Overseas Pharmacists Readiness Assessment (OPRA™) exam

This page provides information on registering and preparing for the OPRA™ (Overseas Pharmacist Readiness Assessment) exam.

This exam launches March 2025.

Overview

The OPRA™ (Overseas Pharmacist Readiness Assessment) exam will replace the KAPS exam after the last session in November 2024.

The OPRA™ exam assesses whether candidates have the necessary knowledge and understanding of the biomedical, pharmaceutical, and clinical sciences underlying the practice of pharmacy in Australia. It ensures that pharmacists trained overseas who wish to practise as registered pharmacists in Australia meet Australian standards.

It is an important step in the process of provisional registration as a pharmacist in Australia.

The OPRA™ exam is a computer-delivered, multiple choice question exam.

Duration of exam: 2.5 hours, 120 questions in total.

Cost: $2190 - Learn more about exam fees.

Eligibility: Ensure you are eligible to sit the exam by applying for an Eligibility Check.

Dates and locations

Ensure you've submitted your Eligibility Check at least 8-12 weeks prior to the registration closing date for your preferred exam.

Registration period	Exam dates	Results released
9 January - 31 January 2025	3 - 5 March 2025	1 April 2025
8 April - 16 June 2025	14 - 16 July 2025	12 August 2025
19 August - 27 October 2025	24 - 26 November 2025	22 December 2025

Register for your exam!

Seat availability

• Seat availability varies between test centres.
• Test centres can reach full capacity or may not be available for certain sessions.
• Venues are subject to change at short notice.

Seats may become available due to cancellations from other candidates. You can reschedule your exam in the candidate portal if your preferred test centre becomes available.

Locations - Test centres

You can sit our exams in the following cities.

Country	City
Australia	Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, Townsville
Argentina	Buenos Aires
Botswana	Gaborone
Canada	Toronto
Egypt	Cairo and surrounding areas Giza
Fiji	Suva
Finland	Espoo, Helsinki
Ghana	Legon
Greece	Athens
Hong Kong SAR	Hong Kong
India	Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune, Noida.
Jamaica	Kingston
Kenya	Nairobi
Malaysia	Kuala Lumpur
Nepal	Birtamode
New Zealand	Auckland, Wellington
Oman	Muscat
Pakistan	Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and surrounding areas
Peru	Lima
Philippines	Manila
Poland	Krakow
Qatar	Doha
Saudi Arabia	Dammam, Jeddah, Riyadh
Singapore	Singapore
Spain	Madrid
South Africa	Johannesburg, Cape Town
Sri Lanka	Colombo, Western Province
Taiwan	Kaohsiung, Taipei City
Thailand	Bangkok
Türkiye	Istanbul
United Arab Emirates	Dubai and surrounding areas
United Kingdom	London
Zimbabwe	Harare

Registration

1. Check that you are eligible to register

To sit the exam, you must have:

1. completed your Eligibility Check with us, AND
2. received an email from us telling you that you are eligible to sit the OPRA™ exam.

Need some help? To determine the correct pathway for you, see I want to sit the KAPS/OPRA™ examination.

2. Register for your exam

Registrations open at 9am and close at 5pm AEDT/AEST. Check these times in your local time zone with a time zone converter. They close about one month before exam day.

We cannot accept any late registrations.

Some locations fill up fast, so we suggest booking your exam as soon as possible when registrations open. You can choose an alternative test centre if your preferred centre is full.

Include support for any special accommodation request

Every test-taker is different. It is important we provide equitable access to testing. If you'd like to ask for special accommodation, you can select the option as part of the registration process. You will be prompted to upload your supporting documents.

We'll review your request and your documents. We'll then email you the outcome of your request within 7 business days. If your request is approved, we will contact Pearson VUE to arrange the request details.

Your appointment date and time may change to allow for your request.

Read more about special accommodation.

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3. Upload a photo of yourself

You will be prompted to upload a headshot. It can be 'selfie'.

Your headshot must be:

• a full headshot (showing your full head and your shoulders)
• in colour
• taken within the last 6 months
• high quality.

If you usually cover your head for religious reasons, or you wear facial jewellery, your photo can include these items.

4. Pay the registration fee

You must pay the fee at the time of registration. If payment is not received your seat will be released.

Please note:

• We can only accept payment through Visa or Mastercard credit or debit cards.
• Your credit card must be issued from a bank in your country of residence.

Register for your exam!

Rescheduling

You can reschedule your exam in your Candidate Portal.

You can reschedule it to another date and time for the current session. This can only be done during the registration period.

Cancellations

You can cancel and request a refund for any reason, however it is subject to our approval and will incur a cancellation fee. The amount you receive depends on when you cancel your exam. See partial refund amounts.

Read our refund policy carefully for details.

You will need to cancel your exam in your Candidate Portal.

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Prepare for exam day

Familiarise yourself with the exam and be prepared for the day of your exam.

• Prepare using our exam guide.
• Prepare your identification documents, and what you are allowed to bring.

Results

We'll email you when your results are available. Refer to exam dates and locations for release dates.

You'll be able to view and download your results from the Candidate Portal. Results will state whether you passed or were unsuccessful. No further details will be provided, as this is a registration exam.

Advice for unsuccessful candidates

Sometimes candidates need more than one attempt to pass the OPRA™ exam. Don't give up! Talk to your friends, colleagues and family and work out how best to prepare for the next exam.

You may re-sit as many times as you need to.

Re-sitting the exam

You can register to sit the exam again during the next exam period. When it opens register in Candidate Portal. You will need to pay the full registration fee again when you register.

About your exam result

• APC cannot comment on your performance nor provide feedback to candidates.
• APC does not provide exam scores to candidates.
• Following the finalisation of the results in our system, extensive checks are undertaken by a specialised team and are not subject to appeal.

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Appeals process

APC offers an appeals process for matters other than the calculation of results. The process is to ensure no candidate is disadvantaged by matters outside their control. Please read about our Appeals Policy before sitting the exam. The policy tells you about the scope of an appeal. Learn more about our appeals process.

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Next steps

See the Knowledge Stream page for Next steps.