GPhC June registration exam delayed for hours by ‘major’ power cut
The registration assessment for trainee pharmacists in London started three hours later than planned thanks to a power cut in a “large area” of the capital, the regulator has said.
A General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) registration assessment started “around three hours” late after a “major power” cut in London, the regulator said earlier this week (June 25).
“Around 70” trainee pharmacists sitting Part 2 of the assessment on Tuesday (June 25) at the Highbury test centre were unable to start at the 2:15pm scheduled time after the power cut affected “a large area” in the North London suburb, it added.
Read more: UPDATED: November registration exam pass rate jumps to 66%
GPhC chief operating officer Jonathan Bennetts said that the regulator understood “the stress this will have caused” for the affected candidates and confirmed that extra GPhC representatives were sent to the centre to provide support.
Around 2,700 candidates in total sat the exams across 87 centres but there were “no other significant reported issues” other than the ones at the Highbury test centre, he added.
“Essential checks were made”
While candidates waited to start their second exam of the day, after completing the two-hour Part 1 assessment that morning, they were provided with refreshments and regularly updated, Bennetts said.
Part 2 of the assessment, which lasts two and a half hours, began at the Highbury test centre after the trainee pharmacists would have finished the exam if they started on time, once the power came back on and “essential checks were made”, he added.
Read more: Confirmed: Three cases of cheating during June registration assessment
Bennetts said that the GPhC would email all the candidates after the exam “to say how sorry we are that this has happened and to explain their options”.
Whether the power cut has affected the pass rate will be unknown until the GPhC releases the results of this year’s exams on July 30.
Read more: Passing the GPhC exam isn't easy, so don't be afraid to ask for help
It comes after notable incidents related to past registration assessments over the last couple of years, including in June last year when the GPhC found three cases of cheating in the exams.
Previously, trainee pharmacists staged a historic protest outside the GPhC’s Canary Wharf offices in July 2022 after assessment chaos reported by C+D that included IT issues, cheating and uninformed invigilators.
Last year, the June exam pass rate dropped to 77%, while the November exam pass rate increased to 66%.
