional circumstances, on the specified form and by the deadline. Illness or circumstances that you knew about before the sitting are not grounds, and nullification decisions cannot be appealed.

Common misreadings of the figures

• "The pass mark is 70%." Some older reports put average June pass marks near that level, but nothing fixes it. It is set per sitting.
• "Summer is easier." Summer pass rates have run higher over several years, but different cohorts sit each date, and the standard is applied to the paper rather than to the season.
• "I only need to be good at one part." Both parts must be passed, so a weak part is the limiting factor.
• "A high first-time pass rate means resits are hopeless." The reported second-attempt rate was 53% in summer 2025 and 68% in autumn 2025, so resit outcomes vary a great deal and are not a fixed handicap.

Quality assurance behind the result

The GPhC publishes a document on how marking and results are quality assured. In short, it sets out checks on the marking and on the issue of results before they are released, with the pass mark applied through the Mark Awarding Algorithm. The GPhC states that no candidate marks have been changed in quality assurance since 2011. The practical point for you is that a result is stable. Spend your energy on the next sitting, not on trying to reopen the last one.

If something went wrong on the day, such as a technical fault at the centre, tell the invigilator at the time and write to the GPhC promptly. The regulations separate circumstances you could not have known about from those you could, and the first category is the only one that can support an appeal.

A note on numbers you will see elsewhere

Revision sites quote average pass marks and "cut scores" with great confidence. Many are drawn from historic trade-press reports of June sittings, which sit in a band of about 63 to 70% from 2011 to 2016, or from a single recent sitting. They are interesting history. They are not rules, and the GPhC itself gives no expected pass mark. The only reliable figure for your sitting is the one printed on your own result, after the event.

Using your mark for each part

Your result letter is data. If you passed Part 2 and missed Part 1 by a few marks, the next sitting is a calculation project. If the reverse, it is a clinical-judgement project and, probably, a time-management one. If both were short, rebuild the plan from the blueprint. The guide to resits and what to do after the exam gives a method.

How to use mock scores honestly

A mock percentage is useful in three ways: it shows a trend across your own papers, it shows which part is dragging, and it shows whether your timing holds. It is not useful as a pass or fail prediction, because our items are written independently and our difficulty is not calibrated to a GPhC standard.

• Track Part 1 and Part 2 separately, never as one blended percentage.
• Track your time per item, and note the questions where you went over twice the average.
• Aim for a rising line and shrinking error log, not a magic score.
• Treat a calculation you got right with the wrong method as a miss.

For the format behind these numbers, read the GPhC registration assessment hub. For logistics, see booking and fees.