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This page provides information on the changes made to the Knowledge Stream exam. It may help candidates decide when to sit the exam.
On this page:
As of March 2025, the Knowledge Assessment of Pharmaceutical Sciences (KAPS) exam will be replaced with the Overseas Pharmacist Readiness Assessment (OPRA™) exam.
We will stop delivering the KAPS exam after November 2024.
This initiative underscores our unwavering commitment to contemporary exam design and delivery practices, ensuring that our exams remain current, valid, and aligned with Australian pharmacy practice.
What has NOT changed:
|
OPRA™ Exam |
KAPS exam |
|
The OPRA™ exam is:
|
The KAPS exam is:
|
Due to the single paper, there will be more appointment times available for candidates.
The OPRA™ content is similar to the KAPS, however in the OPRA™ exam you will see more questions relating to therapeutics and application of knowledge to align with evolving pharmacy practice within Australia. This provides a contemporary and comprehensive assessment of your knowledge and skills, and assessing your readiness to commence an internship in Australia.
We regularly review our exam content for considerations such as currency and suitability for purpose as well as taking advice from subject matter experts and psychometricians to review the content and apply their recommendations.
All questions will be multiple-choice and will be randomised within the new single paper exam format.
The last KAPS session will be held in November 2024. It has 2 papers.
Paper 1
|
Content area |
Percentage of questions |
|
Pharmaceutical chemistry |
30% |
|
Pharmacology and physiology |
70% |
Paper 2
|
Content area |
Percentage of questions |
|
Pharmaceutics |
30% |
|
Therapeutics |
70% |
This exam commences in March 2025. It has one paper.
|
Content area |
Percentage of questions |
|
Biomedical sciences |
20% |
|
Medicinal chemistry and biopharmaceutics |
10% |
|
Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics |
10% |
|
Pharmacology and toxicology |
15% |
|
Therapeutics and patient care |
45% |
All APC exams are informed by evidence-based psychometric methodologies. The APC engages expert psychometricians to analyse statistical performance of questions and to set the standard for their exams. We have been using the Rasch methodology to select and score questions for the Intern Written and CAOP exam since 2020. Now, the OPRA™ exam also uses the Rasch methodology.
|
Final KAPS exam session |
25 - 27 November 2024 |
|
First OPRA™ exam session |
3 - 5 March 2025 |
|
OPRA™ exam registration |
9 January - 3 February 2025 |
Eligibility check applications
If you have not yet lodged your eligibility check application, it may not be assessed in time for you to register for the final KAPS session in November.
Re-sitting the KAPS exam
If you have not passed the KAPS exam, and need to re-sit you will be eligible to sit the OPRA™ exam in 2025.
This includes all single paper re-sits.
We have developed new exam guide and sample paper to support candidates to prepare for the exam. You can also watch our video explaining the content areas and tips for the exam.
See exam guide and sample paper
The process for registering for the Knowledge Stream exam remains the same. OPRA™ exam registration opens 9 January 2025. Check out dates and locations for 2025.
Our Candidate Relationship Team will be available to support candidates during the registration process. You can contact them at info@pharmacycouncil.org.au.
Please share this information with others that you think might benefit from knowing.
There is no advantage to wait for the OPRA™ exam. The content and difficulty of the exam in both formats will be equivalent. Only the exam duration will be shorter.
We have been working behind the scenes to apply modern test construction to our exams so we can make it more targeted to assess your readiness to practise as an intern in Australia. Expert advice and experience support that a candidate’s readiness can be demonstrated just as effectively in a shorter exam.
The cost for sitting the OPRA™ is $2190.
No. The new exam format is a single paper and so you will not need a break during the exam time.
Our single paper format has been designed using modern test construction to ensure equivalency and consistency in terms of difficulty with the previous exam format.