APC Written Assessment study guide
APC Written Assessment · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The APC Written Assessment - widely known as KAPS, the Knowledge Assessment of Pharmaceutical Sciences - is the written knowledge examination within the Australian Pharmacy Council's skills assessment pathway for pharmacists who qualified overseas and are seeking to practise in Australia. It is designed to test whether a candidate's pharmaceutical sciences knowledge, and the professional judgement built on it, is comparable to what is expected of a pharmacy graduate entering practice in Australia. The content spans three broad strands: basic pharmaceutical sciences (pharmaceutics, medicinal chemistry and pharmacokinetics), pharmacology and therapeutics, and pharmacy practice with its social and administrative dimensions. Questions are in multiple-choice format, so success depends on accurate recall plus the ability to apply knowledge to short practice scenarios, calculations and counselling situations. Topics on this exam: Basic pharmaceutical sciences (pharmaceutics, medicinal chemistry, pharmacokinetics), Pharmacology and therapeutics, and Pharmacy practice and social/administrative pharmacy. The APC Written Assessment study guide has 3 sections and about 928 words.
01Basic pharmaceutical sciences: formulation, medicinal chemistry and pharmacokinetics
Basic pharmaceutical sciences connect formulation, molecular structure and kinetics. In pharmaceutics, know how dosage form, particle size, salt form, excipients and manufacturing affect dissolution, absorption and stability. Bioavailability (F) is the fraction of dose reaching systemic circulation unchanged; it incorporates absorption and first-pass metabolism. For medicinal chemistry, focus on ionisation and pKa, lipophilicity, protein binding, chiral centres, prodrugs and functional groups that alter receptor binding or stability.
323 words, about 2 min02Pharmacology and therapeutics: mechanisms, monitoring and individual variation
Pharmacology and therapeutics questions test whether you can link a drug’s mechanism to its clinical effects, adverse effects and monitoring. Know receptor types and signalling, agonist/partial agonist/inverse agonist/antagonist behaviour, potency versus efficacy, and therapeutic index. Potency is the concentration or dose producing a given effect (often EC50); efficacy is the maximal response. A competitive antagonist shifts the agonist concentration–response curve right without reducing Emax; a non-competitive or irreversible antagonist can reduce Emax.
318 words, about 2 min03Pharmacy practice and social/administrative pharmacy: law, safety and communication
Pharmacy practice questions blend legal requirements, professional standards, communication and medication safety. Know the difference between legal supply requirements and good practice: a lawful prescription still needs clinical screening, identity checks, dose validation, interaction review and counselling. In Australia, scheduled medicines have different supply restrictions; prescription medicines generally require prescriber details, patient details, medicine name and strength, dose, directions, date and signature, with extra requirements for drugs of dependence or restricted substances. PBS or reimbursement rules are administrative, not a substitute for clinical appropriateness.
287 words, about 1 min