APC confirms KAPS to be replaced
July 31, 2024
THE Australian Pharmacy Council (APC) has announced a significant overhaul of its assessment process for overseas pharmacists.
The Knowledge Assessment of Pharmaceutical Sciences (KAPS) exam will be replaced by the new Overseas Pharmacist Readiness Assessment (OPRA) exam (PD breaking news).
The change follows recommendations from a 2021 working group tasked with reviewing the KAPS exam.
The OPRA exam introduces key updates in the selection and scoring of questions, content areas, exam duration, and fees.
The final KAPS exam will be conducted in Nov 2024, with the OPRA exam debuting in Mar 2025.
APC CEO Bronwyn Clark highlighted that the OPRA exam will employ the Rasch model, a psychometric methodology used in other APC exams since 2020.
"This ensures our exam design remains robust and defensible, determining candidate ability effectively," said Clark.
"By adopting the Rasch methodology for the OPRA exam, we align our exam products and provide a shorter, more targeted assessment, as advised by contemporary exam design experts," she added.
The redesigned exam will have a stronger emphasis on therapeutics and practical knowledge application to match the evolving standards of pharmacy practice in Australia.
This adjustment aims to offer candidates a comprehensive assessment of their skills and knowledge, essential for beginning an internship and progressing toward registration.
The cost of the OPRA exam will be $2,190, while KAPS costs $2,290.
The APC has also commissioned a full-scale pilot for OPRA with their delivery partners to test all operating systems, with a new exam guide and sample paper. JG
To learn more click here:
OPRA™ exam - key changes and FAQs | Australian Pharmacy Council.
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