Choose the plan by the weeks you have left, not by how confident you feel. Sixteen weeks allows two passes through the blueprint. Twelve weeks allows one full pass and a long mock phase. Eight weeks needs strict triage: daily calculations, the high-weighted therapeutic areas, law numbers and three full mocks. In every version, Part 1 calculations get practice most days, because Part 1 is a separate pass requirement.
Before you pick a plan
The registration assessment asks for 160 items across 270 minutes, in two parts you must pass at the same sitting. That structure drives the plan. You are not revising one subject. You are training two skills: a reliable method for 40 typed calculations, and fast, safe judgement across 120 multiple-choice items at about 75 seconds each.
Count the real weeks between today and your sitting, then subtract any week in which you will work nights, take leave or be away. Plan on that number. If you have nine weeks, use the eight-week plan and keep the spare week for catching up. If you have ten or eleven, use the twelve-week plan and compress the first phase.
Two rules apply to every version.
- Calculations most days. Twenty to thirty minutes. Short and frequent beats a long weekly block, because most errors are habits of method.
- Keep an error log from day one. For each miss, record the cause (unit conversion, wrong formula, misread stem, knowledge gap, law detail, rushed). Review the log weekly. The pattern of causes tells you where the next week goes.
The GPhC does not publish topic percentages. Our domain weights are editorial and are used here for planning only. The GPhC does publish weighting bands: high-weighted outcomes about 60 to 70% of questions, medium 25 to 35%, low up to 10%. High-weighted therapeutic areas are cardiovascular, nervous system, endocrine and infection.
The sixteen-week plan
This is the comfortable version. It lets you learn each area, then return to it. Aim for about 8 to 10 hours a week alongside work.
| Weeks | Focus | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| 1-2 | Map and baseline | Read the GPhC specification and framework. Sit a timed mixed set of 50 questions and a 20-question calculation set. Build the error log. Start the daily calculation routine. |
| 3-6 | High-weighted therapeutics | Cardiovascular, nervous system, endocrine, infection. One area every week, with children, renal impairment and interactions attached to each. End each week with 30 mixed questions. |
| 7-9 | Medium and low areas | Genito-urinary, gastro-intestinal, respiratory, blood, nutrition, immune and malignant disease, then musculoskeletal, skin, eye, ear, nose, oropharynx and anaesthesia. Short weeks, more questions. |
| 10-11 | Law, ethics and clinical evaluation | Controlled drugs, emergency supply, prescription validity, responsible pharmacist, GPhC standards. Prescription review and medicines optimisation. |
| 12 | Consolidation | Revisit the three weakest domains from the error log. Re-sit the baseline set and compare. |
| 13-15 | Timed mocks | One full-length paper a week under exam timings, calculator in hand, then a full review. Fix causes, not just topics. |
| 16 | Taper | Light revision of the error log, high-risk drugs and conversions. Check test-centre travel and permitted items. No new topics. |
The twelve-week plan
This is the standard version. Aim for 10 to 12 hours a week. You cover each area once, in blocks, and spend a third of the time on practice papers.
| Weeks | Focus | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Map and baseline | Specification, framework, a timed mixed set, a calculation set and the error log. |
| 2-5 | High-weighted therapeutics | One area a week: cardiovascular, nervous system, endocrine, infection. Fifty questions per area, mixed with calculations that use the same drugs. |
| 6-7 | Remaining therapeutics | Two to three areas a week from the medium and low bands. Use the domain pages as checklists. |
| 8 | Law and professional practice | Controlled drugs, supply rules, prescription validity, standards and governance. |
| 9 | Clinical evaluation | Prescription review, monitoring, high-risk drugs, evidence and test interpretation. |
| 10-11 | Timed mocks | Two full papers with review. Rework every missed calculation from scratch. |
| 12 | Taper | Error log, conversions, high-risk drugs, logistics. |
The eight-week plan
This is the triage version. You will not cover everything in depth, so choose deliberately. Aim for 12 to 15 hours a week, and accept that low-weighted areas get only a skim.
| Weeks | Focus | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baseline and calculations | A timed mixed set. Twelve calculation topics from the framework, one or two a day. |
| 2-3 | High-weighted therapeutics | Two areas a week. Prioritise the high-risk drug list: anticoagulants, antihypertensives, insulins and antidiabetics, antibiotics, opioids, valproate, methotrexate, NSAIDs. |
| 4 | Law numbers | Controlled drug schedules, validity periods, prescription requirements, emergency supply, responsible pharmacist. |
| 5 | Clinical evaluation plus medium areas | Prescription review in practice, then genito-urinary, gastro-intestinal, respiratory and blood. |
| 6-7 | Mocks | Three timed papers across the two weeks, each followed by a full review. |
| 8 | Taper | Error log and conversions only. |
A weekly rhythm that survives shifts
Trainees rarely get a clean evening. Build a rhythm of small units that you can slot around a rota.
