Pharmacy is a continuous, growing career. Before you become a licensed pharmacist, you go through a pretty long journey of education and experience. To become a pharmacist, you need to have a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree. Having a PharmD degree is not enough to become a licensed and certified pharmacist. After the completion of the degree, you need to pass NAPLEX (North American Pharmacist Licensure Exam).
If you have already applied for the NAPLEX exam and want to know about how you can check if you passed the NAPLEX, then this article is for you. In this article, we will discuss everything about the NAPLEX exam, starting from checking results to what you can do after failing the NAPLEX.
How To Find Out Your NAPLEX Score?
NAPLEX (North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination) is a computer-based examination conducted for the applicants who want to get licensure for pharmacists. To obtain licensure, you must take this exam. If you have recently taken the NAPLEX exam, you must be worried about whether you will make it or not.
It is very obvious to get worried for the applicant who had spent 4 to 6 years in achieving the degree after high school. After getting the degree, the next step comes is the NAPLEX licensure exam. Let’s come to the main question – how to find out the NAPLEX score?
The official test scores will be mailed to you after you take the exam. Wait for seven business days to get the mail of your official test scores. You can also visit the official website of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy to check out whether you can access the score results online or not.
The availability of NAPLEX score results online is also based on your state. You need to check out first whether your state is listed or not. The states which are listed on the website can provide the score results. If your state is listed, go to the “NAPLEX and MPJE Results” section of the National Association of Pharmacy website, then click on “Log in to access your results” and enter your username and password.
If you have not received the official mail of your NAPLEX test score even after seven business days, contact the testing center where you took the examination.
How Many Times Can You Take The NAPLEX?
North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination or NAPLEX is a pharmacy test which measures the knowledge of the candidate in the pharmacy. NAPLEX is used by the boards of pharmacy for the part of their assessment of a candidate’s competence to practice as a pharmacist.
The maximum attempts for the NAPLEX exam are five. You are not allowed to take an attempt for the exam for more than five times. And, after you fail for the attempt, you have to wait 45 days for the next attempt. After 45 days, you can again take the attempt for NAPLEX.
To avoid failure in examination, you can take pre-NAPLEX. You can prepare well for the NAPLEX with the help of pre-NAPLEX. It is an exam in which you get a very similar testing experience that you get with the main exam. You can get access to the Pre-NAPLEX via an internet connection. As there is the limit of five attempts only, you need to make sure that you pass the examination within five attempts. Taking pre-NAPLEX gives you an idea of the main examination and increases the chances of passing.
What Time Are NAPLEX Scores Posted?
NAPLEX test scores are posted seven business days after the examination. You can also visit the official website of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy to check out whether you can access the score results online or not. The availability of NAPLEX score results online is also based on your state. You need to check out first whether your state is listed or not.
The states which are listed on the website can provide the score results. If your state is listed, go to the “NAPLEX and MPJE Results” section of the National Association of Pharmacy website, then click on “Log in to access your results” and enter your username and password. The official test scores will be mailed to you after you take the exam. Wait for seven business days to get the mail of your official test scores.
How Many Questions Do You Need To Pass The NAPLEX?
NAPLEX (North American Licensure Examination) is a test conducted by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP). NABP conducts this exam for the purpose of testing skills, knowledge, and qualities of applicants.
NAPLEX is designed to check whether a particular applicant is capable of the pharmacist licensure or not. Before NAPLEX, the students must have completed the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program. After PharmD, the students need to get licensure for pharmacy. To license the skilled and knowledgeable students, NAPLEX is conducted.
The NAPLEX consists of a total of 250 multiple-choice questions. Out of these 250 questions, 200 questions will be used to calculate the applicant’s test score. The remaining 50 questions will be experimental questions, and they do not affect the applicant’s test score.
The total score of the exam could range from 0 to 150. The candidate must achieve a minimum of 75 to pass the exam. The applicants who do not achieve at least 75 scores, they will be provided a performance profile. The performance profile of the applicant will include the strengths and weaknesses in which they should improve their performance. Also, after you take NAPLEX and if you do not pass, you must wait for a minimum of 45 days to re-take the NAPLEX.
What Does My Pre-NAPLEX Score Mean?
As you know, NAPLEX is the examination for testing whether you are eligible for licensure or not. Pre-NAPLEX is the examination that is designed to provide you a testing experience of the main exam. In the Pre-NAPLEX, you come across with similar questions to the main examination. Pre-exam does not require you to go anywhere. You can take the Pre-NAPLEX online from anywhere.
