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At APC, we use evidence-based psychometric techniques, specifically the Rasch methodology, to develop and evaluate our exams to ensure fairness, validity and reliability. We collaborate with expert psychometricians to analyse candidate results, which helps inform future exam development and verifies that the exams effectively distinguish between candidates who meet the required standards and those who do not. This process ensures that our exam design remains robust and employs a defensible method for assessing candidate ability.
APC's exams are designed to assess knowledge and competency at different stages of a candidate's journey toward becoming a registered pharmacist in Australia. To learn more about the content for each exam, please visit our exam guides:
A well-designed exam is founded on effective questions that accurately reflect the intended assessment, thereby enhancing its validity. The content of all APC exams is thoughtfully developed by internal APC pharmacists in collaboration with a diverse pool of subject matter experts. This inclusive approach harnesses a wide range of backgrounds, knowledge, and skills within the pharmacy profession across Australia.
We provide multiple versions of each exam type, which are randomly allocated to candidates to promote fairness and enhance security. Prior to publication, each exam is meticulously reviewed by our team of experts in content and psychometrics. This process ensures that we provide a well-rounded representation of diverse content areas, question difficulty levels, and overall effectiveness. By utilising the Rasch methodology, we are able to make informed adjustments to scores, taking into account the variations in difficulty among different exam versions. This thoughtful approach enables us to uphold a reliable and equitable evaluation of each candidate's exam performance.
The required performance level to pass is determined through a rigorous, psychometrically valid standard-setting process. This collaborative effort includes input from practising pharmacists across different sectors of the pharmacy profession in Australia. Together, we establish the minimum exam performance levels required for individuals to pass and safely practice as interns or registered pharmacists. Additionally, this minimum standard is subject to regular review to ensure it aligns with the evolving standards of pharmacy practice in Australia.
All APC exam results are reported as either "Pass" or "Unsuccessful". A "Pass" indicates that the candidate has met or exceeded the performance required to pass, while "Unsuccessful" indicates that improvement is required before passing the exam.
To learn more about how we develop and determine results for our exams, check out this video:
Contact our team if you want to learn more.