Lead with the honest finding: PharmaFactz is a pharmacology knowledge and quiz resource, not a dedicated GPhC Common Registration Assessment (CRA) question bank. It is a strong home for the drug, therapeutics and clinical-pharmacy knowledge layer, delivered through reference content and multiple-choice pharmacology quizzes. It does not, on the pages checked, provide the free-entry calculations paper, extended-matching sets, full-length timed CRA mocks, or the law, ethics and professional-practice content the exam demands. Use it for one job — building pharmacology knowledge — and assign the rest of the workflow to resources built for the CRA format.
This is a narrow child article that links up to the GPhC decision-tree hub and the iatroX comparison hub; it does not reprint "best bank" rankings. Because PharmaFactz is a knowledge resource rather than a CRA simulator, the workflow below is about assigning each feature exactly one job, so you do not mistake reading pharmacology for practising the exam.
What PharmaFactz offers for the GPhC CRA right now
Current-state snapshot. Figures are vendor-reported and last checked on 20 July 2026; confirm anything you rely on, because contents and any membership terms change.
| Item | What we found (vendor-reported, 20 July 2026) |
|---|---|
| Product type | Pharmacology education/reference site with MCQ quizzes — not a CRA-specific bank |
| Free content | 150+ free pharmacology MCQs (general pharmacology, drug classes, mechanisms, side effects) |
| Premium membership | "Over 2,500 pharmacology quiz questions"; "over 300 drug classes, thousands of side effects and drug interactions" |
| Reference breadth | "Tens of thousands of facts on pharmacology, clinical pharmacy, medicines… pharmaceutics and medicinal chemistry" |
| Calculations (Part 1) | Not offered — no free-entry calculation practice found |
| EMQ sets / timed mocks | Not offered — no CRA-format EMQ sets or full-length timed mocks found |
| Law, ethics, professional practice | Not covered as CRA content |
| AI / adaptive engine | None advertised |
| Price / access period | Membership pricing not confirmed on the pages checked — verify on the site |
Honesty flag: this is the finding that shapes the whole workflow. PharmaFactz covers the pharmacology and therapeutics knowledge behind many Part 2 questions, and covers it broadly, but it is not a substitute for a CRA bank. If your plan treats PharmaFactz as your main exam-practice tool, you will arrive at the exam having never practised the calculations paper, the EMQ format, timed mixed conditions, or the professional-practice content — a serious coverage gap.
The exam you are actually preparing for
The GPhC CRA is one day, two parts, both passed in the same sitting (maximum three attempts; verified on pharmacyregulation.org, 20 July 2026):
- Part 1 — Calculations: 40 numerical free-entry questions in 120 minutes.
- Part 2 — Multiple choice: 120 questions in 150 minutes — 90 five-option SBAs and 15 EMQ sets of two (30 EMQ items).
PharmaFactz maps only to part of Part 2 — the pharmacology and therapeutics knowledge that underpins clinical SBAs. It does not map to Part 1 at all, nor to the professional, legal and ethical strands that MEP and GPhC standards govern. Keep medicines facts anchored to the SmPC/eMC and management to NICE/CKS, using PharmaFactz as a memorable knowledge layer rather than a source of exam-format practice.
Assign one job to each feature
The failure mode with a knowledge site is running four versions of the same passive activity — reading facts, reading explanations, re-reading quizzes, re-reading notes — and calling it revision. Assign one job to each asset and hold the line:
- Reference content and drug-class pages → diagnosis and teaching. Use them to identify and fill knowledge gaps, not as daily "revision" you scroll through.
- Pharmacology quizzes → low-stakes retrieval of drug knowledge. Treat them as recall reps for mechanisms, side effects and interactions — a genuine strength here.
- Everything else the CRA needs → other resources. Calculations, EMQ practice, timed mixed mocks and professional-practice items come from a CRA bank and the official sample material. iatroX supplies the unseen, timed, mixed measurement layer.
Baseline first, then read only the gaps
Do not start by reading PharmaFactz front to back. Begin with a blueprint-stratified baseline on a CRA bank and on iatroX unseen items, so you know which therapeutic areas are actually weak. Then send PharmaFactz after those specific gaps — the beta-blocker interactions you keep missing, the mechanisms you cannot separate — rather than following the site's own ordering. A knowledge resource is most powerful when aimed by a diagnosis.
A weekly sequence that keeps knowledge and practice separate
Build the week so PharmaFactz feeds knowledge and your CRA tools measure it:
- Learn only identified gaps on PharmaFactz — the drug topics your baseline flagged.
- Test them within 24–48 hours with fresh CRA-format questions (SBA and EMQ), not the PharmaFactz quiz you just did.
- Retest later after a spacing interval.
- Integrate everything into a weekly mixed, timed block, including calculations, so knowledge is exercised in exam format.
Protect unseen questions and mocks as assessment assets
Your unseen CRA items and full-length mocks are measurement instruments; spend them deliberately, not during casual study. PharmaFactz quizzes are cheap to repeat and fine to re-run for knowledge; unseen CRA blocks are not — once seen, they stop measuring. Keep a protected pool you never study on, so your readiness signal stays honest.
Switch criteria between reading, quizzing, CRA practice and mocks
Let observed errors decide where you go next, not habit:
- Missing because you do not know the pharmacology → back to PharmaFactz reference and quizzes.
- Knowing the drug but missing the clinical decision → CRA-format SBA/EMQ practice and NICE/CKS.
- Missing calculations → a dedicated calculations tool and daily free-entry reps — PharmaFactz cannot help here.
- Missing law, ethics or professional practice → MEP and GPhC standards, tested with professional-practice items.
- Right in practice, wrong under time → timed mixed mocks.
