The KAPS exam and OPRA, its replacement

OPRA is the redesigned exam that replaced KAPS, so it isn’t the same paper. The APC changed how questions are chosen and scored, revised the content areas and cut the exam to a single paper. It said there was no change to the eligibility process, the registration process or how long results stay valid. The Pharmacy Board of Australia’s pages accept a pass in either exam on the way to provisional registration.

You need a pharmacy qualification that covers the pharmaceutical sciences behind registration in Australia. It must equal 4 years of full-time study if you finished after 1 January 2006, or 3 years if you finished before that date. You don’t need evidence of registration, certified copies or proof of English for the eligibility check, and the APC tells you by email whether you can sit the exam.

They’re for different skills assessment streams. OPRA belongs to the Knowledge Stream and tests the sciences behind practice. The Competency Assessment of Overseas Pharmacists (CAOP) belongs to the Competency Stream, for pharmacists with an approved qualification from Canada, Ireland, the UK or the USA who are registered there, and it costs $2,100. The APC also runs a New Zealand version of OPRA for candidates of the Pharmacy Council of New Zealand.

At Pearson test centres in 10 Australian cities and in 34 other countries and places on the APC’s list. In India they’re in Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, New Delhi, Noida and surrounding areas, and in Pakistan in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. Seats vary by centre, some sessions fill up, and the APC says venues can change at short notice. If your first choice is full, you can pick another centre or move your booking if a seat opens up.

OPRA, which took the place of KAPS, uses a scaled score. Experts set a passing standard for each version of the exam, and you pass on your performance across the whole paper, not by beating other candidates. 90% of the 120 questions count; the other 10% are being tested and don’t, and you can’t tell which is which. The exam guide says your result report shows whether you met the overall standard, with general feedback on each content area that doesn’t count towards the result. It gives no score or percentage, and results can’t be reviewed.

The APC’s exam guide doesn’t give a pass rate. It does say what kind of thinking the questions test: 55% recall, 30% understanding and 15% applying what you know to a problem. The APC also says some candidates need more than one attempt. You can re-sit as many times as you need, but you pay the full fee and sit the whole exam each time.

Yes, if the APC approves it, and only for the exam fee. Its fee page says cancelling earlier than 5 days before the exam date costs a $100 cancellation fee. From 5 days before up to 2 weeks after the exam date, you get 80% of the exam fee back, and you need supporting documents if you cancel on or after the exam date. No refunds are given after that, or for any other fee. You cancel in the Candidate Portal, not by phone. Within a registration period, you can also reschedule there instead.

You request your Skills Assessment Outcome, which supports a visa application to the Department of Home Affairs. Home Affairs, not the APC, sets how long it’s valid for. Then you find a pharmacy and a preceptor, get provisional registration and enrol in an intern training program. The Pharmacy Board’s internship asks for at least 1,575 hours of supervised practice, and after 75% of them you sit two exams: the APC’s Intern Written Exam and an oral exam that the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) runs for the Board. Pass both within 18 months of each other, finish your intern training program and your hours, and you can apply for general registration. If you passed your APC exam more than three years before you apply, the Board asks for a paper application form.

It’s the Intern Written Exam, for interns with provisional registration who have done at least 75% of their supervised practice hours, or will have by the exam date. It has 75 questions in 2 hours, multiple choice plus fill-in-the-blank calculations, and is held only in Australia. It’s restricted open book: you may bring one original paper copy each of the Australian Medicines Handbook and the Australian Pharmaceutical Formulary and Handbook. It costs $790 per attempt. Like OPRA, it uses a scaled score: you pass by meeting a passing standard set by experts for your version of the exam, and the APC releases no score or percentage, only pass or unsuccessful. A pass is valid for 18 months, and after three unsuccessful attempts the APC offers a counselling session.

The Intern Written Exam runs on 17 February 2027, 22 June 2027 and 26 to 27 October 2027. Registration for them runs 11 to 18 January, 6 April to 24 May and 10 August to 27 September 2027, and results come out on 5 April, 5 August and 9 December 2027.