What is OPRA Exam 2026: Eligibility, Application, Dates, Fees & More

Want to become a registered pharmacist in Australia of New Zealand? You will have to appear for ORA exam and qualify it to become one. OPRA exam is tough and requires a lot of preparation to qualify it. Check out everything about OPRA exam in this article.

The OPRA exam is for those who want to get registered as a pharmacist and practice in Australia or New Zealand. OPRA exam is accepted by Australian Pharmacy Council (APC) and Pharmacy Council of New Zealand (PCNZ). Applicants need a confirmation from these authorities to register for OPRA exam. Applicants who have studied pharmacy courses in top countries apart from Australia, New Zealand, UK, Canada, USA and few more are eligible to take this exam.

Indian applicants who hold a Pharmacy degree from abroad or India are eligible to apply to become a registered pharmacist in Australia or New Zealand. OPRA exam is administered online across 25+ countries including India. This exam is adaptive and is 2 hours and 15 minutes long. Those who wish to work in Australia or New Zealand after graduating with a Pharmacy degree can check their eligibility and then register. Here is everything about OPRA exam in 2026 for international students.

OPRA Exam Highlights 2026

What is OPRA Exam?

The OPRA exam is administered by APC (Australian Pharmacy Council) to assess incoming international applicants for their skills and knowledge of biomedical, pharmaceutical, and clinical sciences to practice pharmacy in Australia. Those who qualify for OPRA exam get registration to practice pharmacy in Australia.

Overseas Pharmacist Readiness Assessment is conducted in three cycles or sessions. OPRA exam dates are scheduled for March, July and November each year and dates vary. OPRA exam is conducted at a test centre and there are test centres available in India as well for testing. Applicants can take OPRA exam after studying in New Zealand or in Australia as well.

Who Takes OPRA Exam?

There are various applicants who take OPRA exam to become registered pharmacists in Australia and New Zealand. Some of the major applicant types who take OPRA exam to qualify to work in Australia and New Zealand are:

• Pharmacists whose primary qualification was obtained in a country outside of the accredited list (Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK and the USA).

• It is a common pathway for graduates from countries such as India, its neighbouring countries, and various African nations.

• Anyone who has earned a pharmacy degree (B.Pharm abroad or PharmD) equal to Australian standards and is currently registered in their home country.

Also, those who have studied in Australia take OPRA exam. But first they need to take a skill assessment test before appearing for OPRA exam.

OPRA Exam Eligibility

In order to take the OPRA exam, one must be eligible based on their educational and professional qualifications. Also, they have to get their eligibility check so that they can register and be eligible to apply for OPRA exam. 

• To take the OPRA exam, applicants must hold a B.Pharm or D.Pharm degree from abroad or in India.
• Applicants must have an active registration as pharmacist practitioner in home country.
• Students must be actively engaged in pharmacy-related work and should have proof of registration with the local or state government.
• Also applicants must show English proficiency 7.5 band score on IELTS, Grade B in OET or 65 on PTE.
• OPRA exam eligibility fulfilment also requires applicants to get a head's up on their Eligibility Check. This initial check is important and is also payable. Once this is cleared, applicants can apply for OPRA exam.

Ideally these are some of the eligibility criteria to appear for OPRA exam. 

OPRA Exam Pattern & Structure 

Just like other exams, OPRA exam is also an online exam. The OPRA exam pattern and structure is simple. There are certain number of questions that are marked and rest are for analysis. All questions are tested in MCQ format in a certain number of hours. To understand the exam pattern of OPRA exam in detail, check out the table below:

For OPRA's scoring, the Rasch Methodology (Psychometric scaling) is used. There is no limit to multiple attempts on OPRA exam. In fact, candidates can retake as needed (fees apply). Apart from this, the questions are categorised by the level of thinking required: 

• Remembering / Recall: 55%
• Comprehension / Understanding: 30%
• Application: 15%

These are based on Bloom and Anderson's classification of learning ability skills. This also makes an important part of the exam pattern of OPRA. It is essential to understand this before getting on to the syllabus of OPRA exam.

