← Syllabus and Exam Guide

GPAT Exam Guide

GPAT, the Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test, is the national level entrance examination for admission to the Master of Pharmacy (M.Pharm) course and for the award of scholarships to qualified candidates. This page gives the GPAT basics in one place: what the exam is, who conducts it, the exam pattern, the eligibility criteria and the complete syllabus topics, exactly as the official bodies publish them. All exam facts on this page are as per the GPAT 2026 Information Bulletin of the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS), and the detailed syllabus topics are as per the GPAT syllabus published by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

What is GPAT

GPAT is a national level examination for award of scholarship to qualified candidates seeking entry into Master of Pharmacy (M.Pharm) course. Candidates who qualify in GPAT use their score for admission to M.Pharm programmes in institutions across India and for the award of scholarships, as per the rules of the admitting institutions and authorities.

The role of the conducting body is limited to the conduct of GPAT, declaration of the result and handing over the result to the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI). Appearing in GPAT does not by itself give a candidate a right to an M.Pharm seat or a scholarship: admission depends on fulfilling the admission criteria and eligibility prescribed by the State Government or Admission Committee, as applicable.

Who conducts GPAT

The first GPAT was conducted in the year 2010. It was conducted every year till 2018 by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and from the year 2019 the examination was conducted through the National Testing Agency (NTA), in each case as per the directions of the Ministry of Education, Government of India.

The Pharmacy Council of India has since taken the initiative to conduct the GPAT and disbursement of scholarship, honouring the judgement of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India dated 05.03.2020, and has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) for conducting the GPAT. NBEMS conducted GPAT 2025 and GPAT 2026. The official website for GPAT is natboard.edu.in.

Exam pattern

As per the GPAT 2026 Information Bulletin issued by NBEMS:

Indicative blueprint of the examination

The bulletin gives the following indicative blueprint of the question paper:

Time bound sections

The question paper for GPAT is divided into multiple time bound sections. For example, if there are 5 time bound sections (Section A, B, C, D and E) in the question paper, each section will have 25 questions and 36 minutes of time allotted for the section. Candidates are restricted to proceed to the next section till completion of the allotted time of the previous section, and candidates are not allowed to review the questions or modify the responses of a section after the completion of the allotted time of that section. Questions of the next section start automatically after the completion of the allotted time of the previous section. The actual number of such time restricted sections may vary based on the total number of questions in the question paper and operational feasibility. Candidates are given an option to mark any question, whether attempted or not, for review within the section before the allotted time for that section ends, and such questions are evaluated as per the marking scheme.

Eligibility

As per the GPAT 2026 Information Bulletin, the candidate must meet the following criteria:

• He / She is a citizen of India.
• The candidate must hold a Bachelor's degree in Pharmacy (4 years after 10+2, including lateral entry students) or equivalent from a recognized university.
• Candidates appearing for the final year (4th Year) examination of Bachelor of Pharmacy (B.Pharm) whose result will be declared before commencement of admission to M.Pharm course for the academic year 2026-27 are eligible to appear in GPAT 2026.
• Candidates appearing for the Pre-final year (3rd Year) examination of Bachelor of Pharmacy (B.Pharm) whose results for Final Year (4th Year) will be declared before commencement of admission to M.Pharm course for the academic year 2027-28 are also eligible to appear in GPAT 2026.
• B.E. / B.Tech. (Pharmaceutical and Fine Chemical Technology) / equivalent candidates are not eligible to appear in GPAT 2026.
• There is no age limit for appearing in GPAT.

Candidates found to be ineligible at any stage of GPAT will not be permitted to appear in the examination and / or counseling, and the candidature of any ineligible candidate who appears or succeeds is liable to be cancelled. Eligibility of candidates issued admit card for the examination is purely provisional.

GPAT syllabus

The GPAT 2026 Information Bulletin states the syllabus of the exam in these words: "The syllabus for the GPAT shall comprise of subject / knowledge areas as per The Bachelor of Pharmacy (B.Pharm.) Course Regulations, 2024."

In other words, GPAT tests you on the subjects of your B.Pharm course. The detailed subject wise and topic wise syllabus published for GPAT by the National Testing Agency is reproduced in full below. It covers nineteen subjects of the B.Pharm course. Use it as your checklist: if a topic is listed here, it is within the scope of the exam.

