Checked 2 November 2026. APC revises the OPRA® Exam Guide from time to time (this page follows Version 2.3, dated 30 July 2026). Fees and dates follow the APC knowledge stream page as read on 2 November 2026. The study-hours split is our suggestion, not APC's.
The OPRA exam syllabus is the five content areas in the Australian Pharmacy Council's OPRA® Exam Guide: therapeutics and patient care (45%), biomedical sciences (20%), pharmacology and toxicology (15%), medicinal chemistry and biopharmaceutics (10%) and pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (10%), APC's approximate share of the scored questions in each. APC lists 32 topics across the five areas; the exam does not test Australian or New Zealand pharmacy law or practice standards, which come later, during the internship.
Below: each area with APC's own description quoted word for word, all 32 topic headings APC lists with a short summary of its examples (APC says its examples are non-exhaustive, so treat ours as revision prompts), a study-hours table built from the 45/20/15/10/10 split (our suggestion, labelled as such), a planner that does the arithmetic for your exam date, and a checklist of all 32 topics you can tick off as you go.
Independent guide. ProSyllabus is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to the Australian Pharmacy Council (APC). OPRA® is a registered trade mark of the APC. Every exam fact on this page comes from the APC pages and the APC OPRA® Exam Guide linked below; the study plan is our own suggestion.
APC OPRA® Exam Guide v2.3 and APC knowledge stream page, read 2 November 2026.
Key facts: the OPRA exam syllabus at a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Official name | Overseas Pharmacist Readiness Assessment (OPRA®), set by the Australian Pharmacy Council |
| What it assesses | Knowledge and understanding of the biomedical, pharmaceutical and clinical sciences underlying the practice of pharmacy in Australia and New Zealand |
| Format | Closed-book, computer-based, at approved Pearson test centres; 120 multiple-choice questions, each with one correct answer and 3 incorrect options |
| Time | 150 minutes. Before it: 5 minutes for the non-disclosure agreement and a 10-minute software tutorial; after it: a 5-minute survey. These do not count towards the 150 minutes |
| Content areas | Five, weighted as approximate shares of the 108 scored questions: therapeutics and patient care 45%, biomedical sciences 20%, pharmacology and toxicology 15%, medicinal chemistry and biopharmaceutics 10%, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics 10% |
| Question levels | About 55% remembering/recall, 30% comprehension/understanding, 15% application |
| Scored questions | 90% of the 120 are scored; 10% are unscored questions, included for calibration and testing, spread evenly across the five areas, and you are not told which |
| Not examined | Pharmacy practice issues specific to Australia or New Zealand, such as legislation or practice standards |
| Result | A scaled score against a set passing standard; your result report says whether you met the overall standard or were unsuccessful, with feedback by content area. No raw scores or percentages are released |
| Fees (AUD) | Eligibility check $810; exam $2245; Skills Assessment Outcome $300 |
| Official free material | The OPRA® Exam Guide, a 13-page sample content PDF with an answer sheet, and Pearson's online sample test of the exam software |
Sources: the APC OPRA® Exam Guide (v2.3, 30 July 2026), the APC exam guide and sample content page and the APC knowledge stream page.
The five content areas and their weights
APC's Table 1 gives "the approximate percentage of questions allocated for each area". The question counts in the third column are our arithmetic, not APC figures: 10% of the 120 questions are unscored and APC says they do not count towards any area's target percentage, so the percentages apply to the 108 scored questions.
| Content area (APC name) | Share of questions | About this many of the 108 scored questions (our arithmetic) |
|---|---|---|
| 5. Therapeutics and patient care | 45% | 49 |
| 1. Biomedical sciences | 20% | 22 |
| 4. Pharmacology and toxicology | 15% | 16 |
| 2. Medicinal chemistry and biopharmaceutics | 10% | 11 |
| 3. Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics | 10% | 11 |
Each count is rounded (the unrounded figures are 48.6, 21.6, 16.2, 10.8 and 10.8), so they add up to 109, not 108. The point is the shape, not the exact count: almost half the exam is therapeutics and patient care, which APC describes as the clinical application of the other four areas. So a weakness in areas 1 to 4 can also make therapeutics and patient care questions harder.
