In this article, we will discuss:
- Everything about the OPRA exam, dates, fees, eligibility, passing marks and more
- How the OPRA 2025 exam is different from KAPS exam
- OPRA exam syllabus and preparation
The OPRA exam assesses whether candidates have the necessary pharmaceutical knowledge and understanding to ensure that the overseas candidates who would want to practice as permanent pharmacists in Australia should fulfill their criteria, respectively (we will discuss this later in the article).
The Knowledge Assessment of Pharmaceutical Sciences (KAPS) exam, conducted by the Australian Pharmacy Council (APC) stopped delivering after November 2024 and was updated in March 2025 as Overseas Pharmacists Readiness Assessment (OPRA) exam.
Did you know: Australia and New Zealand have the same pharmacist exam for overseas candidates.
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What is the OPRA Exam in Australia?
The Overseas Pharmacists Readiness Assessment (OPRA) is a thorough evaluation for international pharmacists to align well with Australian healthcare settings. The exam is conducted to assess whether the candidates have a comprehensive understanding of biomedical, pharmaceutical, and clinical science concepts.
Who can take the OPRA exam?
The OPRA pharmacy exam is for all the pharmacists around the world who have studied and practiced outside of Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, the USA, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
How to become a registered pharmacist in Australia?
To be a pharmacist in Australia, candidates must have a B.Pharm or M.Pharm from Australia, or, for overseas candidates, have to clear the OPRA exam to prove their skills, undergo a supervised internship, and clear the required English proficiency test. The next step would be to apply for provisional registration with the Pharmacy Board of Australia and undergo further evaluation.
Is OPRA exam tough?
The updated exam of pharmacy in Australia, which is known as the OPRA exam, is considered much easier than the old KAPS exam. The OPRA exam focuses more on the practical knowledge and real-life experiences in the questions. It is a multiple-choice question format and reduced time duration.
Need some help? To see if you fit the criteria and the OPRA exam is the right choice for your healthcare career, connect with us today.
2. What is the OPRA Exam in New Zealand?
The OPRA (Overseas Pharmacist Readiness Assessment) exam in New Zealand is for international candidates with a bachelor’s and masters in pharmacy from their respective countries. The exam was conducted by the Australian Pharmacy Council on behalf of New Zealand. Thus, it follows the same exam pattern, eligibility criteria, scoring method, and criteria to pass.
3. What is the difference between OPRA and KAPS Exam?
The KAPS exam has been replaced with the OPRA exam. It is to commit to contemporary exam style to keep the exams updated with medical practices and aligned with Australian pharmacy practice. Today, in this article, you will learn everything about the OPRA exam out there.
The changes in the OPRA exam:
- Real-life questions.
- Rasch methodology for scoring.
- Fees reduction.
- Revised content.
- Single paper with random questions.
Same as KAPS:
- Eligibility & registration process.
- Assigned test centers only.
- Same level of difficulty
- The number of attempts
The revised content in the OPRA exam from KAPS:
More questions on therapeutics and the application of knowledge to align with the updates in pharmacy practice in Australia. It is much more effective in the training period. It is an approach to take the advice from the subject matter experts to commence the exam and apply their necessary recommendations.
| Papers | KAPS Syllabus | OPRA Syllabus |
| Paper 1 |
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| Paper 2 |
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NO Paper 2 |
4. OPRA Exam Dates 2025
To check the dates, location, registration link, and any updates, always follow the official website of the Australian Pharmacy Council (APC).
| Exam Dates | Registration Dates | Result Dates |
| 3 – 5 March 2025 | 9 January – 3 February 2025 | 1 April 2025 |
| 14 – 16 July 2025 | 8 April – 16 June 2025 | 12 August 2025 |
| 24 – 26 July 2025 | 19 August – 27 October 2025 | 22 December 2025 |
5. OPRA Pharmacist Exam Eligibility Criteria & Fees 2025
The eligibility criteria for the OPRA exam are as follows:
- Education: The candidates should have done a BPharm or MPharm from their home country.
- Registered Pharmacist: The candidate is a registered pharmacist or eligible to register as a pharmacist in their home country.
- Document Verification: They have all the verified documents to back their qualifications and certifications.
- English Language Proficiency: To prove you can communicate and understand the native language in Australia or New Zealand, you must clear the IELTS/PTE/OET/TOEFL exam.
What is the OPRA exam passing marks?
There are no passing marks, as the method for qualification is done through Rasch methodology. In this method, your approach for taking each question is assessed rather than just assigning the marks to each answer.
What is the OPRA exam fees in Indian rupees?
The OPRA exam fee is $2190, and the fee in Indian rupees is approximately ₹ 187348.70 (based on the current exchange rate).
6. Australia OPRA Exam Syllabus
The main focus syllabus of the OPRA exam is divided into 5 categories, with each having its detailed content and syllabus.
- Biomedical sciences
- Physiological processes and normal bodily function for all systems
- Pathophysiology
- Medical microbiology
- Immunology
- Disorders affecting bodily fluids
- Symptoms and physiological values of disease states and disorders
- Medicinal chemistry and biopharmaceutics
- Physicochemical properties of drugs
- Formulations for the delivery of drugs
- Drug and chemical stability
- Solubility
- Drug formulation
- Pharmaceutical microbiology
- Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics
- Drug metabolism
- Principles of pharmacokinetics
- Factors affecting drug impacts
- Evaluation of pharmacokinetic data
- Using pharmacokinetic data in treating patients
- Pharmacology and toxicology
- Impact of drugs on the body
- Receptor theory
- Mechanisms of action of drugs
- Adverse drug reactions
- Drug interactions
- Drug toxicity and treatment
- Factors causing changes in the pharmacology and toxicity of drugs
- Therapeutics and patient care
- Screening
- Dose calculations
- Primary health care
- Safe and effective use of medicines in populations requiring extended consideration
- Safe and effective use of medicines
- Harm minimisation
- Health promotion and disease prevention
- Confidentiality
OPRA exam Question format:
Questions in the OPRA exam follow certain standards to maintain consistency.
- Names of drugs and ingredients will be shown as per the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
- Directives for medications and units for quantities of drugs follow the abbreviations from the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare.
- Values that will be presented will be in SI (metric) units.
- Options to choose the correct answers will be mentioned in bold and capital like CORRECT, MOST, LEAST, and NOT.
OPRA exam questions use test cognitive/ability levels derived from Bloom and Anderson’s classification of learning and ability levels.
Cognitive/Ability Level:
- Remembering/ Recall
- Comprehension /Understanding
- Application: Using methods, concepts, principles, and theories in various situations.
7. OPRA Exam Preparation
Always follow the trusted sources when you check for preparation and course information. Academically, they have been in this domain for years with a 90% success rate.
Preparation with OPRAExam:
- Dedicated hours of live and recorded OPRA Exam video tutorials
- Live classes + recorded sessions, study handouts, mock tests, and final OPRA AI grand test
- Extended OPRA course trainer access
- Adaptive AI-driven mock tests according to Rasch methodology
- One-on-one feedback sessions with the trainer
- Exclusive tips on approaching the new pattern for international pharmacists
Conclusion
The OPRA exam is equivalent to the Australian pharmacists exam. It is an important step in the process of provisional registration as a pharmacist in Australia. The OPRA exam can be cleared on the first attempt with the right strategy, preparation, and thorough understanding of the syllabus.
The OPRA exam does not exercise the pharmacy practices, it is just a qualification exam to test the pharmacists’ skills and knowledge based on the Australian settings. For practicing in Australia, they require further assessment, which includes a certain duration of internship hours and an intern exam.