- Daily: calculations, 20 to 30 minutes. Two or three problems, then check your method against the answer, not only the number.
- Three sessions a week: topic study, 60 to 90 minutes. Learn from the BNF, BNFc and NICE guidance for the week's area. Write the key numbers on one page.
- Two sessions a week: questions, 40 to 60 minutes. Do 30 to 40 questions untimed first, then timed once you are accurate.
- Weekly review, 45 minutes. Read the error log. Pick one cause to fix next week.
- Once every two weeks: a long block. A full part under real timings. In the mock phase, this becomes a full paper each week.
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The daily calculation routine in detail
Part 1 is 40 typed answers, so the routine trains the whole chain: read, choose a method, convert, calculate, round and sense-check. A simple weekly rotation covers the framework's calculation topics without leaving gaps.
- Monday: doses and dose regimens, including mg/kg and divided daily doses.
- Tuesday: unit conversions and concentrations (percentage w/v, w/w, v/v and 1 in x).
- Wednesday: infusion rates and unit-based dosing such as insulin and heparin.
- Thursday: kidney function estimates, displacement values and dilutions.
- Friday: pharmacokinetics, health economics and quantities to supply.
- Saturday: a mixed set of ten, timed at three minutes each.
- Sunday: rest, or review the week's wrong answers.
Write the unit on every line of working. Check that the answer has a plausible size before you type it. Always apply the rounding instruction in the stem, even when your unrounded answer looks tidy. These three habits remove most avoidable losses.
A template for one topic session
A 90-minute topic session works best in four parts. Spend 10 minutes recalling what you already know about the area, without notes. Spend 40 minutes learning the gaps from the BNF, BNFc and NICE guidance. Spend 30 minutes on questions, and finish with 10 minutes writing a one-page summary of doses, monitoring, interactions and counselling points. The recall step feels slow and is the part that makes revision stick.
What a good mock looks like
Sit Part 1 as 40 problems in 120 minutes, typing answers, with the calculator you will use on the day. Take a break, then sit Part 2 as 120 items in 150 minutes. Keep to the timings. The point is not the score. It is finding out where time goes and which errors survive pressure.
After the mock, review every item, including the ones you got right by guessing. Group errors by cause. Typical findings are that most Part 1 losses are conversions and rounding, and most Part 2 losses are misread stems and law numbers. Those are fixable in two weeks, which is why mocks start early enough to matter.
Do not compare your mock percentage with the real pass mark. The standard is set for each sitting by the Board of Assessors, so a mock score is a trend line for you, not a forecast. Read pass mark and scoring for how that works.
Fitting in what the exam tests but revision lists miss
- Children. About one question in five relates to paediatric patients. Revise a BNFc dose for each drug you learn, and practise weight-based and body-surface-area calculations.
- Resources in the stem. Practise reading a label, an SPC extract or a dosing table quickly. Up to 25% of questions can include such resources.
- Extended matching sets. Fifteen sets of two questions share eight options. Practise reading the option list first.
- Local pathways. Pharmacy First, the New Medicine Service and the Community Pharmacist Consultation Service sit inside the NHS community pharmacy content. See UK law and guidelines you must know.
If you fall behind
You will lose a week to a rota change or illness. Do not squeeze the missed week into the next one. Drop the lowest-weighted topic and keep the calculation routine, the mocks and the error log. Revision that protects those three still covers most of what the paper rewards.
If you are re-sitting, change the plan, not just the effort. Use your results letter, which gives your mark for each part, to decide whether Part 1 or Part 2 needs most of the time. The guide to resits and what to do after the exam explains how.
Sit a timed GPhC Registration Assessment mock exam
Blueprint-weighted questions under exam timing, then a breakdown of your result by domain.
Return to the GPhC registration assessment hub for format and booking, or read high-yield topics to choose what to cut in the eight-week plan.
Frequently asked questions
How long should I revise for the GPhC registration assessment?
Most trainees plan for 8 to 16 weeks alongside work. Sixteen weeks allows two passes through the blueprint. Eight weeks works only with strict prioritisation. Count real weeks, minus leave and night shifts.
How many hours a week should I study?
As a guide, 8 to 10 hours a week on a 16-week plan, 10 to 12 on a 12-week plan and 12 to 15 on an 8-week plan. Quality matters more: timed questions with a reviewed error log beat passive reading.
Should I do calculations every day?
Yes, for 20 to 30 minutes. Part 1 is a separate pass requirement, and calculation errors are mostly habits of method, which short daily practice fixes better than a weekly block.
When should I start full mock papers?
In the last three to four weeks for a 12 or 16-week plan, and in the last two weeks for an 8-week plan. Start earlier with half papers if you have a very slow pace in Part 2.
What if I am resitting?
Use your result letter, which shows your mark for each part, to decide where the time goes. Change the method as well as the hours, for example by starting full mocks sooner and logging error causes.