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Appeals process for candidates that sat the registration assessment in June 2022

The PDA is urging all candidates who sat the June 2022 assessment and feel that they have grounds to appeal on receipt of their results to review the GPhC guidance and gather all evidence before taking action.

Thu 28th July 2022 The PDA

The GPhC guidance for those who were unsuccessful in the registration assessment can be found here and there are clear grounds for appeal. The PDA has also produced a frequently asked questions document which contains useful information to help inform and guide members at this uncertain time.

Download the FAQ document here

thumbnail of June 2022 Assessment FAQs

Grounds for Appeal

If you have been unsuccessful in the assessment, you may request to appeal to nullify the sitting if you have sufficient grounds. An appeal will only be considered by the regulator on one of the following grounds:

  • Procedural grounds. This is when you feel that a registration assessment procedure was not correctly applied. This includes problems with the way sitting took place, such as IT and technical issues, or delays to you starting either paper.
  • If there were exceptional circumstances, unique to you, that may have affected your performance during a sitting, but that you did not know about and could not have known about before or during the sitting

The PDA encourages those who were unsuccessful in the June 2022 assessment sitting to appeal if they have experienced any of the following, which the PDA insists are areas where a procedure has not been correctly applied by the GPhC/assessment provider on the day:

  • Reasonable adjustments confirmed in writing from the GPhC/PSNI in advance of the sitting and were not fully implemented on the day.
  • Unacceptable levels of noise or disruption on the day which would indicate that the venue used was not fit for the purpose of a high-stakes exam sitting.
  • Technical difficulties which interfered with your ability to sit the assessment fairly and which were reported to the invigilator on the day.
  • A delay of 30 mins or more to the exam commencing, and you have not been informed by the regulator that your sitting is nullified.
  • A delay of 30 minutes or more for your first sitting and you have not been offered the opportunity to join the provisional register by GPhC.

Reasons which do not qualify for an appeal

If your appeal is based on grounds that you could have used to request a nullification, or any circumstances that you knew about before you sat the assessment, your appeal will not be considered. If you sat the assessment, you are considered to have declared yourself ‘fit to sit’.

You therefore cannot appeal on the following grounds:

  • Failure to bring a functioning calculator that conforms to one of the makes and models specified by the GPhC.
  • That a candidate was unable to attend a test centre for reasons beyond the GPhC’s control, including travel arrangements or Covid-19.
  • That a request for reasonable adjustment was made but was not granted by the adjustments panel.
  • That a specific need was known to the candidate but an application for a reasonable adjustment was not made.

If you think you may have valid grounds for an appeal, you must send your appeal form and supporting evidence via email to regexam@pharmacyregulation.org by Friday 22 August 2022.

Appeal outcomes

There are only two possible outcomes from the appeal:

  1. The appeal is not upheld, in which case the fail mark stands, and you will fail that attempt at the registration assessment.
  2. The appeal is upheld, in which case your sitting attempt is nullified and will not count as one of your available attempts. If the appeal is upheld on procedural grounds and the candidate is eligible, they will be able to join the provisional register.

Collette Bradford, Director of PDA Organising and Engagement, said, “Following issues on the assessment day which should not have occurred, many candidates are now facing emotional, financial, and health challenges through no fault of their own. The PDA expects that the GPhC will continue to work with affected candidates and ensure that they take a truly empathic, supportive, and flexible approach to all appeals that they receive over the coming weeks.”

Candidates nearing the 8-year limit

The PDA is aware that there are a small number of PDA members for whom the June 2022 sitting was their third and final attempt and/or they will be beyond the 8 years cut off if they are required to re-sit in November 2022. The GPhC has confirmed that if you are appealing on procedural grounds to do with problems with the way sitting took place and your appeal is upheld, then they will extend your time limit by 12 months. If you’re appealing on other grounds and your appeal is upheld, this does not automatically mean that your time limit to apply for registration will be extended. The PDA encourages PDA members who are unsuccessful on results day and find themselves in these difficult circumstances to contact the PDA Service Centre to seek guidance on their individual circumstances.

Not yet a PDA member?

If you have not yet joined the PDA, we encourage you to join today and ask your colleagues to do the same.

Membership is FREE to pharmacy students, trainee pharmacists, and for the first three months of being newly qualified.

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