KAPS EXAM - STREAM A

The APC Skills Assessment-Stream A comprises of an eligibility assessment and a

knowledge assessment comprising two exam papers. Candidates will be required to
successfully complete both components in order to receive the APC Skills Assessment
letter.

The Knowledge Assessment of Pharmaceutical Sciences (KAPS) examination comprising

two examination papers is designed to test your knowledge of basic pharmaceutical
sciences related to the current practice of pharmacy in Australia.

The KAPS exam online fee is $2,010 AUD. This fee is payable per exam attempt.

Following the successful completion of the KAPS exam, you will be considered suitable to
gain entry to the registration process at the same point as an Australian pharmacy graduate
and will be expected to complete the Pharmacy Board of Australia’s (PBA) registration
requirements to be eligible for general registration.

Candidates should carefully review this information sheet in its entirety before registering for
an exam.

Received your Receive Use your APC

APC Skills Register and sit Skills Assessment
your APC
Assessment for the KAPS letter to apply to
Skills
Eligibility Exam the PBA or the
assessment
Notification Letter DHA

1. YOU RECEIVED YOUR APC SKILLS ASSESSMENT ELIGIBILITY

NOTIFICATION
 You received an APC Skills Assessment eligibility notification advising you were are
eligible under Stream A to sit the KAPS exam
2. REGISTER AND SIT FOR THE KAPS EXAM
- Check the exams dates and places page on our website to see when the next exam
is being delivered and the registration deadlines
- Special Needs Accommodation: Please contact us at
exams@pharmacycouncil.org.au if you require special needs accommodation at the
exam venue
- Sign-in to our Candidate Portal
- Go to section 2. ‘Register and Complete the KAPS Examination’ and click on ‘Book
an Exam’. As you navigate through the steps you will be able to select you exam
venue/location from the options provided
- Using a credit card (MasterCard or Visa) pay the application fee of AUD $2,010.
- You will receive an e-mail from APC which will contain a ‘KAPS Voucher Number
and Exam Reference Number’ - this may take several working days
- Create a Pearson VUE web account – refer Pearson VUE Web Accounts section.
- Sign-in to your Pearson VUE web account and select your exam city, venue, date
and time
- Use your KAPS Voucher Number to complete the payment process
- Receive your booking confirmation: Once your exam details are confirmed you will
receive a booking confirmation email from Pearson. Please read through these
details carefully and advise us immediately if any of your details are not correct.
- Receive exam reminder: We will send you a reminder email approximately one week
before you exam date.
- Attend your exam venue and complete your KAPS exam (Paper 1 and Paper 2)
- Receive notification of your exam results: Approximately up to 8 weeks after the
exam date you will receive an email from us with instructions on how to download
your results in our Candidate Portal.

3. RECEIVE YOUR APC SKILLS ASSESSMENT LETTER

- You or your nominated agent will receive an email from us when the KAPS exam
results are available to view/download in our Candidate Portal. If you pass the KAPS
exam we will send the APC Skills Assessment letter to your nominated postal
address.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For further information on the APC Skills Assessment process please visit the Assessments
section on the main page of our website and download the ‘APC Skills Assessment-Stream
A’ information pack.

CANDIDATE PORTAL: SIGN-IN

Candidates who have previously set up a web account in our Candidate Portal can sign-in
with their existing username and password. If you have any issues with signing-in to your
account please email us at exams@pharmacycouncil.org.au for assistance.

Candidates who do not have existing sign-in details please contact us at

exams@pharmacycouncil.org.au and provide the following information:
- your full name
- your date of birth (DD/MM/YYYY)
- your APEC/APC reference number
- a scanned copy of your APC Skills Assessment Eligibility notification / letter.
Candidates will be sent sign-in details upon confirmation of the above details.

PEARSON VUE: WEB ACCOUNTS

To create an account you will need to provide some personal information including your
name and email address. As you are a first time user you will not have an APC ID (e.g
APC10006136). When you are prompted to provide this information please select ‘No, I do
not know my APC ID.’ and an APC ID will be generated for you.

As it can take up to 24 hours to create a Pearson VUE web account you will need to allow
enough time to complete this step before the exam registration closure date or you will be
unable to finalise your registration to sit the exam.

