Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test (GPAT) 2021: Exam Dates, Application Form, Eligibility, Pattern and Syllabus

About

The Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test (GPAT), opens doors to infinite opportunities for students from pharmaceutical domain. GPAT is a National level entrance exam for admission into prestigious NIPERs and University colleges. Since 2009, the importance of GPAT has increased as the branch turned into a autonomous exam and separated from GATE (PY). The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), which is now known as Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of India (GOI) has established the National Testing Agency (NTA). The National Testing Agency (NTA) has been entrusted by the Ministry of Education with the task of conducting the Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test (GPAT) w.e.f 2019.

Attempted by almost 50,000 students every year, GPAT is the most popular exam in the pharmacy fraternity. It is conducted online once a year during the third week of January. The result is declared in the mid-February.

GPAT Exam Overview

 Significance of Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test (GPAT)

M.S.Pharm/M.Pharm/M.Tech Course at NIPER or University College

Through GPAT, a student can get admission to M.S.Pharm/M.Pharm/M.Tech programs at premier pharmaceutical institutes in India. A students who has qualified GPAT is eligible for a stipend of Rs.12,400 per month for a M.S.Pharm/M.Pharm/M.Tech course.

Ph.D

Through GPAT, a student can get registered to a PhD and grant of fellowship around Rs.24,000 per month for a PhD course. All CSIR and top University colleges also encourage Research Assistance (RA) through GPAT.

Study Abroad

Many countries like US, Europe, Germany, New Zealand and Singapore have started recognising and accepting GPAT scores as a parameter for selection of a candidate. A good score in GPAT also helps students to become eligible for many scholarships in the Life Sciences domain.

Eligibility:

• Aspirant/Applicant must be a Indian citizen.
• They must hold a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy (4 years after 10+2, including lateral entry candidates)
• Those who are in the final year of B. Pharmacy course are also eligible for appearing in GPAT exam.
• B.Tech. (Pharmaceutical and Fine Chemical Technology) / Equivalent’ Students are not eligible to appear for GPAT examination.

Age Limit

• No Upper Age Limit
• No Limit on Attempts

Exam Pattern:

• Exam Mode – Online
• Time – 03 hours (2.30 AM to 5.30 PM)
• Total Questions – 125
• Maximum Marks – 500
• Type of Questions – Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)
• Correct Attempt – Each question will carry 4 marks
• Wrong Attempt – One mark will be deducted for each wrong answer

Syllabus

Fees

The Prescribed fee while applying for the exam or else your application will be rejected. As discussed earlier, candidates can pay the GPAT application fee by net banking or credit/debit card. Here is the category-wise application fee for this years’ exam.

How to Apply:

Interested candidates have to apply online before the set deadline. The registration process is started on 23rd December 2020 and the window is opened till 22 January 2021. To avoid any last-minute rush, you should know how to apply for this exam.

Direct Link to Apply Online for GPAT 2021 – Click here

or Follow steps below

Step 1 – Visit the official website of GPAT at https://gpat.nta.nic.in/

Step 2 – Click on the ‘Apply for GPAT’ link available on the homepage.

Step 3 – Now, click on the GPAT 2021 Application Form link.

Step 4 – Register yourself by filling all the details such as name, education, address, mobile number, email address and other required information.

Step 5 – Upload your scanned passport size photograph and signature in the prescribed format.

Step 6 – Hit the submit button.

Step 7 – Pay the application fee as per the category through net banking or Debit/Credit card.

Step 8 – Click on Generate reference copy button and take out a print of the application copy.

GPAT Admit Card 2021 

Candidates have to download the Admit Card for each stage in the GPAT 2021. The NTA will issue admit cards at least 10-15 days before the exam. Admit Card is one of the most important documents in exam. Here is how you can access & download the hall ticket in easy steps.

Direct Link to Download the GPAT Admit Card 2021 – Click here^*

OR

Step 1 – Visit the official website of the National Testing Agency.

Step 2 – Locate the GPAT 2021 Admit Card link and click on it.

Step 3 – Now, use your login credentials such as username, date of birth, and password to access the hall ticket.

Step 4 – You will see the admit card on your window. Download this copy onto your computer as you need to print multiple copies of it later.

Qualifying Cutoff

The National Testing Agency will publish the official cut off after completion of each exam. Only those candidates who clear the cut off can proceed to secure an eligibility for scholarship and admission in to Post graduation and Ph.D. GPAT Cut off is based on several factors such as the number of applicants, the difficulty level of exam, availability of scholarships, etc. It’s important for you to know the expected cut before you start your preparation. Check the previous years’ cut off to get an idea of how many marks you have to score in the GPAT 2021.

Paper Analysis:

GPAT Exam consists of the following are type of Questions:

• Recall: Based on facts, principles, formulae or laws of the discipline. Candidate is expected to be able to obtain the answer either at most from a one-line computation or from his/her memory directly.
• Comprehension: By requiring him/her to draw simple conclusions from fundamental ideas, these questions will test the candidate’s understanding of the basics of his/her field.
• Application: The candidate is expected to apply his/her knowledge either by logical reasoning or through computation.
• Analysis and Synthesis: These can be common data questions, in which two questions share the same data but can be solved independently of one another or the questions, where the answer to the first question of the pair is required in order to answer its successor.

Expected No of Questions

NTA GPAT Merit List

NAT will publish the merit list of GPAT 2021 after the release of cutoff. This merit list is very important as candidates will be admitted as per their ranks in this list. While preparing the merit list, NTA normalizes marks out of 100 to rank each candidate. Qualifying in GPAT is main stage to attempt and secure NIPER exam and admission.

Rules for Tie-breaking

• A National Merit Ranking (All India Rank) will be arrived based on the Score secured against Total Score.
• Student having same Score shall be listed in a chronological (ascending) order as per their date of birth.
• Candidates having same score would be given the same Merit, and the Merit number would be increased by the same number i.e. if there are two candidates at Merit 2, Merit 3 would not be awarded to the next candidate but Merit 4 would be given.

Display of Recorded Responses

The NTA will display the recorded responses and Question Paper attempted by the candidates on the NTA website gpat.nta.nic.in prior to declaration of result. The recorded responses are likely to be displayed for two to three days.

Declaration of Results

The result will be compiled based on Final Answer Keys. No grievance with regard to Answer Key(s) after Declaration of Result of GPAT-2021 will be entertained. The raw (actual) marks obtained by a candidate will be considered further for computation of the Result of GPAT-2021. No Score Card will be dispatched to the candidates and the candidates are advised to download their Score Cards from the website: gpat.nta.nic.in only.

There is no provision for rechecking/re-evaluation/re-totaling of the result/score and no query in this regard will be entertained.

NTA GPAT Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ on Eligibility

Would a candidate appear for GPAT Exam for practice purposes irrespective of eligibility?

Only Eligible candidates would be appearing for the GPAT entrance examination.

Who and all are eligible to appear for the test under the Physically Disabled category?

As per the Persons with Disability Act, a candidate who appears for GPAT qualifying to be physically disabled would be suffering from the following disabilities the extent being of not less than 40% certified by a competent medical authority.

• Dumb
• Visual Impairment
• Hearing Impairment
• Physically Impaired

A candidate doing Graduation through Part-time or Distance, is he/she eligible to apply for GPAT 2021?

The candidate can apply if it is approved by the statutory authorities.

Would a third-year B.Pharm student be eligible for GPAT 2021?

No, B.Pharm third year students would not be eligible to appear in GPAT Examination.