APC also says what you must show overall. In short: a sound knowledge of the pharmaceutical sciences; how that knowledge applies to choosing drug and non-drug treatment with the patient's overall well-being, clinical needs and social and economic factors in mind; how it applies to monitoring outcomes, managing adverse effects and minimising misuse of medicines; and the general principles of confidentiality and professionalism when giving medicines information and handling patient records.
Area 1: Biomedical sciences (20%)
APC's description: "Normal and abnormal body functions including at cellular level, and the manner in which diseases and disorders affect normal body functions. It includes the causes (aetiology) of disease and disorders and the recognition of normal and abnormal body functions".
| APC topic | What it covers (our summary of APC's examples) |
|---|---|
| 1.1 Physiological processes and normal bodily function for all systems | Every body system and how they work together, plus blood and other body fluids |
| 1.2 Pathophysiology | How disease arises: genetic, environmental, chemical or drug, injury and infectious causes |
| 1.3 Medical microbiology | How bacteria, viruses, fungi and other parasites cause infection |
| 1.4 Immunology | Immune responses and defences against infection; vaccines and vaccine-preventable disease |
| 1.5 Disorders affecting bodily fluids | Fluid and electrolyte disorders, metabolic acid-base disorders and blood disorders |
| 1.6 Symptoms and physiological values of disease states and disorders | Signs and symptoms, diagnostic tests and laboratory investigations, normal and abnormal |
Area 2: Medicinal chemistry and biopharmaceutics (10%)
APC's description: "Principles of drug design and development and the factors that influence and/or determine the materials and methods used in the formulation of medicines". Note the name: this area is as much about formulation (pharmaceutics) as about chemistry.
| APC topic | What it covers (our summary of APC's examples) |
|---|---|
| 2.1 Physicochemical properties of drugs | Properties that matter for absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) |
| 2.2 Formulations for the delivery of drugs | Solids and solid dosage forms, solutions of every kind, suspensions and emulsions |
| 2.3 Drug and chemical stability | Hydrolysis and oxidation, zero- and first-order degradation, effect of temperature and pH |
| 2.4 Solubility | Solubility, dissolution, partition and the thermodynamics of pharmaceutical solutions |
| 2.5 Drug formulation | Materials and methods for oral, pulmonary, transdermal, parenteral, ophthalmic, nasal, rectal and vaginal delivery |
| 2.6 Pharmaceutical microbiology | Preservation, antimicrobial agents and sterilisation |
Area 3: Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (10%)
APC's description: "Factors that influence how medicines are absorbed, distributed, metabolised, and eliminated (ADME) from the body, and how pathophysiological changes impact ADME and the selection of treatment options". (APC's Table 3 prints topic 3.1 twice; it is one topic.)
| APC topic | What it covers (our summary of APC's examples) |
|---|---|
| 3.1 Drug metabolism | Metabolic pathways and biotransformation, absorption, disposition and elimination, receptor theory, signal transduction, molecular pharmacology |
| 3.2 Principles of pharmacokinetics | Bioavailability and bioequivalence, half-life, clearance, distribution, protein binding, steady state |
| 3.3 Factors affecting drug impacts | Onset and duration, and how disease and diet change ADME |
| 3.4 Evaluation of pharmacokinetic data | Interaction kinetics, concentration-time curves, low-therapeutic-index drugs |
| 3.5 Using pharmacokinetic data in treating patients | Individualising doses, renal and hepatic dose adjustment, loading doses, time to steady state |
Area 4: Pharmacology and toxicology (15%)
APC's description: "How medicines work in the body, how common chemicals and poisons exert their effect, recognition of toxic and adverse effects and their management".