1. Pharmacology

• General Pharmacology
• Neurohumoral transmission in autonomic and central nervous system
• Pharmacology of peripheral nervous system
• Pharmacology of central nervous system
• Pharmacology of cardiovascular system
• Drugs acting on urinary system
• Drugs acting on respiratory system
• Pharmacology of endocrine system
• Chemotherapy
• Autacoids and their antagonists
• Pharmacology of drug acting on the gastrointestinal tract
• Chronopharmacology
• Immunopharmacology
• Vitamins & Minerals
• Principles of toxicology

2. Physical Chemistry

• Composition & physical states of matter: Intermolecular forces & their impact on the state of the matter. Various physical properties of matter, dipole moment, dielectric constant, Van Der Waal's equation & critical phenomenon, liquefaction of gases, aerosols.
• Colligative Properties: The liquid state, vapor pressure, ideal & real solutions. Raoult's law, elevation of boiling point, depression of freezing point, osmotic pressure, determination of molecular weight based on colligative properties.
• Thermodynamics: First, second & third law of thermodynamics. Thermochemical laws, isothermic & adiabatic processes, reversible processes, work of expansion, heat content, enthalpy, heat capacity. Gibb's & Helmholtz equation & chemical potential.
• Refractive index: Refractive index, specific refractivity, molar refractivity, refractometers.
• Solutions: Solubility, factors affecting solubility, solubility curves. Types of solutions, effect of co-solvency, pH & other factors on solubility. Solubility of gases in liquids, liquids in liquids, & solids in liquids, critical solution temperature, law of partitioning & its applications. Solute-solvent interactions. Expression of the concentration of pharmaceutical solutions & calculations. Molarity, molality, mole fraction & percentage expressions.
• Electrochemistry: Properties of electrolyte solutions, electrolysis. Faraday's law of electrolysis, electron transport, electrical cell, single electrode potential, concentration cells, half-cells & half-cell potential, types of half cells, sign convention, Nernst equation, salt bridge, electromotive series, standard potential, SHE. Measuring the relative voltage of half cells, Calculation of standard potential. Reference & indicator electrodes. Standard oxidation-reduction potential.
• Ionic equilibrium: Theory of conductivity, equivalent conductance, mobility of ions, specific conductance.
• Kinetics: Order of reactions, derivation & internal form of rate laws, molarities of reaction, derivation of rate constants.

3. Physical Pharmacy

• Matter, properties of matter
• Micromeritics and powder rheology
• Surface and interfacial phenomenon
• Viscosity and rheology
• Dispersion systems
• Complexation
• Buffer
• Solubility

4. Organic Chemistry

• General principles
• Different classes of compounds
• Protection & deprotection of groups
• Aromaticity & aromatic chemistry
• Different aromatic classes of compounds
• Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
• Carbonyl Chemistry
• Heterocyclic Chemistry
• Bridged rings
• Kinetic & thermodynamic control
• Stereochemistry
• Carbohydrates
• Amino acids & proteins
• Organometallic chemistry
• Pericyclic reactions

5. Dispensing and Hospital Pharmacy

• Introduction to laboratory equipment, weighing methodology, handling of prescriptions, labelling instructions for dispensed products
• Posological calculations involved in the calculation of dosage for infants
• Study of current patent and proprietary products, generic products and selected brand products, indications, contraindications, adverse drug reactions, available dosage forms and packing
• Compounding and dispensing of following prescriptions
• Reading and counselling of prescriptions from the clinical practice
• Enlarging and reducing formula, displacement value
• Preparations of formulations involving alligation, alcohol dilution, isotonic solution

6. Pharmaceutical Chemistry

• Pharmaceutical Inorganic Chemistry
• Dentifrices, desensitizing agents, & anticaries agents
• Pharmaceutical Impurities
• Isotopes
• Monographs
• Medicinal Chemistry
• Therapeutic classes of drugs
• Different classes of therapeutic drugs
• Various classes of therapeutic agents
• Drug metabolism

7. Pharmaceutical Jurisprudence

• Historical background
• Drug legislation in India
• Code of Ethics for Pharmacists
• The Pharmacy Act 1948
• Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940, Rules 1945, including New Drug applications
• Consumer Protection Act
• Drug (Price Control) Order
• Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1970 and Rules 1975
• Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960
• Indian Pharmaceutical Industry: An Overview
• Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, and Rules thereunder
• Medicinal and Toilet Preparations (Excise Duties) Act 1955, Rules
• Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act 1954
• Prevention of Food Adulteration Act 1954 and Rules
• Industrial Development and Regulation act 1951
• Minimum Wages Act 1948
• Factory Act
• Shops and Establishment Act
• An Introduction to Standard Institutions and Regulatory Authorities such as BIS, ASTM, ISO, TGA, USFDA, MHRA, ICH, WHO
• Introduction to Intellectual Property Rights and Indian Patent Act 1970

