Seventy-eight per cent of candidates passed this June's new-look registration exam, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has announced, which is down on last summer's 95 per cent.

The exam included "more scenario-based questions and fewer factual recall questions" than previous exams to better reflect clinical practice and "the decision-making skills pharmacists need on a daily basis", the GPhC said. Of the 2,571 candidates who took the assessment, 1,999 met the pass mark, it announced on Friday (July 26).

This year's assessment aimed to better reflect clinical practice and "the decision-making skills pharmacists need on a daily basis", the GPhC said	More on pharmacy education C+D Senate: Back to school Fear of failing exam holds pre-regs back, Senators       warn Registration exam pass rate hits record low MORE NEWS
	GPhC chief executive Duncan Rudkin congratulated all students who had passed the assessment. "Pharmacists take on significant responsibilities in supporting and protecting the health and wellbeing of their patients from the very start of their careers," he said.

"The changes we have made to the assessment are designed to test the candidates to ensure they are ready for the challenges they will face in practice," Mr Rudkin added.

At the C+D Senate on education in May, speakers voiced broad support for testing more practical skills in the registration assessment.

The September 2012 resit paper received criticism at the time for containing difficult calculations, which students believed had contributed to the record low pass rate of 58 per cent.

Read the full list of candidates who passed the 2013 exam.  

This article has been amended to clarify the distinction between last June's exam and the September resit.