Choosing a GPhC Question Bank or Mock Paper: Eight Things to Check

There is no shortage of GPhC revision material, and much of it was written for an older version of the assessment. With limited time and money, it is worth checking what you are buying before you buy it.

These eight checks apply to any question bank or mock paper, including ours.

Start with the free official questions

Before anything else, use the GPhC's own example questions. They run in the same Surpass system you will use on the day, they cover a range of difficulty, and they are free. The GPhC says they are meant to familiarise you with the platform and the style, not to work as a mock, so treat them as your introduction rather than your whole revision.

1. Does it match the 2026 format?

The assessment for sittings in 2026 has:

• Part 1: 40 calculations in 120 minutes, each answered by typing a number, with at least one of each of nine calculation types.
• Part 2: 120 questions in 150 minutes: 90 single best answer questions with five options, and 30 extended matching questions in 15 pairs that share eight options.

Material that offers multiple-choice calculations, or extended matching sets of three or more, is practising a different exam.

2. Does it get the rules right?

A quick test of how current a resource is: what does it say about references? You bring nothing into the assessment. Where a question needs a BNF extract, an SmPC section or a medication chart, it is supplied inside the question. Anything that tells you a BNF will be there for you to look things up in is out of date, and so is any advice built on that assumption. The same goes for a fixed "pass mark" figure: there isn't one.

3. Can you sit it under the real timings?

Answering questions one at a time with unlimited time is useful for learning, but it is not a mock. You need to sit Part 1 and Part 2 in full, timed, ideally on the same day, the way the real assessment runs.

4. Does it test application, not just recall?

The framework says the assessment prioritises applying knowledge to realistic scenarios over recalling facts. A good question gives you a patient, their medicines and sometimes a result, and asks for a decision. If most questions are one-line "what is the side effect of X" items, they are useful for quick revision but they will not prepare you for the paper.

5. Does every answer come with an explanation?

You learn most from the questions you get wrong, and from understanding why each wrong option is wrong. Look for explanations that cover the right answer and the close alternatives, with the source the answer depends on.

6. Who wrote and checked it?

Look for questions written to the current GPhC framework and reviewed by pharmacists, with answers based on current sources such as the BNF, NICE guidance and MHRA safety updates. Ask how errors get corrected.

7. Does it cover the whole framework?

The framework lists fifteen clinical areas in order of how often they are assessed, from cardiovascular down to drug toxicity, plus law, governance and regulation, and twelve high-risk drug classes. A good mock is spread across all of them, with more questions where the assessment puts more weight.

8. Are its claims honest?

Two claims should make you cautious:

• "Real exam questions" or "questions from the last paper." The GPhC does not publish its live questions. Its regulations say assessment content is the GPhC's copyright and must not be copied or shared. Material claiming to reproduce it is either inaccurate or should not exist.
• "GPhC approved" or "endorsed". The GPhC's Board of Assessors says it does not endorse any external revision materials.

Finally, check what you get for the price: how many full papers, how long your access lasts, and whether you can review your attempts afterwards.

Where Dose Up fits

Our GPhC mock papers are full-length Part 1 and Part 2 papers in the 2026 format: numeric answers for calculations, single best answer and paired extended matching questions, supplied extracts inside questions, an on-screen calculator, the real timings, and results broken down by area. Every question is written to the GPhC framework and checked by two pharmacists before it goes in a paper. You can judge the style for yourself with ten free GPhC practice questions, no account needed.

Format and rules from the GPhC's Common Registration Assessment framework, regulations and specification for sittings in 2026, read on 18 October 2026. Dose Up is independent and is not endorsed by the GPhC.