8. Pharmaceutical Management

• Introduction to management
• Planning and Forecasting
• Organization
• Inventory Management
• Communication
• Marketing Research
• Leadership and motivation
• Research Management
• Human resource and development (HRD)
• GATT
• World trade organization (WTO) and trade-related intellectual property rights (TRIPS)
• Standard institutions and regulatory authorities

9. Pharmaceutics

• Pharmacy Profession & Introduction to Pharmaceuticals
• Introduction to dosage form
• Sources of drug information
• Route of administration
• Dosage Form Necessities and Additives
• Allopathic dosage form
• Crude extract
• Allergenic extract
• Biological products
• Pharmaceutical Plant, location, layout
• Powders
• Tablets
• Capsules
• Liquids (solutions, syrups, elixirs, spirits, aromatic water, liquid for external uses)
• Suspensions
• Emulsions
• Suppositories
• Semisolids
• Ophthalmic preparations
• Pharmaceutical Aerosols
• Parenteral: product requiring sterile packaging
• Preformulations
• Cosmetics
• Packaging Materials
• Kinetic Principles and Stability Testing
• Stability of formulated products
• Prolonged Action Pharmaceuticals
• Novel Drug delivery system
• Radio Pharmaceuticals
• ADME
• GMP
• GMP and Validation
• The pilot plant scale-up techniques
• The Ayurvedic system of medicine
• The Homeopathic system of medicine

10. Pharmaceutical Engineering

• Material of constructions
• Fluid flow
• Heat transfer
• Evaporation
• Distillation
• Drying
• Size reduction and size separation
• Extraction
• Mixing
• Crystallization
• Filtration and Centrifugation
• Dehumidification and humidity control
• Refrigeration and air conditioning
• Automated process control systems
• Industrial hazards & safety precautions

11. Pharmacognosy

• Introductory Pharmacognosy
• Classification of crude drugs
• Principles of plant classification
• Plant products
• Pharmaceutical aids
• Animal products
• Traditional herbal drugs
• Plants based industries and research institutes in India
• Patents
• Toxic drugs
• Enzymes
• Natural pesticides and insecticides
• Adulteration and evaluation of crude drugs
• Quantitative microscopy
• Factors influencing quality of crude drugs
• Techniques in microscopy
• Introduction to phytoconstituents
• Biogenetic pathways
• Carbohydrates & lipids
• Tannins
• Volatile oils
• Resinous drugs
• Glycosides
• Alkaloids
• Extraction and Isolation Techniques
• Phytopharmaceuticals
• Quality control and Standardization of herbal drugs
• Herbal formulations
• Herbal cosmetics
• Worldwide trade of crude drugs and volatile oils
• Ayurvedic system of medicine
• Homeopathic system of medicine

12. Human Anatomy and Physiology

• Cell physiology
• The Blood
• Sense organs
• Skeletal System
• Central Nervous system
• Autonomic nervous system
• Cardiovascular system
• Respiratory System
• Gastrointestinal tract
• Urinary System
• Endocrine Glands
• Reproductive System
• Lymphatic system

13. Pharmaceutical Analysis

• Importance of quality control in pharmacy
• Acid-base titrations
• Non-aqueous titrations
• Oxidation-reduction titrations
• Precipitation titrations
• Complexometric titrations
• Gravimetry
• Extraction techniques
• Potentiometry
• Calibration
• General principles of spectroscopy
• Ultraviolet-visible Spectrometry
• Infrared spectrometry
• Spectro fluorimetry
• Flame photometry & atomic absorption spectrometry
• Mass spectrometry
• Polarography
• Nephelometry & Turbidimetry
• Proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry
• Chromatography
• Miscellaneous methods of analysis

14. Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics

• Drug information services
• Drug interactions
• Drug interaction in paediatric and geriatric patients, drug treatment during pregnancy, lactation and menstruation
• Therapeutic drug monitoring, adverse drug reaction (ADR), types of ADR, Mechanism of ADR
• Drug interaction, Monitoring and reporting of ADR and its significance
• Age-related drug therapy: concept of posology, drug therapy for neonates, paediatrics and geriatrics
• Drugs used in pregnancy and lactation
• Drug therapy in gastrointestinal, hepatic, renal, cardiovascular and Respiratory Disorders
• Pharmacovigilance
• Nutraceuticals, essential drugs and rational drug usage
• General Principles, preparation, maintenance, analysis of observational records in Clinical Pharmacy
• Drug therapy in infections of respiratory system, urinary system, infective meningitis, TB, HIV, malaria and filaria
• Drug therapy for thyroid and parathyroid disorders, diabetes mellitus, menstrual cycle disorders, menopause and male sexual dysfunction
• Drug therapy for malignant disorders like leukaemia, lymphoma and solid tumours
• Drug therapy for rheumatic, eye and skin disorders
• Clinical trials, type and phases of clinical trials, placebo, ethical and regulatory issues including Good clinical practice in clinical trials
• Drug therapy for neurological and psychological disorders

