GPAT
Admission to M.Pharm programmes with the AICTE postgraduate scholarship (GPAT is mandatory for the scholarship). Scores are also used by some PSUs and state drug-control departments in recruitment screening.
Eligibility
Candidates must hold a B.Pharm degree, or be in the final year of a four-year B.Pharm (including lateral entry) from a PCI-approved institute. Indian nationals only. There is no age limit or cap on attempts. Scores are valid for three years.
Age limit: No age limit
Exam pattern
Computer-Based Test (CBT), 3 hours, 125 MCQs for 500 marks. Each correct answer earns +4 and each wrong answer costs −1; unattempted questions score zero. Questions are in English only. A merit list ranks candidates and qualifying percentiles are set by category.
Syllabus at a glance
The complete B.Pharm curriculum (PCI Education Regulations), covering pharmaceutics (physical pharmacy, biopharmaceutics, pharmaceutical technology), pharmaceutical chemistry (medicinal, organic, inorganic, analysis), pharmacology, pharmacognosy and phytochemistry, human anatomy and physiology, biochemistry, microbiology, biotechnology, pharmaceutical jurisprudence and clinical pharmacy.
Upcoming dates
| Event | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| GPAT 2027 information bulletin and notification | Late Dec 2026 | expected |
| Online registration | Late Dec 2026 - mid Jan 2027 | expected |
| Application correction window | Mid-late Jan 2027 | expected |
| GPAT 2027 examination | Early Mar 2027 (GPAT 2026 was held on 7 Mar 2026) | expected |
| Result | 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
- Foye's Principles of Medicinal Chemistry - Lemke & Williams
- Pharmacognosy - C.K. Kokate, A.P. Purohit & S.B. Gokhale
- Physical Pharmaceutics - C.V.S. Subrahmanyam
- The Theory and Practice of Industrial Pharmacy - Lachman & Lieberman
- Practical Pharmaceutical Chemistry - Beckett & Stenlake
How toppers play it
- Pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical chemistry and pharmacology together make up most of the paper, so build these thoroughly before minor subjects.
- Under +4/−1 marking, eliminating one option makes a guess worth it on average, but blind guessing across many questions drags the score down. Aim for 85-90% accuracy.
- Pharmacology questions centre on mechanisms, drugs of choice and adverse effects, so keep a one-page table per drug class.
- Medicinal chemistry often tests structure-activity relationships and named drug syntheses. Draw structures while revising instead of only reading.
- Solve previous GPAT papers (AICTE/NTA/NBEMS years), because concepts repeat often, especially from pharmacognosy and jurisprudence.