Pre-NAPLEX does not mean anything to your main exam. This is the exam designed to provide you a testing experience and prepare you for the main exam. Pre-NAPLEX consists of 100 questions in total, and you will be given a total of 140 minutes to complete the exam. Once you submit the answer to any particular question, you would not be able to make any change afterward.
Some students believe that the pre-NAPLEX exam score helps them to give an idea about the main exam. If you want to take the pre-NAPLEX, you have to register for the exam first. You can register online by logging into your e-Profile. If you do not have e-Profile, you can create it. After you register for the exam and pay fees for the Pre-NAPLEX, you will have seven days to take the test. The fees of pre-NAPLEX are $65 per testing session.
Once you take the exam, you will be provided the score report for it. You can also get your score report immediately after you complete the exam at the NABP e-Profile. So, Pre-NAPLEX is designed to provide the testing experience of the main exam to the students. It doesn’t matter how great or how poor you score in pre-NAPLEX; it won’t affect NAPLEX.
How Long To Get NAPLEX Results?
To become a pharmacist, you need to have a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree. Having a PharmD degree is not enough to become a licensed and certified pharmacist. After the completion of the degree, you need to pass NAPLEX (North American Pharmacist Licensure Exam). NAPLEX (North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination) is a computer-based examination conducted for the applicants who want to get licensure for pharmacists. To obtain licensure, you must take this exam.
You may have taken the NAPLEX examination and worried about results. After you take the exam, it takes around seven business days to get your results. The scorecard of the NAPLEX will be mailed to you after 7 days. So, you need to wait for seven business days to get your test results.
You can visit the official site of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy to check whether your test scores are available to access online or not. The availability of your score results is based on your state. First, you need to know whether your state is listed or not. The states which are listed on the website can provide the score results. If your state is listed, go to the “NAPLEX and MPJE Results” section of the National Association of Pharmacy website, then click on “Log in to access your results” and enter your username and password.
If you do not receive the official mail from the National Association Boards of Pharmacy (NABP), even after seven working days, contact the testing center where you have taken the exam.
What Can You Do After Failing The NAPLEX?
Pharmacy is the field that has so many opportunities. After you complete your Doctor of Pharmacy or PharmD program, you have to take the licensure exam and pass it. After passing the licensure exam, you become a certified and licensed pharmacist of your state.
Applicants often have a question regarding what they can do after failing the NAPLEX. Here, we will discuss various pathways you can choose after failing the exam. Before we get started, you must know that NAPLEX can be taken five times. For example, if you fail in the first attempt, you have still four more attempts available. There are various pharmacist jobs available that do not require licensure. Here’s what you can do after failing the NAPLEX:
Re-take NAPLEX
The first option available to you is retaking the NAPLEX. You can take the NAPLEX exam for a maximum of five times. So, if you failed the exam and you still haven’t exceeded the retake limits, you have the option of retaking the exam. Also remember, after taking the exam, you must have to wait for at least 45 days to take the exam again. If this option doesn’t suit you, you can decide what to do from the options mentioned below.
Academic Pharmacist
The academic pharmacist is the job position in which you can apply for without passing NAPLEX. An academic pharmacist works in pharmacy and medical schools. If you want to get the faculty position in the medical school, you don’t need pharmacy licensure.
Drug Information Specialist
The duties of a drug information specialist are to evaluate the literature and provide responses to drug information questions. It also includes preparing medication-use policies & procedures, improving adverse drug reaction reporting and medication use evaluation programs, creating and distributing newsletters with medication-use details, etc.
Pharmacy Technician
Another career option you may choose if you fail in NAPLEX is a pharmacy technician. A pharmacy technician is another career option that does not require candidates to get licensure. To become a technician, you also don’t need the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree. There are various types of pharmacy technician career options. You can get into retail pharmacy, hospital pharmacy, closed-door pharmacy, or compound pharmacy.
Final Thoughts
As you know, to become a pharmacist, you have to get a formal education and get licensure. Students complete their formal education without hassle, but some students stuck in the procedure of getting licensure. For the purpose of licensure, it is mandatory to apply and pass the NAPLEX. It is an exam designed to test the skills and abilities of different applicants.
Students often get confused regarding their licensure exam. In this article, we have explained all the things the applicant should know about NAPLEX. We have covered these questions – how to find out the NAPLEX score, how many times one can take the NAPLEX, what time are exam scores posted, the number of questions included in the exam, how long does it take to get NAPLEX results, and what you can do after failing NAPLEX.
