appeals

[pandaeyes]

Hi all im in the unfortunate position- that i got 79% overall in june exam- 84% in closed book and 74% in open- but only got 65% in calcs!!!!! it was my last attempt at the exam - now totally devastated- sent off for recheck and am going to appeal- on the basis that i did it in birmingham and it was so totally dreadfully organised- its so hard to walk away from it all after all these years. Anyone out there ever hear of a successful appeal story?
regards all

[Nik]

I can sympathise - I also did the exam at Birmingham and it was shambolicly organised (or disorganised). I suspect the GPhC would have kept an eye on this in terms of exam results and people appealing. Whether they will count this as an extenuating factor who knows, but good luck anyway.

[Asterix]

the entire 3 attempts at the exam is such a disgusting rule. how would one feel to walk away from it all after 5 years is beyond me. wasn't there some petition agaisnt it last year. good luck with it all.

[pandaeyes]

Many thanks asterix- will keep ye all posted- there has to be a way

[spartacus]

If you are unsuccessful you could register in another country like Canada.

[montblanc]

I find it disgusting that you are only allowed 3 attempts at the exam. If it was regarding the university exams, then fair enough, but after gettting a masters in pharamcy and doing a whole 12 months prereg and failed the exam by one question is an absolute joke. Also the way the exam is set, does not differentiate weather you are capable of being a pharmacist or not. I personally dont like exams, because it doesnt test you properly. I would rather have an oral based exam. I would have thought that the new society would have made new changes to the format of the exam. In university if you passed a component of the exam, then you would not have to sit that part of the exam again. E.g if you passed calcs once, why do we need to pass it again? its a joke. its not fair. Also why cant the society look at the previous persons attempt and see if they passed calcs on a previosu attempt, then pas them. Also for people who narrowly fail, why cant they interview these people. The prereg exam is pointless. This candidate who failed on the 3rd attempt is more than capable of being a pharmacist. I really feel for you. I hope your appeal goes through and you pass. Do you really think if everyone who has passed them exam and were told to resit it would pass? most would fail without revising. Good luck

[admin]

I find it disgusting that you are only allowed 3 attempts at the exam. If it was regarding the university exams, then fair enough, but after gettting a masters in pharamcy and doing a whole 12 months prereg and failed the exam by one question is an absolute joke. Also the way the exam is set, does not differentiate weather you are capable of being a pharmacist or not. I personally dont like exams, because it doesnt test you properly. I would rather have an oral based exam. I would have thought that the new society would have made new changes to the format of the exam. In university if you passed a component of the exam, then you would not have to sit that part of the exam again. E.g if you passed calcs once, why do we need to pass it again? its a joke. its not fair. Also why cant the society look at the previous persons attempt and see if they passed calcs on a previosu attempt, then pas them. Also for people who narrowly fail, why cant they interview these people. The prereg exam is pointless. This candidate who failed on the 3rd attempt is more than capable of being a pharmacist. I really feel for you. I hope your appeal goes through and you pass. Do you really think if everyone who has passed them exam and were told to resit it would pass? most would fail without revising. Good luck

I totally agree. I was in the first year of these exams, so we had no past papers etc, and was fortunate to pass at the 1st attempt. I can't think of many calculations I've had to do like the examples in the exam since!

[Asterix]

its a pity everyone shares the same views but no one comes forward...

[montblanc]

The other thing that isnt fair is that before you only had to get 70% across both papers. It didnt matter if you didnt get 70% in calcs. This is not fair on everyone else who did the exam after the change. All the people who did the exam before got lucky. Because of the fatal error that one prereg student did, we all got to suffer. Also even before that, their wasnt even a prereg exam. As long as you got signed off by your tutor, you got qualified to work as a pharamcist. i was unfortunate to sit the exam in september last year where only 65% of the candidates who sat the exam passed. This is an absolute disgrace. The open book was impossible to complete on time. The exam was purposly made difficult. They put a statement on the website saying the exam was at the same difficulty as previous sittings, so why did 65% only passed the exam and why ddi the society put this statement up on the website? Plus the society give no guidance on failed students to find out where the student actually went wrong in the exam. If i failed calcs, i would like to know which ones i got wrong. This would give me peace of mind that i did make a silly mistake and i know how to tackle this type of question if it appears again. The society excuse is that they only have a limited bank of questions that they recycle each year. Yeah right, if we actually believe this. Also each year they always put the same sample papers up over and over again. The society just cares about making money. Also when ringing up the society about the exam, its like speaking to a brick wall.

[weeneldo]

****, for £206 per candidate per attempt (£412 if the entry is late) you think they'd be able to give you a little bit of feedback. They act as if its us versus them, as if we're supposed to fight them for registration. They should be there to help us, not to make us suffer. And its just disgraceful that they're not giving back the money to candidates in London etc who got ****** about.