What is the Pharmacy Board oral exam?
The Pharmacy Board oral examination (practice) is a 35-minute assessment for general registration as a pharmacist in Australia. It has three parts: a primary healthcare role-play, a legal and ethical discussion, and a longer case about a prescription and a medication history. Ahpra runs it for the Board. The APC written exam is a separate exam.
Two exams, one registration pathway
General registration requires both a written examination and an oral examination. The Australian Pharmacy Council conducts the written exam. Ahpra conducts the oral exam for the Pharmacy Board. Passing one does not replace the other. The Board states that both must be passed within 18 months of each other. Read the current wording on the Registration Examination page.
The oral exam is usually face to face. The Board lists exceptions, including pandemic restrictions, examiner availability, some rural and remote candidates, and jurisdictions with very small candidate numbers. If an online sitting is required, candidates are told in the email that confirms the date and time.
The three parts
Timing below is the structure interns prepare for. The April 2025 Pharmacy oral examination (practice) candidate guide, linked from the Board’s Registration Examination page, is the document that sets the rules for your sitting, including what you can take in.
| Part | Time | What you are doing | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary healthcare | About 10 minutes | Role-play with a patient. Take a history, decide whether to treat or refer, and give safe advice. | Not used |
| Legal and ethical | About 5 minutes | Discuss a professional, legal, or ethical problem and what you would do. | Not used |
| Case scenario | About 20 minutes | Work through a prescription and medication history, including problems you have to find and explain. | Allowed. Confirm the list in the candidate guide. |
Primary healthcare can include a short stretch out of role-play, where an examiner asks you to explain a decision. The case part can include speaking with the prescriber as well as the patient. Practise those turns out loud. Reading a model answer does not rehearse them.
What the candidate guide decides
This page describes the shape of the exam. It does not replace the candidate guide. Before you apply, use the Board page to open the current guide and check:
- which references, if any, are allowed in each part
- whether internet access is allowed
- identification, arrival time, and what you must not bring
- how the examiners describe a competent performance
The Board also publishes the examination periods and the APOE-60 application. Late applications are not accepted.
What interns are being assessed on
The oral exam is a practice exam. Examiners are listening for safe decisions, a clear reason for those decisions, and communication a patient or prescriber can follow. Factual knowledge matters when it changes the action you take: the dose you would not supply, the interaction you would not miss, the legal limit you would not cross.
A useful way to listen to your own answer is against four questions. Is the patient safe? Is the treatment the right one, or have you referred? Is the supply lawful and professional? Are the facts you relied on correct? The Intern Pharmacist scores practice sessions on those lines so you can see which question you keep missing.
How practice on this site fits
The product is a place to rehearse, not the exam itself. You can speak a primary-healthcare consult, a legal problem, or a case, and get a structured debrief when you finish. A full oral mock follows the 35-minute shape. None of that changes the Board’s rules, and a practice score is not a prediction of your result.
Common questions
How long is the Pharmacy Board oral exam?
It is a 35-minute practice exam in three parts: about 10 minutes for primary healthcare, about 5 minutes for legal and ethical practice, and about 20 minutes for the case scenario.
Who runs the pharmacy intern oral exam?
Ahpra conducts the oral examination on behalf of the Pharmacy Board of Australia. The written examination is a separate exam run by the Australian Pharmacy Council.
Can you use references in the oral exam?
Primary healthcare and the legal and ethical part are sat without references. The case scenario allows references. The candidate guide sets what you may use, so check the current guide before exam day.
Practise a spoken oral scenario
This is exam-preparation guidance for Australian pharmacy interns. It is not legal advice, clinical advice, or a Pharmacy Board or APC publication. Exam rules change. Confirm dates, eligibility, and what you may take into the exam on the Pharmacy Board and Australian Pharmacy Council websites.