Common Registration Assessment · Resit Guide
Failed the GPhC exam? Here is what the data actually says about resitting.
Read this before you book your next sitting. Pass rates by attempt, what the Board of Assessors named as weak areas in November 2025, and how to rebuild your preparation so the second attempt is the one that lands.
Updated 12 May 2026
TL;DR — You have three attempts at the Common Registration Assessment within the GPhC’s Initial Education and Training timescales. In the November 2025 sitting, 1,174 candidates sat the exam: 60% of first-time candidates passed, 68% of second-attempt candidates passed, and 47% of third-attempt candidates passed. Second-attempt success rates are higher than first-attempt rates — resit is winnable when you treat it as a structured rebuild, not a top-up.
What the November 2025 data tells you
The General Pharmaceutical Council published results for the November 2025 Common Registration Assessment in December 2025. Of 1,174 candidates, 722 passed — an overall pass rate of 62%. The breakdown by attempt was:
- First-time candidates (602): 60% pass rate
- Second-attempt candidates (300): 68% pass rate
- Third-attempt candidates (62): 47% pass rate
The second-attempt rate being higher than first-time is not noise. Trainees who get the Board of Assessors’ feedback letter, read it properly, and rebuild their study around the named weak areas tend to do better the second time than candidates who came in cold. The third-attempt drop reflects the genuine compounding pressure of repeated revision, not that the exam gets harder.
For context, June 2025 ran higher: Part 1 passed at 24/40 (84% achieved that mark) and Part 2 at 79/120 (86% achieved that mark). The pass mark moves between sittings by design — the Board of Assessors sets it per-sitting using a modified Angoff method with a one standard-error-of-measurement adjustment, then anchors across sittings using Item Response Theory. The standard you are being held to does not move. The cut score does.
The first 48 hours after a results email
Do four things, in this order, before you do any revision.
- Read your individualised feedback letter carefully. The GPhC sends a section-by-section breakdown of where you performed weakly. It is your single most valuable document. Trainees who skip this step almost always under-prioritise the same areas the second time.
- Contact Pharmacist Support. The pharmacist profession’s independent charity runs a dedicated results page with one-to-one peer support, a confidential listening service, and financial guidance if you are facing income loss. Talking to someone in the first 48 hours makes a measurable difference.
- Check whether you have grounds for an appeal. Appeals only succeed in narrow procedural or administrative circumstances. If you suspect there was a venue or platform issue, contact the GPhC. The PDA, free for trainees, will help you assess whether an appeal is worth pursuing.
- Look at your training timescale. The 3-attempt window sits inside the GPhC’s Initial Education and Training timescales. Confirm with your designated supervisor that you have time for the next sitting; extensions can be considered with documented grounds.
Diagnosing where Part 1 went wrong
If your feedback letter says Part 1 was the failure, your fix is volume plus pattern recognition. The Board of Assessors has named the same Part 1 weak areas across June 2025 and November 2025 feedback documents. Bias your second-attempt prep towards these five patterns, in this order:
Rounding at the wrong stage
The Board of Assessors flagged this in both June 2025 and November 2025 feedback. The general rule: round individual doses to a practical quantity before totalling supply; round at the end only when the question instructs you to. For oral liquids, round to the graduation marks on the syringe the question specifies, not to two decimal places.
Displacement volumes when reconstituting powders
A consistent weak area across sittings. If a powder vial has a displacement of 0.2 mL and you add 4.8 mL of diluent, the final volume is 5.0 mL — and the final concentration is based on that 5.0 mL, not the 4.8 mL you added. Resitters who failed Part 1 often skipped displacement entirely the first time.
IV infusion rate and unit mismatches
Specifically flagged in November 2025. Watch the units in the stem: mg/kg/min vs mcg/kg/min; mg/mL vs mcg/mL; total dose vs rate per minute. Always sense-check the final number against a realistic infusion rate (typically 1–500 mL/hour for adult lines) before committing.
Dosage-form constraints
Patients cannot take part of a tablet that is not scored or part of a capsule. Ampoules are single-use. If the maths gives you 1.7 tablets or 2.3 capsules, the answer is whatever the practical rounded dose is — and a brief recalculation of duration of supply if needed.
IV bolus vs IV infusion
The administration method changes the calculation. A bolus dose is the total amount given over a short fixed time; an infusion involves rate and duration. Resit candidates often score better on one and worse on the other — practise both deliberately.
Drill these in a focused block before opening any general practice question bank. Once you can clear ten in a row on each pattern, move to mixed-format Part 1 practice. The pharmacy calculations practice section is structured around exactly these patterns.
Diagnosing where Part 2 went wrong
If your feedback letter flagged Part 2, the work is broader because the content area is broader. The Board has explicitly named the topics where November 2025 candidates underperformed:
Emergency supply and CD prescription validity
November 2025 named these as the top Part 2 weak areas. Know the patient-prompted emergency-supply conditions (which medicines are excluded, the 30-day quantity rules, the record-keeping requirements) versus prescriber-prompted emergency supply (different rules, different 72-hour prescription window). For controlled drugs, prescription validity rules — wording, quantities in words and figures, prescriber signature, 28-day validity — are testable line by line.
Prescribing in renal impairment
Flagged in November 2025. Know which drugs need dose adjustment by eGFR band, which are contraindicated below a threshold, and the difference between eGFR and creatinine clearance for dose-adjustment purposes (the BNF specifies which to use, drug by drug).
Paediatric dosing errors
Flagged in November 2025. The BNFC is non-negotiable. Weight-based dosing, age cut-offs for paracetamol/ibuprofen, antibiotic suspensions, and maximum single doses for paediatric paracetamol are recurring exam patterns.