| APC topic | What it covers (our summary of APC's examples) |
|---|---|
| 4.1 Impact of drugs on the body | Effects on organs and systems, dose-response, agonists and antagonists, enzyme inducers and inhibitors, genetic polymorphism |
| 4.2 Receptor theory | Drug-receptor interaction, dose-response curves, desensitisation and supersensitivity |
| 4.3 Mechanisms of action of drugs | Drug classes by organ and disease, including CNS, cardiovascular, haemostasis and thrombosis, cancer chemotherapy |
| 4.4 Adverse drug reactions | Adverse reactions and side effects, their management, and how drug-drug interactions arise |
| 4.5 Drug interactions | Drug-drug and drug-receptor interactions, enzyme-substrate relationships, hydrophilic and hydrophobic interactions |
| 4.6 Drug toxicity and treatment | Overdose and antidotes; signs, mechanism and management of toxicity |
| 4.7 Factors causing changes in the pharmacology and toxicity of drugs | Disposition and elimination, age, sex, genetics, pregnancy, liver disease and renal dysfunction |
Area 5: Therapeutics and patient care (45%)
APC's description: "Clinical application of content areas 1-4 in patient care. It includes understanding the principles of health promotion, disease prevention, quality use of medicine, selection of medicines for special populations and provision of medicines information".
| APC topic | What it covers (our summary of APC's examples) |
|---|---|
| 5.1 Screening | Calculating patient parameters such as body mass index and creatinine clearance |
| 5.2 Dose calculations | Doses by weight, body surface area or age; ratio, percentage, stock solutions and dilution, alligation, milliequivalents and milliosmoles, reconstitution, infusion rates, isotonicity |
| 5.3 Primary health care | Choosing management options, including when non-drug treatment is the better choice |
| 5.4 Safe and effective use of medicines in populations requiring extended consideration | Older people, children under 12, pregnancy and breastfeeding |
| 5.5 Safe and effective use of medicines | Monitoring and reviewing treatment, and supporting adherence |
| 5.6 Harm minimisation | Reducing misuse and abuse of medicines for the patient and the community |
| 5.7 Health promotion and disease prevention | Promoting wellness and the proper use of non-drug options |
| 5.8 Confidentiality | Confidentiality and professionalism when giving medicines information and handling patient records |
FreeTests: Biomedical sciences · Pharmacology and toxicology · Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics · Therapeutics and patient care
OPRA Exam Mock Test · Free sample (4 questions): free sample
Answer 4 questions against the clock, like the real exam. You then see the right answer, the reason and your time on each. About 5 minutes · free · no sign-in.
4 questions to answer
Start nowThis one is free · no sign-in needed
Your result shows how long each question took you.
How the questions are written (and what that means for study)
APC's guide sets out standards every OPRA question follows. Each one changes how you should revise:
| APC standard | What to do |
|---|---|
| Drug and ingredient names follow the TGA list of approved names | Learn Australian approved names (for example paracetamol, adrenaline, glyceryl trinitrate), not only the names used where you trained |
| Units and directions follow the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care's recommended abbreviations | Get used to Australian prescription abbreviations before exam day |
| Values are in SI (metric) units | Practise laboratory values in SI units, for example creatinine in micromol/L and glucose in mmol/L |
| Determiners are bold and capitalised: CORRECT, MOST, LEAST, NOT | Read the stem for the determiner first; a NOT question reverses what you are looking for |
| About 55% recall, 30% comprehension, 15% application | With about 55% of questions at the remembering/recall level, we suggest flashcards and short quizzes alongside calculations and cases |
Study hours per area: our suggested split
APC sets the weights; it does not suggest study hours. The table below is our suggestion: it simply gives each area the same share of your study hours as it has of the questions. Pick the column closest to your total, then move hours towards the areas your mock results show are weakest.
| Content area | 120 hours (about 3 weeks at 40 h) | 240 hours (12 weeks at 20 h) | 400 hours (16 weeks at 25 h) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Therapeutics and patient care (45%) | 54 h | 108 h | 180 h |
| Biomedical sciences (20%) | 24 h | 48 h | 80 h |
| Pharmacology and toxicology (15%) | 18 h | 36 h | 60 h |
| Medicinal chemistry and biopharmaceutics (10%) | 12 h | 24 h | 40 h |
| Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (10%) | 12 h | 24 h | 40 h |
Our suggestion on top of the split: sit at least one full 150-minute timed mock before exam day, and more if you have the weeks, outside these topic hours. Because therapeutics questions draw on the other four areas, we suggest revising a topic from areas 1 to 4 alongside its clinical use (for example renal physiology, then renal dose adjustment) rather than in separate blocks.
