GPAT
Admission to M.Pharm programmes across PCI/AICTE-approved institutes (with AICTE PG scholarship for qualifiers); scores are also used by some government and industry recruiters.
Eligibility
Indian nationals with a B.Pharm degree, or in the final year of B.Pharm (including lateral-entry students), are eligible. There is no age limit and no restriction on the number of attempts. Score is valid for admission in the academic year specified by the bulletin.
Age limit: No age limit
Exam pattern
Computer-based test of 3 hours with 125 MCQs for 500 marks. Each correct answer earns +4 and each wrong answer costs -1. There is no sectional time limit. The paper follows the PCI B.Pharm curriculum.
Syllabus at a glance
Covers the full B.Pharm syllabus: pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical chemistry (medicinal, organic, inorganic, analysis), pharmacology, pharmacognosy, pharmaceutical biotechnology, biochemistry, microbiology, anatomy and physiology, pharmacy practice and jurisprudence. Pharmaceutics, chemistry and pharmacology carry the bulk of the marks.
Upcoming dates
| Event | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Information bulletin and notification | Dec 2026 | expected |
| Online registration | Late Dec 2026 to mid-Jan 2027 | expected |
| Admit card release | Early Mar 2027 | expected |
| GPAT 2027 examination | Early-mid Mar 2027 (GPAT 2026 was held on 7 Mar 2026) | expected |
| Result declaration | Early Apr 2027 | expected |
Expected dates follow the usual calendar; confirm on the official notification before planning.
Free prep material
Standard books
- Essentials of Medical Pharmacology – K.D. Tripathi
- Pharmacognosy – C.K. Kokate, A.P. Purohit & S.B. Gokhale
- The Theory and Practice of Industrial Pharmacy – Lachman & Lieberman
- Physical Pharmacy – Alfred Martin
- Textbook of Medicinal Chemistry – Wilson and Gisvold (Block & Beale)
- GPAT Review / A Complete Review – Pee Vee (Dr Prashant Verma)
How toppers play it
- Prioritise pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical chemistry and pharmacology, which together account for roughly 70% of questions.
- Make one-line revision notes for drug classes, mechanisms, adverse effects and structures; GPAT is heavily recall-based.
- With -1 per wrong answer across 125 questions, attempt only confident answers and educated 50:50 guesses.
- Solve GPAT papers from the NTA and NBEMS years under 3-hour timed conditions to build speed of about 1.4 minutes per question.
- Do not neglect pharmacognosy and jurisprudence: they are short, scoring sections that often decide ranks.