GPhC opens £4m tender for ‘high stakes’ registration exam provider
The pharmacy regulator is “seeking experienced providers” to fulfill a four-year-long, multi-million-pound registration examination contract.
The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) opened a tender process earlier this month (August 5) “seeking experienced providers of high stakes online professional assessment examination” for a contract worth £4 million.
The tender process, which is set to close on September 5, is open to suppliers with “the associated administrative education services”, the GPhC said.
The four-year contract is set to run from January 2026 to December 2029, it added.
The GPhC yesterday (August 19) told C+D that the current contract for the registration exam, which has been held with assessment services supplier Surpass since January 2022, is set to run out in 2025.
Sourcing “suitable venues”
“The scope of services includes delivery of a secure computer-based assessment to candidates on two single agreed dates in test locations distributed across the UK,” the GPhC said.
The supplier will be responsible for “the sourcing of suitable and accessible venues from which an online computer-based examination can be administered,” it added.
It will have to provide “a secure platform that manages exam questions in multiple formats”, “test booking services” and “invigilation services”, the GPhC said.
It must also provide “candidate support services…proctoring services (as required); reporting services and other related services”, it added.
Last month, the pharmacy regulators revealed that a quarter of candidates did not pass this summers’ registration exam, which saw an overall pass rate of 75%.
Earlier in July, June registration candidates demanded a review into the exam after branding it “exceedingly difficult”, while the GPhC revealed in June that students taking the exam at a test centre in Highbury started it “around three hours” late after a “major power” cut in London.
GPhC latest
Meanwhile, the GPhC yesterday (August 19) revealed it was experiencing ongoing issues with its my GPhCpharmacy service meaning that it was “still unavailable for pharmacy registration renewals”.
It came after the regulator conducted “scheduled maintenance” on the myGPhC system - which is also used for revalidation - on Thursday (August 15).
The regulator also last week revealed that it has hired consultants and is conducting a survey to help it review “the revalidation process and framework”.
The move came after the GPhC last year extended the deadline for revalidation submissions following ongoing “technical issues” with its website.
Pharmacists welcomed the news at the time, saying it was the “right decision” and that it would “take away unnecessary stress for those who struggled with access to the site over the last couple of days”.
