High-Yield Therapeutics Topics for the GPhC Exam

Where to start with GPhC Part 2 therapeutics: the areas the CRA framework and Board of Assessors feedback point to, how to prioritise them, and the points you must know in each one.

By Umar Majid · 9 Nov 2026

The highest-yield therapeutics areas for GPhC Part 2 are cardiovascular disease, drug interactions, respiratory, medicines safety and legislation. The CRA framework puts cardiovascular first, and the Board of Assessors has flagged the others as weak areas. You can't revise everything to the same depth, so start with these and work down.

How do you know what the GPhC will focus on?

You don't have to guess. Three official documents point the way.

The 2026 CRA framework lists 15 clinical therapeutic areas in order of how often they appear, starting with cardiovascular, central nervous system, endocrine, infection, gastro-intestinal and respiratory. It also lists high-risk drug classes, including anticoagulants, insulins, opioids, teratogenic medicines and narrow therapeutic index drugs.

The November 2025 feedback reported that 67.8% of questions mapped to high-weighted learning outcomes, and it named 12 themes where trainees performed poorly.

The June 2026 key insights highlighted cardiovascular (antiplatelets, anticoagulants and lipids), infection, respiratory, menopause, contraception, controlled drugs and emergency supply.

Topics that turn up in all three deserve most of your time.

Which areas should you revise first?

Area	Why it is high-yield	Priority
Cardiovascular (AF, hypertension, angina, lipids)	First in framework order, weak in 2025 and 2026	Top
Drug interactions	Weak in 2025, appears inside every other topic	Top
Respiratory (asthma, COPD)	Weak in 2025 and 2026	Top
Medicines safety and MHRA alerts	Weak in 2025, overlaps high-risk drugs	Top
Legislation and professional practice	Weak in 2025, CDs and emergency supply in 2026	Top
Contraception and reproductive health	Weak in 2025 and 2026	High
Menopause and HRT	Weak in 2025 and 2026	High
Interpreting results	Weak in 2025	High
Minor ailments and red flags	Weak in 2025	High
Palliative and end of life care	Weak in 2025, end of life supply in 2026	High
Public health and antimicrobial stewardship	Weak in 2025, infection weak in 2026	High
Evidence-based medicine (NNT)	Weak in 2025, also tested in Part 1	High

What to know in each area

Cardiovascular

AF: NICE uses CHA2DS2-VASc. Offer a DOAC at a score of 2 or more, and consider one for men with a score of 1, taking bleeding risk into account. Do not offer aspirin alone for stroke prevention. DOAC renal dosing uses creatinine clearance, which our Cockcroft-Gault guide covers.

Hypertension: step 1 is an ACE inhibitor or ARB for people under 55 and for anyone with type 2 diabetes. Offer a calcium channel blocker to people aged 55 or over, and to people of Black African or African-Caribbean family origin, if they do not have type 2 diabetes.

Stable angina: first-line is a beta blocker or a calcium channel blocker. For GTN, repeat after 5 minutes if pain persists, and call an ambulance if pain has not gone 5 minutes after the second dose.

Lipids: atorvastatin 20 mg for primary prevention at a QRISK3 of 10% or more, and 80 mg for people with CVD. Check lipids and transaminases at 2 to 3 months.

Drug interactions

Know the main enzyme inducers and inhibitors, and what happens when one is started or stopped. Simvastatin, for example, is contraindicated with clarithromycin, and the dose should not exceed 20 mg daily with amlodipine.

Enzyme inducers can also reduce the effect of oral emergency contraception. The copper IUD is preferred. A 3 mg levonorgestrel dose can be considered, but double-dose ulipristal is not recommended.

Respiratory

Asthma (12 and over): for newly diagnosed asthma, NICE recommends as-needed low-dose ICS/formoterol (AIR). Start low-dose MART if the person is highly symptomatic or presents with a severe exacerbation.

COPD: start with a short-acting bronchodilator. If symptoms continue, offer LAMA plus LABA when there are no asthmatic features, or consider LABA plus ICS when there are.