Cardiovascular therapeutics
June 2025: heart failure, stable angina, antiplatelet therapy, lipid-modifying therapy, primary and secondary CVD prevention. Know NICE thresholds for statin initiation, the difference between dual and single antiplatelet therapy and its duration after a coronary intervention, and the standard up-titration steps in heart failure.
Skin conditions across diverse skin tones
Specifically flagged in June 2025 — most undergraduate teaching uses images on light skin. Eczema, urticaria, erythema and fungal infections present differently on darker skin. The Board has signalled this will remain a focus.
Asthma and COPD inhaled therapy
Acute asthma management, stepping up and stepping down chronic asthma per BTS/NICE, COPD pharmacological management. Know the inhaler classes and the typical first-line, add-on, and rescue choices.
Drug interactions
Flagged in November 2025. Anticholinergic burden in older adults, contraception drug interactions (especially with enzyme inducers), warfarin interactions, and SSRI–NSAID bleeding risk are recurring patterns.
For each topic above, build a focused review block before doing mixed-format Part 2 practice. The structure on GPhC exam questions mirrors the Board of Assessors’ weak-area list directly.
The rebuild — what changes for the second attempt
The single biggest predictor of second-attempt success is whether you change your study method. Repeating what you did first time is the most common error.
Three things to change:
- Move from passive to active. If your first-attempt prep was reading the BNF and watching videos, switch to spaced-repetition flashcards plus question-bank volume with a mistake log. Active practice generates the wrong-answer signal that passive study cannot.
- Build a mistake log on day one. Every wrong answer is logged with the topic, the specific reasoning error you made, and a flashcard generated within 24 hours. Without this, you will get the same kind of question wrong twice and not notice — because percentage scores hide reasoning errors.
- Sit at least three full Paper 1 mocks and three full Paper 2 mocks under timed conditions. Stamina is a real factor. Most candidates who run out of time in Part 2 lose concentration around question 80, not because they don’t know the answers but because they have not built the endurance.
Five months between sittings is enough for a complete rebuild. For a week-by-week structure, see the 12-week GPhC study plan — adapt the foundation phase to whichever Part you failed.
If you have used all three attempts
The GPhC does not allow a fourth attempt under current regulations. This is a heavy outcome and one Pharmacist Support specifically supports trainees through. Their guidance covers alternative pharmacy-degree career routes that are well-paid and use the clinical and scientific foundation you have already built:
- Pharmacovigilance and medical information roles in industry
- Medical writing and regulatory affairs
- Pharmacy teaching and academic positions
- Clinical research associate and clinical trial coordinator roles
- Public health, NHS commissioning, and policy work
- Pharmacy technology and digital health
None of this is a consolation prize. Many former trainees in these roles earn comparably to or more than community-pharmacy salaries, with better work-life balance. The pharmacy degree is genuinely valuable outside of dispensing — but you need support to find the right route, and Pharmacist Support exists for exactly this.
Resit FAQs
How many attempts do I get at the GPhC exam?
Three attempts at the Common Registration Assessment, sat within the timescales set out in the GPhC’s Initial Education and Training framework. Extensions to that period are considered case-by-case where there are legitimate, documented grounds. Marks from one sitting cannot be transferred to another — both Part 1 and Part 2 must be passed at the same sitting.
What is the pass rate for resitters?
For the November 2025 sitting: first-time candidates passed at 60%; second-attempt candidates at 68%; third-attempt candidates at 47%. The second-attempt rate is higher than first-attempt because resitters have specific feedback to act on. The third-attempt drop reflects the genuine difficulty of repeated revision under pressure — not that the exam is harder by then.
Can I appeal if I think I was marked unfairly?
The GPhC publishes an appeals procedure with results, but appeals only succeed in narrow circumstances (procedural or administrative error, not disagreement with the standard-set pass mark). The Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA), free for trainees and newly qualified pharmacists for three months, will help with submitting an appeal if grounds exist.
When can I sit the next CRA?
There are two sittings per year — usually June and November. If you failed June 2025, the next sitting was November 2025. If you failed November 2025, June 2026 is on Tuesday 16 June (results 21 July). That is roughly seven months of preparation — long enough for a complete rebuild rather than a top-up.
Should I study the same way the second time?
No. Resit candidates who change their method outperform those who repeat it. Read your Board of Assessors feedback letter carefully — it tells you which sections you underperformed on. If Part 1 failed, the fix is volume and pattern recognition on calculations. If Part 2 failed, the fix is usually law, public health, or specific clinical areas the Board has flagged.
What happens if I fail three times?
The GPhC will not allow a fourth attempt under current regulations. Pharmacist Support publishes guidance on alternative career routes that use a pharmacy degree — research, teaching, regulatory affairs, medical writing, industry roles in pharmacovigilance or medical information. Many of these pay comparably to community pharmacy and benefit from the clinical foundation you already have.
Where can I get emotional and practical support?
Pharmacist Support is the profession’s independent charity. They run a dedicated registration assessment results page with one-to-one peer support, financial guidance and a confidential listening service. The PDA also offers free trainee membership which includes legal and professional advice. Talking to someone in the first 48 hours after a results email matters more than people expect.
Does failing once stay on my GPhC record?
No. The GPhC records pass status and the sitting passed; unsuccessful attempts are not publicly disclosed and are not part of your registered-pharmacist record once you pass. Employers asking about registration will see your registration date, not your number of attempts.
Rebuild for the next sitting
2,000+ practice GPhC exam questions across SBA, EMQ and calculation formats, with worked answers grounded in the Board of Assessors’ published weak areas.