Exit criteria
You are not done when you have read all of PharmaFactz — that is completion, not readiness. You are ready when you have adequate coverage across the framework, stable first-attempt performance on unseen timed items, correct pacing, and competence in the non-pharmacology components PharmaFactz never touched: calculations, EMQ technique and professional practice.
A worked seven-day plan (PharmaFactz for one job, iatroX for measurement)
Give PharmaFactz one job — build and refresh pharmacology knowledge — and use iatroX for unseen transfer measurement. No proprietary-algorithm claims are involved: you choose the domains and run timed, unseen, mixed blocks yourself. This example suits a pre-registration trainee with reasonable clinical knowledge but shaky pharmacology recall.
| Day | PharmaFactz (one job: pharmacology knowledge) | iatroX (unseen measurement) |
|---|---|---|
| Mon | Read/quiz the two drug-class areas your baseline flagged; note discriminators | — |
| Tue | Pharmacology quiz reps on Monday's classes; write "why not" prompts | 20-item unseen mixed Part 2 block, timed; record first-pass accuracy |
| Wed | 20-minute calculations drill (external tool — not PharmaFactz) | — |
| Thu | Refresh mechanisms/side effects for the week's weak drugs | 20-item unseen mixed block; note the two weakest therapeutic areas |
| Fri | Targeted reading on Thursday's two weak areas | Retest those two areas, 15 unseen items each |
| Sat | Light pharmacology quiz review only | 40-minute mixed, timed block (includes calculations) as a mini-mock |
| Sun | Consolidate discriminators into your notes | 30-item unseen mixed block as the week's transfer score |
The iatroX side answers the only question that predicts a pass: on fresh, timed, mixed items, is your accuracy rising? A pharmacology quiz percentage is not your exam score — see "Your Q-Bank Percentage Is Not Your Exam Score" — and keep resources non-overlapping using the two-Q-bank rule.
Decision checklist: continue, supplement, switch or stop
- Continue using PharmaFactz if your pharmacology recall is genuinely improving and feeding better clinical decisions in CRA-format practice.
- Supplement immediately with a CRA bank and official material — because PharmaFactz alone leaves calculations, EMQ, mocks and professional practice untouched. This is not optional; it is the coverage the site does not provide.
- Switch the knowledge source only if sampling shows content out of step with current guidance.
- Stop treating PharmaFactz as exam practice once your limiting factor is pacing, calculations or format familiarity — those belong to CRA tools, not a knowledge site.
Base every branch on a measured gap, not novelty or sunk cost.
Frequently asked questions
Is PharmaFactz enough for GPhC Common Registration Assessment on its own? No, and it does not claim to be. PharmaFactz is a pharmacology knowledge and quiz resource; on the pages checked it offers no free-entry calculations, no CRA-format EMQ sets, no full-length timed mocks and no law, ethics or professional-practice content. It can strengthen the drug and therapeutics knowledge behind many Part 2 questions, but a candidate who relies on it alone will reach the exam never having practised the calculations paper, the EMQ format or timed mixed conditions. Treat it as one knowledge layer inside a stack, not the stack.
Which GPhC Common Registration Assessment component does PharmaFactz not reproduce well? Almost all of the exam-format components — most starkly Part 1. There is no free-entry calculations practice, so the calculations paper is entirely unaddressed, and there is no CRA-style EMQ or timed mixed mock. It also does not cover professional practice, law and ethics. What it reproduces well is pharmacology knowledge itself; the gap is that knowledge is necessary but not sufficient, and the exam tests it in formats PharmaFactz does not offer.
How many PharmaFactz questions should I complete per day for GPhC Common Registration Assessment? Use its quizzes as knowledge reps rather than exam practice — 15–30 targeted pharmacology questions a day on your flagged weak areas is plenty, and they should aim your reading, not replace CRA-format testing. Because these are low-stakes and repeatable, quantity matters less than direction: quiz the drug topics your unseen CRA baseline says are weak, then measure the effect on fresh CRA-format items rather than on more PharmaFactz quizzes.
When should I stop using PharmaFactz and move to mixed mocks? Move to mixed, timed CRA mocks as your knowledge stabilises — but note you should be running CRA-format practice alongside PharmaFactz throughout, not sequentially, because PharmaFactz never trains the format. Reduce knowledge-reading time once your pharmacology recall is reliably feeding correct clinical decisions in unseen CRA items; from there, pacing, calculations and full mixed mocks are the priority, and those live outside PharmaFactz entirely.
How should I combine PharmaFactz with iatroX without duplicating practice? Keep the roles cleanly separate: PharmaFactz builds and refreshes pharmacology knowledge; iatroX measures whether that knowledge transfers to unseen, timed, mixed CRA-format items. They rarely overlap because they do different jobs — one teaches drug facts, the other tests exam-format reasoning under the clock — but the discipline still applies: never re-test an item you have seen, log misses in one place, and let the iatroX unseen score be your readiness signal.
Editorial notes and references
Written by Dr Kolawole Tytler, NHS GP and founder of iatroX. Last checked 20 July 2026. Vendor figures (question counts, membership terms and coverage) are vendor-reported as of that date and change without notice — verify them on the PharmaFactz site. Disclosure: iatroX operates a competing UK question bank; its role here is confined to the unseen-MCQ measurement and knowledge layer, and this article is explicit that PharmaFactz is a pharmacology knowledge resource rather than a CRA bank. Corrections are welcome via the feedback route on iatrox.com.
References: GPhC CRA structure — pharmacyregulation.org; product details — pharmafactz.com and its pharmacology quizzes; iatroX GPhC bank, the two-Q-bank rule and "Your Q-Bank Percentage Is Not Your Exam Score".