Please contact Pearson VUE if you have any questions or encounter any issues with log-in
or account creation.
NOMINATING AND AGENT / THIRD PARTY TO ACT ON YOUR BEHALF
If you want someone to liaise with APC on your behalf (e.g. migration agent, family member
or friend) you will need to upload the agent authorisation form that is available in the ‘If You
Use an Agent’ section when setting up your profile in our Candidate Portal. Both you and
your agent must sign the Agent’s Authority form. Under Australian privacy legislation we
must have a written authority form from you before communicating with anyone on your
behalf.

Please note that APC will not correspond with you (the candidate) directly if you have
nominated an agent/or third party to act on your behalf.

Please note that the email addresses for the candidate and the agent/third party must
be different.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS

We do not require candidates to provide evidence of their English language skills to be
eligible to sit the KAPS exam.

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) will require you to provide
evidence of English proficiency in order to complete the Pharmacy Board of Australia’s
(PBA) registration requirements to be eligible for general registration. Click here to find out
more.

You should consult the Department of Home Affairs for further information on their English
language requirements associated with visa/migration applications.

EXAM DATES AND PLACES

Please refer to our exam dates and places page for details about when, where and what to
bring to the exam.

FEES AND PAYMENT

AUD $2,010. – Knowledge Assessment of Pharmaceutical Sciences (KAPS) examination
online fee.

This fee is payable per exam attempt.

Payment must be made by credit card (Visa or MasterCard). We do not accept any
alternative forms of payment.

Your credit card must be issued by a bank located in the same country that you are resident
in. If it is not the payment will be suspended and you will not be able to complete the
transaction. Please contact your financial institution if you require any advice relating to
credit card payments.

Other fees and charges:

$70 AUD - Exam review fee (if requested)
$80 AUD - Administration fee (for reprinting of APC official documents).
$450 AUD - Appeal to the APC Appeals Panel (if requested)
$900 AUD - Appeal to Independent Appeals Committee (if requested)
REFUNDS
Please refer to the APC Refund of Fees for Examination Cancellation Guidelines for
comprehensive information on the processes and procedures available to APC candidates
wishing to withdraw from an exam. This policy is also applicable to candidates who may
incur illness or personal circumstances that may prevent you from attempting the exam on
the day.

SPECIAL NEEDS ACCOMMODATION

Special needs accommodation is the arrangement made by us to assist candidates who
have physical or personal conditions that require support on the day of the exam.

If you have a condition that may affect your ability to take the exam, you should contact us at
exams@pharmacycouncil.org.au and provide current supporting documentation from an
appropriately qualified practitioner along with your request. The documentation will be used
to verify a condition and provide relevant and useful information in assessing appropriate
adjustments or accommodations. We will then review your application and contact you if we
require additional information.

If your request is approved we will notify you by email. We will also notify the venue
coordinator who will provide you further guidance on the day of the exam.

Candidates should note that reviewing applications for special needs accommodation can
take time. If you think you may require special needs accommodation, please contact us well
in advance of the closing date of your exam registration.

Examples of special needs accommodations that we may be able to arrange for you are:
- additional time
- permission to leave the exam room for breaks
- permission for more leg room due to an injury.

We are unable to facilitate any special needs accommodation requests after the exam
registration closure date.

IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED TO SIT THE EXAM

Please refer to our exam dates and places page for information about the mandatory
documents required to sit the KAPS exam.

EXAM APPROACH AND DELIVERY

We recognise that our candidates and partners expect to have access to timely and
professional exam services. We also know that this expectation will continue to grow in the
future and we need to be ready to meet and exceed these expectations.

High-stakes exam development and delivery require the highest levels of security and
accuracy.

In partnership with Pearson VUE, we deliver our high-stakes pharmacy exams to thousands
of candidates around the world.

Through regular subject-matter reviews and psychometric analysis, we ensure the reliability,
defensibility and validity of our exams.
EXAM FORMAT
The KAPS exam is delivered by computer (via Pearson VUE).

- it consists of two multiple-choice question papers covering theory and practice

- you must complete each exam paper within two hours
- each paper consists of 100 questions
- each question will have a stem (a question, phrase or short paragraph) and four to
five possible answers
- there is only one correct answer for each question.

EXAM SUBJECT AREAS

The four main subject areas covered by the KAPS exam are:

- Paper 1: Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Physiology, Pathophysiology and

Pharmacology
- Paper 2: Pharmaceutics and Therapeutics

EXAM QUESTION TYPES

Questions may either stand-alone or be associated with a patient profile.

