Media Release: Changes made to intern registration exams

The Pharmacy Board of Australia (the Board) has made changes to the intern registration examination, effective as of 1 January 2021.

The intern registration examination includes 2 components, the Intern Written Exam and Intern Oral Exam. These exams are delivered by the Australian Pharmacy Council (APC) and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) respectively.

The Board is making the following changes, effective as of 1 January 2021:

• The intern written and oral exams will be held three times a year. Please refer to the exam dates and centres for confirmed 2021 dates.
• Interns now must complete 75 per cent of the approved supervised practice hours before they are eligible to sit the exams.
• Successful completion of the written exam will no longer be an eligibility requirement for entry into the oral exam. Candidates may sit either or both exams during the same exam period.
• Successful completion of the registration examination requires candidates to pass both the oral and written exams within 18 months.
• The duration of the written exam has been reduced from 3 hours to 2 hours, while the oral exam will be reduced from 4 parts (with a total duration of 45 minutes) to 3 parts (taking 35 minutes).

These agreed changes are the result of the Intern Year Blueprint (IYB) project, a joint initiative between APC and the Board. The purpose of the IYB project is to determine the most effective type of assessment for each competency and to identify the organisation who administers it.

For full details, please see the Board's announcement Changes to the Pharmacy Board registration examination for interns.