15. Biochemistry

• Cell
• Carbohydrates
• Proteins
• Lipids
• Vitamins
• Enzymes
• Nucleic acids
• Biological oxidations & reductions
• Hereditary diseases

16. Biopharmaceutics and Pharmacokinetics

• Bio-pharmaceutics
• Bio-availability & Bio-equivalence
• Bio-pharmaceutical statistics

17. Biotechnology

• Plant Cell and Tissue Culture
• Animal Cell Culture
• Fermentation Technology and Industrial Microbiology
• Recombinant DNA Technology
• Process and Applications
• Biotechnology-Derived Products
• Proteomics
• Formulation of Proteins and Peptides

18. Pathophysiology

• Basic principles of cell injury and adaptation
• Basic mechanisms of inflammation and repair
• Hypersensitivity
• Auto-immunity & diseases of immunity
• Neoplastic diseases
• Shock
• Biological effects of radiation
• Protein-calorie malnutrition, vitamins, obesity, starvation
• Pathophysiology of common diseases
• Infectious diseases
• Immunopathology including amyloidosis
• Laboratory tests for Liver function tests and kidney function tests
• Disorders of fluid, electrolyte and acid-base balance
• Disorders of homeostasis: white blood cells, lymphoid tissues, and red blood cells related diseases

19. Microbiology

• Introduction to Microbiology
• Microscopy and staining technique
• Biology of Microorganisms
• Fungi and Viruses
• Sterilization & Disinfection
• Aseptic Technique
• Microbial spoilage
• Vaccines & Sera
• Microbial Assay
• Immunology

How to start preparing

This guidance is written by PharmacoLearn for a first time GPAT candidate. The official facts above always come first.

• Start from your B.Pharm subjects. GPAT is built on the B.Pharm course, so your semester notes are your main book. Work subject by subject through the nineteen subjects listed above and tick off topics as you finish them.
• Give time by the blueprint. Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Pharmaceutics carry 38 questions each, Pharmacology carries 28, and Pharmacognosy and the other subjects make up the rest. Plan your weeks in roughly the same proportion.
• Revise the basics first. Physical Chemistry, Physical Pharmacy and Organic Chemistry support many other subjects. A clear base in these makes Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutics and Pharmacology much easier.
• Practise in sections. The paper is divided into time bound sections and you cannot go back to a section once its time ends. Take mock tests and previous year papers in the same style, section by section, so the format never surprises you.
• Respect the negative marking. One mark is deducted for every wrong answer. Attempt the questions you know, and guess only when you can rule out some options.
• Read the latest bulletin yourself. Before you apply, read the current year GPAT Information Bulletin on natboard.edu.in in full. Dates, fees and instructions change from year to year, and the bulletin is the final word.

GPAT and the B.Pharm syllabus

The GPAT syllabus follows the B.Pharm syllabus. The GPAT 2026 bulletin defines the syllabus by the Bachelor of Pharmacy (B.Pharm.) Course Regulations, 2024 of the Pharmacy Council of India, so the surest way to cover GPAT is to cover your B.Pharm course well, semester by semester. Read the complete B.Pharm syllabus on PharmacoLearn and use its semester pages as your study map:

• B.Pharm Syllabus
• B.Pharm Semester 1
• B.Pharm Semester 2
• B.Pharm Semester 3
• B.Pharm Semester 4
• B.Pharm Semester 5
• B.Pharm Semester 6
• B.Pharm Semester 7
• B.Pharm Semester 8

Official sources

• GPAT 2026 Information Bulletin, National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS), issued on 23 December 2025, natboard.edu.in. The exam pattern, the indicative blueprint, the eligibility criteria and the syllabus statement on this page are as per this bulletin.
• GPAT page of the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences, natboard.edu.in, for the background of the exam and the present conduct of GPAT under the Memorandum of Understanding between the Pharmacy Council of India and NBEMS.
• GPAT syllabus published by the National Testing Agency (NTA), gpat.nta.nic.in. The detailed subject wise and topic wise syllabus reproduced on this page is as per this syllabus.
• The Bachelor of Pharmacy (B.Pharm.) Course Regulations, 2024, Pharmacy Council of India, named in the GPAT 2026 bulletin as the basis of the GPAT syllabus.

Always check the latest Information Bulletin on the official website before applying, because the conducting body issues a fresh bulletin for every exam cycle.