OPRA study-hours planner (our suggested split)
Choose your likely exam day and how many hours a week you can study. The planner counts the weeks left from today and splits your total hours across the paper.
The planner uses the first day of each APC exam window (23 November 2026; 22 March, 26 July and 8 November 2027) and the same 45/20/15/10/10 split as the table. Your own test-centre appointment may fall on a later day of the window.
Worked examples from the syllabus
Example 1: turning the weights into a 12-week plan
- Say you have 12 weeks to the March 2027 sitting and can study 20 hours a week: 240 hours.
- Split by the weights: 108 h therapeutics and patient care, 48 h biomedical sciences, 36 h pharmacology and toxicology, 24 h each for medicinal chemistry and biopharmaceutics and for pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.
- Per week that is about 9 h, 4 h, 3 h, 2 h and 2 h. Keep the timed mocks outside these hours, and after each mock move an hour or two a week towards your two weakest areas. This method is ours, not APC's.
Weights from APC Table 1; the plan is our illustration.
Example 2: creatinine clearance (topic 5.1 Screening)
- APC names creatinine clearance as a parameter you should be able to calculate. A widely taught form of the Cockcroft-Gault equation with serum creatinine in micromol/L is: CrCl (mL/min) = (140 - age) x weight (kg) / (0.815 x serum creatinine), multiplied by 0.85 for females.
- For a man aged 70, weighing 72 kg, with serum creatinine 120 micromol/L: (140 - 70) x 72 = 5040; 0.815 x 120 = 97.8; 5040 / 97.8 = about 51.5 mL/min.
- Which weight to use (actual, ideal or adjusted) and whether to dose by CrCl or eGFR depends on the drug and the reference you follow. Know the formula and the units; the exam gives values in SI units.
Standard textbook formula; illustrative figures, not a dosing recommendation.
Example 3: a stock dilution (topic 5.2 Dose calculations)
- How much 10% w/v stock solution do you need to make 500 mL of a 2% w/v solution?
- Use C1 x V1 = C2 x V2: 10 x V1 = 2 x 500, so V1 = 1000 / 10 = 100 mL of stock, made up to 500 mL with diluent.
- Check the answer by sense: a fivefold dilution (10% to 2%) needs one-fifth of the final volume as stock, and one-fifth of 500 mL is 100 mL.
Standard pharmaceutical calculation; figures are illustrative.
Your OPRA syllabus checklist
OPRA syllabus checklist: all 32 APC topics
Tick each topic once you have revised it and answered timed questions on it. The topics are APC's (Exam Guide Appendix 1); the last group is our preparation checklist.
0 of 37 done
Ticks are saved only in this browser on this device.
Common mistakes
- Spending weeks on Australian pharmacy law. APC says OPRA does not examine legislation or practice standards specific to Australia or New Zealand; they come in later assessments during the internship.
- Treating area 2 as chemistry only. Its APC name is medicinal chemistry and biopharmaceutics: it also covers stability, solubility, formulations and sterilisation.
- Revising therapeutics as lists of drugs. APC calls it the clinical application of areas 1 to 4, so we suggest practising clinical cases that combine physiology, pharmacology and calculations.
- Using non-Australian drug names and non-SI units. Questions use TGA approved names and SI units.
- Trusting a pass percentage from an unofficial site. APC uses a scaled score against a set standard and does not release raw scores or percentages.
- Leaving the eligibility check too late. APC cannot guarantee an assessment in time for your preferred exam, and suggests lodging at least 8 weeks before registration closes.
