3/4/2024 KAPS exam guide and sample papers | Australian Pharmacy Council

KAPS exam guide and sample papers

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07 February 2023

The KAPS (Knowledge Assessment of Pharmaceutical Sciences) exam tests your knowledge and understanding of
pharmaceutical sciences. Passing it confirms that you know enough to practise safely and effectively in an Australian setting.

This guide to the KAPS exam outlines the subject areas we assess, and will help you to prepare for the exam. You'll need to
assess your own knowledge level, then evaluate that knowledge as much you can against the exam material.

On this page:

Exam format ()
Distribution per content area
Exam scoring
Content areas for Paper 1
Content areas for Paper 2
Sample papers

Preparing for the exam

Preparing for the KAPS exam

Exam format

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The KAPS exam consists of 200 questions delivered over two 2-hour sessions (a total of 4 hours of assessment) with a 60-minute
scheduled break between papers.

Before starting the exam, you are given 15 minutes to complete a tutorial designed to familiarise yourself with the exam software.
You're given 5 minutes at the end of the exam to complete a survey.

All questions are multiple-choice questions with one correct answer out of four options.

KAPS is a closed-book exam. This means you cannot bring any printed or handwritten reference materials into the exam with
you.

We base our exams on the latest information, which you can find in relevant:

journals
publications
textbooks

It's up to you to find this information. We do not endorse any external reference sources.

Style conventions
Medicine and ingredient names will be presented as per the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) list of approved names
(https://www.ebs.tga.gov.au/).

Values will be presented will be in SI (metric) units.

Units for quantities of drugs and directions for medications follow the approved abbreviations from the Recommendations for
terminology, abbreviations and symbols used in medicines documentation (https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/our-
work/medication-safety/safer-naming-and-labelling-medicines/recommendations-terminology-abbreviations-and-symbols-used-
medicines-documentation).

Determiners are bold and capitalised to draw your attention to the kind of response expected. e.g. CORRECT, MOST, LEAST,
NOT.

Distribution per content area

Content area Approximate distribution per content area

Paper 1

Pharmaceutical Chemistry 30%

Physiology and Pharmacology 70%

Paper 2

Pharmaceutic 30%

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3/4/2024 KAPS exam guide and sample papers | Australian Pharmacy Council

Therapeutics 70%

Exam scoring
You must complete all questions in the paper or papers you sit.

To pass the exam, you need a mark of at least 50% in all subsections of the exam.

Paper 1 Pharmaceutical chemistry 50%

Pharmacology and physiology 50%

Paper 2 Pharmaceutics 50%

Therapeutics 50%

You need an overall mark of at least 50%.

You will receive a results certificate indicating your outcome. We'll email you or your agent when your results are available. Expect
this to be around 2 weeks after you sit the exam.

Content areas for the KAPS exam

The KAPS exam consists of 2 papers:

Paper 1: Pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmacology and physiology

Paper 2: Pharmaceutics and therapeutics

Paper 1: Pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmacology and physiology

Pharmaceutical chemistry
You'll need to show you understand and have suitable knowledge in the following content areas:

Paper Content Indicative elements

1 assessed

1 Organic chemistry Nomenclature

Drug class recognition
Reaction types
Functional group reactivity
Drug stability
Acid-base reactions

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2 Nomenclature
Stereochemistry
Optical activity
Geometric isomerism
Conformation

3 Physical and Kinetics

inorganic Acid-base reactions
chemistry Phase equilibria

4 Analytical Spectroscopy
chemistry Redox reactions
Assay techniques
Diagnostic agents

5 Biochemistry Nomenclature
Structures
Biochemical classes
Thermodynamics
Biochemical pathways

6 Structure-activity Relationship between a chemical or 3D structure and its biological activity

relationships

7 Medicinal Structure-activity relationships

chemistry Drug presentation and delivery
Drug formulation and stability
Drug metabolism
Mechanism of drug action
Modern drug development
Absorption, distribution and elimination of drugs

8 Drug metabolism Breakdown and conversion of medicines through regularly occurring bodily process,
leading to active ingredients and by-products of the original medicine

Pharmacology and physiology

You'll need to show you understand and have suitable knowledge in the following content areas:

