How to Use a GPhC Mock Paper and What Your Score Tells You

A GPhC mock is most useful sat in one go under real exam timings, with a proper review afterwards. When to sit your mocks, how to set them up, how to review your mistakes and what your score means against the pass marks.

By Umar Majid · 9 Nov 2026

A GPhC mock paper is most useful when you sit it in one go under real timings: 40 calculations in 2 hours, then 120 questions in 2.5 hours. Treat your score as a guide to where you stand, not a prediction, because the real pass mark changes from sitting to sitting. In June 2025 it was 24 out of 40 for Part 1 and 79 out of 120 for Part 2.

What you do with your mistakes afterwards matters more than the score itself.

When should I sit mocks?

One mock in the final week tells you very little, because there's no time left to act on it. Spread them out.

When	What to do	Why
5 to 6 months before the exam	A short diagnostic: a timed set of calculations and a timed set of clinical questions	Shows your starting point and which topics need the most work
8 to 10 weeks before	First full mock under real conditions	Enough time to fix what it shows
3 to 5 weeks before	Second full mock	Checks whether your fixes worked
Final 2 weeks	No new full mocks. Review your error log and weak topics	Rest and consolidation matter more now

For the Tuesday 15 June 2027 sitting, that puts your first full mock around early to mid April 2027. The full timeline is on our GPhC exam dates page.

Set it up like the real thing

If you do a mock in short bursts, with your phone nearby and the BNF open, it won't tell you how you'll perform on the day.

	Part 1: Calculations	Part 2: Clinical
Questions	40, free-entry numerical answers	120: 90 single best answer (SBA) and 30 extended matching (EMQ)
Time	2 hours	2.5 hours
Average pace	3 minutes per question	75 seconds per question (roughly 1 minute per SBA and 2 minutes per EMQ)

On the day there's a scheduled break between the two parts, so copy that: sit Part 1, take a short break, then sit Part 2.

Copy the other conditions too. Use your approved calculator or an on-screen calculator, since you can use either in the real exam. Use only the information you're given. Some real questions include resources such as extracts, shown in an on-screen viewer, but don't use your own references. Answer every question, because no marks are deducted for wrong answers and a blank is always a lost mark. And use rough paper, as the test centre provides pen and paper for working.

How do I review a mock properly?

Plan to spend at least as long reviewing the mock as you spent sitting it. Go through every question, including the ones you got right, and put each mistake into one of these groups:

Error type	Example	Fix
Knowledge gap	You didn't know that clarithromycin is contraindicated with simvastatin	Revise the topic, then do a set of questions on it
Misread	You missed "in mL" or "per day"	Underline what the question asks before answering
Method slip	You rounded too early in a supply quantity	Re-do similar questions until the method is automatic
Time pressure	You rushed the last 15 questions	Practise timed sets and move on from stuck questions
Lucky guess	You got it right but couldn't explain why	Treat it as wrong and revise it

Add every mistake to an error log and test yourself on it again a week later. Our guide to how many practice questions to do explains how to keep one.

The GPhC's Board of Assessors feedback after recent sittings has picked out the same themes again and again: misreading scenarios, wrong units, rounding at the wrong stage, supply quantities, drug interactions and up-to-date MHRA safety advice. Check your mock mistakes against that list.

What does my score mean?

How the real pass mark works

The GPhC sets the passing standard using a recognised standard-setting method and reviews the pass mark at every sitting. Pass marks can change between sittings, but the standard stays the same. That's why there's no fixed "magic number" to aim for.

For reference, the June 2025 pass marks were:

Part	Pass mark	As a percentage
Part 1	24 out of 40	60%
Part 2	79 out of 120	about 66%

You have to reach the pass mark in both parts at the same sitting. A strong Part 2 can't make up for a weak Part 1.

Reading your own score

A mock isn't the real paper. The questions, the difficulty and your conditions on the day will all be different, so read your score as a band rather than an exact figure.

If you're well below the June 2025 marks in either part, you have clear gaps. Use the review table above to find them, and focus on whichever part is furthest behind.

If you're within a few marks of them, you're borderline. Small improvements in technique, such as reading carefully and pacing yourself, can make a real difference.

If you're comfortably above in both parts, that's a good sign, but keep practising. Confidence fades quickly if you stop.

Look at your Part 1 and Part 2 scores separately, and at the trend between your first and second mock. A steady rise matters more than any single number.

What about the GPhC example questions?

The GPhC publishes 35 example questions: 15 calculations, 20 SBAs and 5 EMQ sets. It says they're not designed to be used as a mock assessment. They're good for learning the question style and the exam platform, seeing how resources appear on screen, and checking you understand the formats, which we explain in SBA vs EMQ.

Do them early, then again nearer the exam. They're free and come straight from the GPhC.

Common questions

How long is the GPhC exam? Part 1 is 2 hours for 40 calculations and Part 2 is 2.5 hours for 120 questions, with a scheduled break in between.

What score should I aim for in a mock? There's no fixed target, because pass marks vary by sitting. Use the June 2025 marks (24/40 and 79/120) as a reference and aim to be comfortably above both.

How many mocks should I do? Two full mocks a few weeks apart is enough for most trainees, as long as you review them properly.

Is there negative marking? No. Wrong answers and blanks both score zero, so answer every question.

Are the GPhC example questions a mock? No. The GPhC says they're not meant to be used as one, so use them to learn the style and the platform.

Sit a full mock before the real thing

A full mock under real timings shows you where your marks are going while there's still time to change it. Sit the Pre-Reg Shortcuts mock paper under the timings above, then review it using the error types in this article so every mistake turns into a fix.

Find out about the mock paper