Medicines safety

Valproate must not be started in anyone under 55 unless two specialists independently document that there is no suitable alternative, or that compelling reasons mean the reproductive risks do not apply. Women and girls who can become pregnant need a Pregnancy Prevention Programme, and valproate is dispensed in the manufacturer's original full pack.

Read the MHRA Drug Safety Update every month. The framework names drug and safety alerts as assessable content.

Legislation and professional practice

Emergency supply at the patient's request allows up to 30 days for most POMs, and a maximum of 5 days for Schedule 4 and 5 CDs and phenobarbital for epilepsy. Schedule 1, 2 and 3 CDs cannot be supplied (phenobarbital for epilepsy is the exception). Label it "Emergency Supply".

And check every prescription for legal validity and clarity before you think about the clinical issue.

Contraception and reproductive health

Levonorgestrel emergency contraception is licensed up to 72 hours after unprotected sex and ulipristal up to 120 hours. The copper IUD is the most effective option. After ulipristal, wait 5 days before starting hormonal contraception, using condoms or abstaining in the meantime.

Menopause and HRT

Women with a uterus need oestrogen plus a progestogen. Women without a uterus can have oestrogen alone. VTE risk is higher with oral than with transdermal HRT, which matters for patients with VTE risk factors.

Interpreting results

Know normal ranges and the action to take when a result falls outside them. For example, the NICE clinic blood pressure target is below 140/90 mmHg for people under 80 and below 150/90 mmHg for those aged 80 and over. A result above target means treatment needs reviewing.

Minor ailments

Know which conditions are self-limiting and which symptoms need urgent referral. Our guide to OTC red flags goes into this in detail.

Palliative care

NICE lists the symptoms to plan for in the last days of life: pain, breathlessness, nausea and vomiting, anxiety, agitation and noisy respiratory secretions. Antimuscarinics such as hyoscine butylbromide or glycopyrronium are options for secretions. Avoid intramuscular injections and use subcutaneous or intravenous routes.

Public health and antimicrobial stewardship

For lower UTI in non-pregnant women, NICE first choice is nitrofurantoin 100 mg modified-release twice daily for 3 days if eGFR is 45 ml/minute or more, or trimethoprim if resistance risk is low.

Evidence-based medicine

NNT = 100 ÷ absolute risk reduction (as a percentage). If 12% of patients on placebo have a stroke and 8% on treatment, the ARR is 4% and the NNT is 100 ÷ 4 = 25.

Working through the list

Start with the "Top" rows, then work down. Revise each topic from the guidance, then test yourself with mixed questions that combine comorbidities and interactions, because that's how the Board writes them. For the bigger picture, see GPhC pass rates and our plan for how to pass the GPhC registration assessment in 2027.

Common questions

Which therapeutic area appears most often? Cardiovascular. The 2026 framework lists it first in its order of prevalence.

Will the low-performing themes come up again? No one can say for certain. They show where trainees have struggled, so they're sensible areas to strengthen.

How many questions map to high-weighted outcomes? In November 2025, it was 67.8%.

Do I need to know MHRA alerts? Yes. Drug and safety alerts are part of the assessable content.

Should I still revise low-priority areas? Yes, just give them less time. Every area in the framework can be tested.

Revise the high-yield topics with a plan

Knowing what to revise is half the job. Our Clinical Therapeutics Course covers every therapeutic area, weighted high, medium or low so you know where the marks are, with GPhC-style questions in every chapter.

Take the course on its own for focused revision, or get it as part of the Foundation Pharmacist Training Programme for full support: every Paper 1 and Paper 2 course, a 2,000+ question bank, a full timed mock paper, live study sessions, e-portfolio support and a 1:1 revision plan built around your rota. Every option includes 365 days of access from the day you join, so the earlier you start, the more of the year it covers.

See the Clinical Therapeutics Course, see what's included in the programme or create your free account to try the first lesson of every chapter.