Dates, fees and where to read more
| Registration | Exam dates | Results released |
|---|---|---|
| 18 August - 19 October 2026 | 23 - 25 November 2026 | 22 December 2026 |
| 19 January - 22 February 2027 | 22 - 24 March 2027 | 6 May 2027 |
| 11 May - 28 June 2027 | 26 - 28 July 2027 | 9 September 2027 |
| 14 September - 11 October 2027 | 8 - 10 November 2027 | 23 December 2027 |
Dates as listed on the APC knowledge stream page on 2 November 2026; registration for the November 2026 sitting has closed. For the deadlines worked out backwards from each sitting, see our OPRA exam dates 2027 guide; for changes as APC announces them, our OPRA exam alerts and updates. If you prepared for the old KAPS, our KAPS exam is now OPRA guide explains what changed, and for worked questions by area see OPRA exam sample questions with answers.
Test the whole syllabus under exam conditions
The free questions above are the start of our OPRA Exam Mock Test: full-length timed mocks of 120 single-best-answer questions in 150 minutes, written to the APC topic weights. Every answer is explained, and your result is broken down by the five content areas, so you can see which rows of the checklist need more hours.
See the OPRA Exam Mock Test (independent). Original exam-style questions written by us; not made, endorsed or reviewed by the Australian Pharmacy Council.
Frequently asked questions
What is the OPRA exam syllabus?
Five content areas set by the Australian Pharmacy Council: therapeutics and patient care (about 45% of the scored questions), biomedical sciences (20%), pharmacology and toxicology (15%), medicinal chemistry and biopharmaceutics (10%) and pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (10%). Appendix 1 of the APC OPRA Exam Guide lists 32 topics across them.
Which OPRA topic has the most weight?
Therapeutics and patient care, at about 45% of the 108 scored questions (10% of the 120 are unscored). APC describes it as the clinical application of the other four areas in patient care.
How many questions are in the OPRA exam and how long is it?
120 multiple-choice questions, each with one correct answer and 3 incorrect options, in 150 minutes. There are 5 minutes for the non-disclosure agreement and a 10-minute tutorial before, and a 5-minute survey after, outside the 150 minutes.
Does the OPRA exam test Australian pharmacy law?
No. APC says OPRA does not examine pharmacy practice issues specific to Australia or New Zealand, such as legislation or practice standards. Those are assessed later, during the internship.
Are all 120 OPRA questions scored?
No. APC says 90% are scored and 10% are unscored questions used for calibration, spread evenly across the five content areas. You are not told which ones are unscored.
What is the OPRA pass mark?
APC uses a scaled score and a passing standard set by subject experts. It does not release raw scores or percentages; your result report says whether you met the overall standard or were unsuccessful, with feedback by content area that is not used to decide the result.
How many hours should I study for OPRA?
APC does not say. Our suggestion is to split whatever hours you have in the same proportions as the questions: of 240 hours, about 108 for therapeutics and patient care, 48 for biomedical sciences, 36 for pharmacology and toxicology and 24 each for the last two areas, with timed mocks on top.
Is the OPRA syllabus the same as the old KAPS syllabus?
OPRA has its own exam guide, five content areas and weights, as set out on this page. For what changed from KAPS, see our KAPS exam is now OPRA guide; for the current rules, always use the APC OPRA Exam Guide.
Does APC give free OPRA practice material?
Yes: the OPRA Exam Guide, a 13-page sample content PDF with an answer sheet, and an online sample test from Pearson for getting used to the exam software. APC says it does not endorse any preparation programs.
Which drug names does OPRA use?
Drug and ingredient names follow the TGA list of approved names, values are in SI units, and units and directions follow the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care's recommended abbreviations.
Is ProSyllabus connected to the Australian Pharmacy Council?
No. ProSyllabus is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by the APC. Our practice questions are original exam-style questions written by us.
Sources
- official — APC: OPRA® Exam Guide, 30 July 2026, Version 2.3 (PDF): structure, content areas and weights, question construction, scoring, results, Appendix 1
- official — APC: OPRA® exam guide and sample content (sample content PDF and Pearson online sample test)
- official — APC: OPRA® Exam Sample Content, 30 July 2026, Version 2.1 (PDF, 13 pages, with answer sheet)
- official — APC: Knowledge stream skills assessment (eligibility check, fees, exam dates, test centres)
official = a document published by the conducting body. reported = a news or coaching site we could not check against an original. Where sources disagree this page says so rather than picking one.
