I was compelled to write to the GPhC and sign the petition to have this September’s pre-reg assessment reviewed by an external body after seeing its impact on my students – some of them are even considering suicide.

I believe I am the only tutor so far reporting how this exam has affected pre-regs. I am aware of at least 50 students, 27 being from my group – that I know would make the best pharmacists – who expect to fail as a result of this exam. To hear five of them wanting to kill themselves, as it was their last attempt at a career in pharmacy, is very upsetting to me. How am I supposed to react to the words, "I’d rather kill myself than fail"? And who will be held responsible?

I have heard reports that both the clinical and calculation questions were long and bulky, and students were given an average of three minutes to solve complex scenarios.

The open-book questions were not straightforward and were aimed at pharmacists with many more years of experience than a pre-reg, who is only in training for a year.

The most concerning point is many students have had to sit this paper for the final time this September – this is essentially their last chance. Many had the unfortunate experience of sitting the June and September 2016 exams, and agreed that the September paper was much more difficult.

Why is there a huge difference in the type of questions in both sections? It was misleading for the students who were practicing for the September sitting.

I am certain the GPhC won’t do anything about this, except perhaps lower the grade boundaries, but even if they do, I suspect the majority will still not pass. I fully expect the “work harder next time” responses, but each individual functions in a totally different way and interprets questions differently. Exam papers should be designed to reflect that.

This is a massive exam for pre-regs, probably the biggest in their career – so students would be stupid not to prepare – but I know they do work extremely hard. To see some of the best pharmacists react the way they have, is very upsetting.

Something big needs to be done, and I hope the GPhC takes my points into consideration.

Any students feeling under pressure from exams can contact Pharmacist Support for free and confidential support

The GPhC is inviting feedback on the autumn pre-reg assessment:

Calling all who sat the autumn reg assessment - check your email to share your experience and help us improve. Feedback will be anonymous.

— GPhC (@TheGPhC) October 3, 2016