Stand-alone questions are those questions that are self-contained. You will be given all the
information required to answer the question in the stem. Most questions on the KAPS exam
are stand-alone questions.

Patient profile questions are two to five questions that are linked to content found in a patient
record or profile. The patient profile will provide you with basic information about the patient
(e.g. age, weight, allergies) and also more detailed information such as the presenting
complaint(s), any available test results and the medication history.

You should answer the patient questions within the context of the profile. The answer to a
question in the profile will not be dependent upon correctly answering another question. You
will be able to answer each question independently of other questions.

PREPARING FOR THE EXAM

The below resources are available to support candidates with preparing for an exam:

- four online training modules for exam preparation

- downloadable practice exams and answer sheet
- downloadable Guide for the KAPS Exam
- online tutorial to give you the chance to see the computer software used to deliver
the exam.

All resources are located on our exam resources page.

APC exams are set on the latest information available through relevant journals, publications
and textbooks. It is up to the candidate to obtain the latest information. APC does not
endorse any reference sources.
ITEMS PERMITTED / NOT PERMITTED IN THE EXAM ROOM
This is a closed book exam and therefore you are not permitted to take any reference
material into the exam room.

- you are not permitted to have wrist watches, mobile phones, tablets or other
electronic devices at your workstation
- you are not permitted to bring pencils/pens into the exam room
- an erasable notepad and pen will be provided to you
- an online calculator will also be provided as part of the exam software.

EXAM RESULTS AND NEXT STEPS

Results are posted approximately eight weeks from the exam date.

APC releases its exam results as PASS or FAIL only.

To pass the KAPS exam, you must achieve a minimum overall pass mark of 50% in Paper 1
and Paper 2. You must also achieve 50% in each of the sub-sections in both papers.

You or your nominated agent will receive an email from us when your exam result/s are
available to download on our website. This email will contain the link to our Candidate Portal
and information on how to login to access your results.

Successful Candidates: If you have passed the exam please download the Profile
Certificate from the APC web portal. Your APC Skills Assessment Letter (results letter) will
be posted to you, please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery if you live outside Australia. You will
require Profile Certificate and the Result Letter to apply for provisional registration with
AHPRA. Candidates may also use the APC Skills Assessment Letter as part of a visa
/migration application with the Department of Home Affairs.

Unsuccessful Candidates: All unsuccessful candidates can download their Profile

Certificate from the APC web portal.

You are allowed an unlimited number of attempts at the KAPS exam. You must pass both
papers before receiving the APC Skills Assessment letter. If you pass only one paper you
will have two years to pass the second paper. If you cannot pass the second paper in two
years you will be required to sit both papers again.

If you are unable to view your results, please send an email to:
exams@pharmacycouncil.org.au with your full name, and date of birth and a member of our
team be in touch with you to troubleshoot.

UPDATING YOUR CONTACT DETAILS

Candidates are required to provide us with written notification of a change in contact
details/address. The Change in Contact Details form must be signed to be valid.

Please return the form to us by email: exams@pharmacycouncil.org.au.

VALIDITY OF EXAM RESULTS

If you pass, your exam pass result will be valid for APC purposes for three years from the
date on the APC Skills Assessment letter.

APPEALING A DECISION / REQUESTING AN EXAM REVIEW

Please refer to the APC Appeals Policy for comprehensive information on the processes and
procedures available to APC stakeholders wishing to appeal an APC decision, including
applying for an exam review.

CONTACT US
APC Exams Team (for step 2)
Email: exams@pharmacycouncil.org.au
Phone: +61 2 6188 4288 – when prompted select option 2 for the Exams Team

APC Assessments Team (for steps 1 and 3)

Email: assessments@pharmacycouncil.org.au
Phone: +61 2 6188 4288 – when prompted select option 1 for the Assessments Team

OTHER USEFUL CONTACTS

Pharmacy Board of Australia
Web: www.pharmacyboard.gov.au
Phone: Within Australia call 1300 419 495, From outside Australia call +61 3 9275 9009

Pharmacy Council of New Zealand

Email: enquiries@pharmacycouncil.org.nz
Web: www.pharmacycouncil.org.nz
Phone: +64 4 495 0330

Australian Department of Home Affairs

Web: http://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/
Phone: Within Australia call 131 881, From outside Australia please contact the relevant
Australian Immigration office overseas