Failed or Passed the GPhC Registration Assessment? What Happens Next

What your result tells you

The GPhC, or the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland for Northern Ireland candidates, sends results individually. Each result shows the pass mark for the sitting, your mark in each part and the overall outcome. For November 2024, results were issued on 16 December 2024, about five weeks after the sitting on 12 November.

Take the information in order. Check the overall outcome first. Then look at the mark for each part against the pass mark. If one part is close and the other is well below, the next plan is lopsided on purpose. If both are close, the issue is probably breadth or timing.

If you passed

You have met the assessment requirement. Registration with the GPhC has its own criteria beyond the assessment, and the GPhC explains them on its registration pages, which we do not reproduce here. Check that your training records are complete and that you meet every other requirement before you assume you are on the register. Keep your result notice with your records.

If you did not pass

Most people feel flat for a few days. That is normal. Give yourself a short break, then treat the result as data. Reported pass rates show that many resit candidates do pass: in summer 2025, the reported second-attempt pass rate was 53%, and in autumn 2025 it was 68%. These are not predictions, but they show that a second attempt is a realistic route when the plan changes.

Step 1: understand your attempts

Up to three sittings are allowed within the registration time limit. You are not guaranteed three. Withdrawing from a sitting before it takes place does not count as an attempt. Check the current regulations, and ask the GPhC if your case is unusual, for example if you have had a break in training or a sitting was nullified.

Step 2: decide which part to fix

Note that a pass in one part does not remove the need to pass both at the same sitting, as described in pass mark and scoring. Check the current regulations for how any earlier result is treated at your next sitting.

Step 3: change the method, not only the hours

• Find the cause of each loss. Use a log with categories: unit conversion, method, misread stem, knowledge gap, law detail, timing.
• Move to timed practice sooner. Many resit candidates know more than their score shows. The gap is timing and exam technique.
• Revise by weighting. Re-focus on the high-weighted therapeutic areas, the high-risk drug groups and the law numbers before low-weighted topics.
• Add a daily calculation habit if you have not got one.
• Choose a plan to match the time you have. The study plan gives 8, 12 and 16-week versions.

Step 4: plan the next application

Check the sitting page for the next dates, the adjustment deadline and the application window. If you need reasonable adjustments, make that request first. A non-refundable fee applies to each sitting, and a new fee applies if you re-apply after a nullification. Our booking and fees guide sets out the process.

Appeals, queries and errors

The GPhC says published results are final. 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. This is worth knowing, because it saves you from spending weeks on a request that cannot succeed.

• Appeals against a fail. Only on procedural grounds or exceptional circumstances, using the specified form and by the deadline. Illness or circumstances you knew about before the sitting are not grounds.
• Misconduct findings. Appeals have a short deadline, given in the regulations as 14 days.
• Nullification. Decisions on nullification cannot be appealed.

If you think something went wrong on the day, such as a technical failure, write to the GPhC quickly and keep any evidence. Read the regulations on appeals before you write, so that your submission uses the language of the grounds.

A four-stage recovery plan

Use the weeks between the result and the next application window deliberately. A simple four-stage structure works for most candidates.

1. Days 1 to 7: rest and reset. No revision. Sleep, exercise and see people. Write down, while it is fresh, what the day felt like: where you ran short of time, which question types unsettled you, whether the calculator or the screen caused problems.
2. Weeks 2 to 3: diagnose. Sit a timed baseline of 40 calculations and 60 mixed multiple-choice questions. Score Part 1 and Part 2 separately. Sort every miss by cause. Compare the pattern with the notes you made in week one.
3. Weeks 4 onward: rebuild. Choose an 8, 12 or 16-week plan according to the weeks to the sitting. Put the weakest part first in each week. Keep a short daily calculation routine whichever part is weaker, because it protects Part 1.
4. Last three weeks: simulate. Full timed papers with the real calculator and the real break. Practise the arrangements, from the travel to the permitted items.

Rebuilding Part 1

If the calculations paper decided the result, your plan is a method project. Work through the twelve topics in the framework, and for each one write a model solution with units on every line. Practise typed answers with no options, since a bank that offers options hides the exact error you made on the day. Add a weekly timed set of ten at three minutes each. Review the cause of each miss: a conversion slip needs a conversion drill, a missed rounding instruction needs a habit of underlining it, and a method gap needs the topic relearned. The calculations paper guide has the routine.

Rebuilding Part 2

If Part 2 decided the result, the cause is usually one of three things: knowledge gaps in the high-weighted therapeutic areas, imprecise law, or pace. Test pace first, because it is cheapest to fix. Time yourself on sets of 30 questions at 75 seconds each. If you finish with ample time and still miss questions, the cause is knowledge, and the error log will show which domain. If you run out of time, practise reading the question line first and flagging long stems. Then work through the high-yield topics and the law and guidelines, because they are compact and their numbers are exact.

Questions to settle before you rebook

• How many sittings do I have left within the registration time limit?
• When are the adjustment, application and approval dates for the next sitting?
• Is my training evidence, such as the week-39 progress report, in place for the next window?
• Can I protect enough revision weeks before the date, given my rota?
• Do I need reasonable adjustments, and have I started the evidence?
• What will I do differently from last time, in one sentence?

If you cannot answer the last question, wait for the sitting after. A fee is non-refundable, and a third attempt is not guaranteed to be available.

Looking after yourself

A fail at the end of a training year can feel like a verdict on your training. It is not. The assessment is a particular test, set to a standard that moves with each paper, and the reported pass rates show that many capable candidates do not pass at the first or second attempt. Speak to your tutor, your employer, your university or a colleague. If your mood is low for more than a few days, talk to your GP.

Staying in touch with the GPhC

Keep your myGPhC contact details current and read every email about your application, because deadlines and decisions are sent there.

If you are changing plans

Some candidates use a gap to work, earn and revise at a steady pace. Others need a different route for personal reasons. Whatever you decide, check how the registration time limit applies to you before you commit, and ask the GPhC if you are not sure. It is easier to ask first than to find out after a deadline.

Return to the GPhC registration assessment hub, or start planning your next attempt with high-yield topics.