Paper Content Indicative elements

1 assessed

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1 Biochemical Principles of drug action

pharmacology Drug interactions
Receptor pharmacology
Autonomic transmission
Endocrine pharmacology
Cardiovascular pharmacology
Anti-inflammatory agents and analgesics
Antibiotics
Diuretics
Local and general anaesthetics
Vitamins
Drugs affecting nutritional and metabolic function
Drugs affecting the central nervous system

2 Systemic The mechanism of drug action as it relates to specific organs and disease states
pharmacology

3 Chemotherapy Antibacterial drugs

Antiviral drugs
Antifungal drugs
Antiprotozoal drugs
Anthelmintic drugs
Anticancer drugs

4 Toxicology Common side effects

Signs of toxicity
Mechanism of toxicity

5 Pathophysiology Alteration of physiological processes by drugs or disease states

6 General Normal bodily functions including but not limited to the central nervous, digestive,
physiology cardiovascular, lymphatic, nervous, respiratory, urinary, endocrine and reproductive systems
and their integration
Blood and other body fluids

Paper 2: Pharmaceutics and therapeutics

Pharmaceutics
You'll need to show you understand and have suitable knowledge in the following content areas:

Paper Content assessed Indicative elements

2

1 Physical pharmacy Solvents

Types of preparation
Solutions
Suspensions
Emulsions

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3/4/2024 KAPS exam guide and sample papers | Australian Pharmacy Council

2 Biopharmaceutics Dissolution
Drug absorption
Bioavailability and bioequivalence
Drug interactions with a biopharmaceutical basis

3 Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics Biological half-life

Elimination rate constants
Apparent volume of distribution
Clearance
Steady state considerations
Drug protein binding
Drug metabolism
Drug interactions
Pharmacogenetics
Relevant calculations

4 Pharmaceutical microbiology Preservation

Antimicrobial agents
Sterilisation technology

5 Formulation Formulation of drugs for various routes of administration

Parenteral dose forms
Controlled release preparations
Evaluation of particular dose forms

Dose forms, including extemporaneous Drug products

6
preparation Constituent drug substances
Combination compounded products for use via various routes of
administration

Therapeutics
You'll need to show you understand and have suitable knowledge in the following content areas:

Paper Content assessed Indicative elements

2

1 Calculations Dilutions
Percentages
Densities
Sensitivity of balance
Proportions
Isotonicity
Milliequivalents and milliosmoles
Buffers
Dose calculations from body weight or surface area
Stability

2 Posology and dose determinations Appropriate dosages of common medications

Dosage regimens of common medications

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3 Medicine choice Demonstrating an understanding of the clinical processes used for

choosing the most appropriate drug for the presenting patient and their
condition

4 Surgical dressings, applications Drug choices for surgical dressings

and associated drug delivery The use of and choices for surgical dressings
systems

5 Adverse reactions to drugs Adverse reactions for drugs

Relevant patient counselling and advice

6 Drug interactions Drug interactions

Relevant patient counselling and advice

7 Drug information Using information sources to find drug and health information relevant to
conditions and disease states

8 Managing minor ailments Non-prescription prescribing

Diagnosing minor illness
Rational over-the-counter product selection
Over-the-counter drug information

KAPS exam paper samples

To help you sit the KAPS exam, we provide 2 official sample papers:

Download Paper 1 Sample 1 (31 pages PDF) (kaps-paper-1-sample-1.pdf)

Download Paper 2 Sample 1 (29 pages PDF) (kaps-paper-2-sample-2.pdf)

These each contain questions to help you practise. These questions are no longer used, but they'll help you understand:

the types of content covered in each paper of the exam

how questions are presented

If you want to practise the sample papers under exam conditions, you'll need to answer all 100 questions in each paper in 2
hours.

The real KAPS exam is delivered online at an approved test centre. Our exam provider, Pearson Vue, provides an online sample
test (https://home.pearsonvue.com/apc) to experience the exam software before your exam day.

Contact the exams team

We are happy to assist you further with any questions you may have. Email us at exams@pharmacycouncil.org.au
(mailto:exams@pharmacycouncil.org.au)

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