OPRA Exam Syllabus

For those who are preparing for the OPRA exam should know that the OPRA exam syllabus includes 5 areas of testing. Each of these areas is further divided and includes a certain number of topics for testing. The following areas are tested on OPRA exam:

1. Therapeutics and Patient Care
2. Biomedical Sciences
3. Pharmacology and Toxicology
4. Medicinal Chemistry and Biopharmaceutics
5. Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics

The first area of testing carries the highest weightage, followed by the other four. To understand in depth about these areas tested on OPRA exam, check out their weightage and the sub topics which are also included for testing future pharmacists in Australia:

Applicants must prepare for OPRA exam syllabus based on weightage first and then based on difficult topics. Covering all sections and entire OPRA syllabus is essential to qualify the exam.

How to Apply for OPRA Exam?

International applicants who want to appear for OPRA exam can apply once they check their eligibility criteria. Once they complete the step of Eligibility Check and get a confirmation that they are eligible, they can start their OPRA exam registration. The steps for OPRA exam registration are as follows:

1. Applicants have to verify their academic profile and also get confirmation email from APC or Pharmacy Council of New Zealand (PCNZ) that they are eligible to apply for OPRA exam.
2. Next is creating credentials for taking the exam. Log on to APC website and select new user under OPRA exam and sign up.
3. Applicants who need accommodation, must mention on while OPRA exam registration process.
4. Next is uploading a high quality selfie or a full headshot (showing full head and shoulders) image that is coloured, recnetly taken and not later than 6 months.
5. Once all details and documents are uploaded, applicants can submit their application by paying the registration fees.
6. OPRA exam registration fee is accepted through applicant's country issued MasterCard or Visa debit or credit cards.

Applicants must ensure that their fee has been paid otherwise their test centre seat will have to be forfeited.

Documents Required

When registering for OPRA exam, there is a list of documents that need to be attached. These are as follows:

• Passport + one more ID
• Academic transcripts
• Evidence of pharmacist practioner in UK, Canada, Ireland, US and New Zealand
• Previous degree(s)
• Skills Assessment Outcome
• IELTS, OET scores
• Health check certificate

Once this process is completed, APC/PCNZ will send a confirmation and 5 days before the exam the admit card will be released.

OPRA Exam Fees 2026

Applicants who are Australian Pharmacy graduates or interns have to pay the following fee for OPRA exam. This exam fee also applies to pharmacists who qualified with a degree but outside Australia. All fee are mandatory unless otherwise mentioned. Check out the OPRA exam fee step by step below:

Apart from these costs for OPRA exam, applicants will also have to pay for IELTS exam fee or OET fee based on preference. These costs are additionally charged apart from the above mentioned ones.

OPRA Exam Dates for Overseas Pharmacists in 2026

There are three sessions in which OPRA exam is conducted. Annually, OPRA exam dates are released for March, July and November testing. Here are the latest and upcoming OPRA exam dates for 2026 along with regostration timeline:

There is no home testing option available for OPRA exam. Applicants who are taking this exam in 2026 from India can choose test centres in major Indian cities. OPRA exam test centres are located in Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, New Delhi, Noida and nearby areas. Slots may run out and sometimes seats may not be available at a preferred OPRA exam centre.

There is no number or alpabetical grade or score available for OPRA exam. The result only says Pass or Unsuccessful. Though OPRA exam uses scaled scores for scoring applicants and based on industry specialists or pharmacists of Australia and New Zealand bechmarks are set based on which results are released. The result of OPRA test is released within 4 weeks from the date of exam. Also applicants cannot see the questions they answered correctly or incorrectly.

So if you are also a professional pharmacist and have an active registration in your home country, you can apply for OPRA exam. Upon quaifying OPRA exam you can become a registered pharamcist in Australia or New Zealand.