Pre-Registration Pharmacist Recruitment Numeracy Exam The Complete Guide
Advice & Insight From Pre-Registration Recruitment Exam Specialists
Introduction
The Oriel Numeracy Test is used in combination with the Situational Judgement Test in order to select candidates for pre-registration positions in hospitals, GP surgeries and select community pharmacies throughout the country.
This computer based examination takes place through the Pearson Vue Online testing portal.
Oriel Pre-reg Numeracy Exam Format
The Numeracy Test consists of 10 questions, to be completed in 20 minutes, allowing 120 seconds/question.
Rather than assessing clinical pharmacy knowledge or competence, the emphasis is primarily on basic pharmaceutical calculations. There are 6 key areas tested in the Oriel Numeracy Test. These are:
- Doses & Dose Regimens
- Dosage & Unit Conversions
- Concentrations (e.g. expressed as w/v, % or 1 in x)
- Dilutions
- Using Provided Formulae
- Quantities To Supply
Finally, it is important to note that calculators are permitted in the examination, although must be one of the following four models:
- Casio MX-8S-WE
- Casio MX 8B-WE / MX-8B
- Aurora HC133
- Aurora DT210
How Is The Numeracy Exam Scored & How Is My Score Used?
Numeracy scores are calculated between 0 and 10 with one mark per question. The score achieved is generally not provided with your Situational Judgement Score, and instead candidates are required to obtain a minimum cut off score in the Numeracy Assessment in order to pass this domain and be deemed suitable for a pre-registration pharmacy post.
Historically, a minimum score of 3 (30%) has been required in order to pass the Oriel Numeracy Assessment. The score may also be used in tie-breaker situations where candidates have identical Situational Judgement Scores and the same ranking preferences.
Oriel Pre-reg Numeracy Exam Tips
Know What You Are Being Tested On: The Oriel Numeracy Test focuses on six key areas, and hence it is important to practice questions that focus on these specific question types and not generic pharmacy calculation questions. Note that you are not tested on infusion rates, pharmacokinetics, displacement volumes or molecular weights.
Time Awareness: Whilst 120 seconds/question is relatively fair, we would recommend a ‘2 minute rule’; if any question is taking or is likely to take more than 2 minutes, it is better to guess, skip and review time permitting. The most common pitfall in this exam is not a lack of knowledge or practice, but merely poor time awareness and spending too long on a single question, causing you to miss out on comparatively easy questions later on in the examination.
Proportionate Preparation (Numeracy v SJT): For most of you, whilst calculations may not be your favourite examined area, over the last few years, you are likely to have become more familiar with being tested on this area. It’s important to note that the Oriel pre-reg recruitment team understand and as such have given additional weighting to the less familiar Situational Judgement questions. Make sure that you divide your preparation accordingly with greater emphasis on perfecting Situational Judgement questions.
Optimise Your Pre-Reg Oriel Performance
Learn the best Pre-Reg Oriel strategies and practice with reflective questions & worked solutions.
Oriel Pre-reg Numeracy Practice Questions
Practice Question 1
To what volume must 9L of a 2.75% w/v solution be diluted to produce a 1.5% solution?
Please provide your answer in millilitres.
This question requires application of the formula: C1V1 = C2V2
We know C1 (2.75%) and we know V1 (9L); we also know C2 (1.5%) but we don’t know V2 so simply plug in the known values:
V2 = 2.75% x 9L/1.5%
= 16.5 x 1000
= 16,500 millilitres
Practice Question 2
Haloperidol is available as a 6 in 250 solution for injection. The dose prescribed is 5ml.
What is the percentage strength of this dose?
6 in 250 = 6g in 250mls
X (g) in 5mls
= 6g x 5/250 = 0.12g
0.12g in 5mls
2.4g = X (g) in 100mls = 2.4%
Practice Question 3
A patient requires an intravenous infusion of phenytoin at a rate of 275mcg/kg/minute using a 1% injection solution. The patients weighs 62kg, how much of the drug would be administered after one hour? Please provide your answer in grams.
275mcg per 1kg (per minute)
275 x 62 = 17050
17050mcg = x per 62kg
17050mcg x 60 mins = 1023000mcg
1023000mcg = 1023mg = 1.023g
Additional Pre-Registration Pharmacist Numeracy Exam Practice Questions
A child weighing 24kg is prescribed amoxicillin oral suspension at a dose of 40mg/kg/day in three divided doses. The suspension is available as 250mg/5ml. What volume should be given for each dose?
A. 3.2ml
B. 4.8ml
C. 6.4ml
D. 8.0ml
E. 9.6ml
Answer: C
Total daily dose: 40mg × 24kg = 960mg. Dividing by three gives 320mg per dose. To find the volume: 320 divided by 250 multiplied by 5 = 6.4ml. This type of question requires two sequential calculations and a common error is dividing the total daily dose by the concentration without first splitting into individual doses. Always identify whether the dose given is a total daily dose or a single dose before calculating volume, and check that the final answer is clinically plausible for a paediatric patient before confirming it.
A patient requires IV potassium chloride 40mmol over four hours. The available preparation is 20mmol in 100ml. What rate in ml/hour should the infusion pump be set to?
A. 25ml/hour
B. 50ml/hour
C. 75ml/hour
D. 100ml/hour
E. 200ml/hour
Answer: B
The total volume needed to deliver 40mmol is calculated by proportion: 40 divided by 20 multiplied by 100 = 200ml. Dividing the total volume by the infusion time gives 200 divided by 4 = 50ml/hour. A common error here is calculating the rate based on 100ml rather than the total volume required to deliver the prescribed dose. Note also the clinical context: potassium chloride infusions carry significant risk if administered too rapidly, and rates exceeding 10mmol/hour require cardiac monitoring in most clinical settings.
How many grams of glucose are contained in a 500ml bag of glucose 5% w/v infusion?
A. 2.5g
B. 5g
C. 10g
D. 25g
E. 50g
Answer: D
A 5% w/v solution contains 5g of solute per 100ml of solution. For 500ml: 5g multiplied by 5 = 25g. Percentage w/v calculations are a foundational skill for the numeracy exam and appear frequently in clinical contexts including parenteral nutrition, electrolyte management, and fluid balance. Converting between percentage concentration and absolute mass is essential: always confirm the units w/v (grams per 100ml), w/w (grams per 100g), or v/v (ml per 100ml) before calculating, as confusing these is a common source of error.
A patient requires gentamicin 5mg/kg as a single daily dose. The patient weighs 85kg. Gentamicin is available as 80mg in 2ml vials. How many vials are needed to prepare the dose, rounding up to the nearest whole vial?
A. 4 vials
B. 5 vials
C. 6 vials
D. 7 vials
E. 8 vials
Answer: C
Total dose: 5mg × 85kg = 425mg. Each vial contains 80mg. Dividing 425 by 80 gives 5.3125 vials. Rounding up to the nearest whole vial gives 6 vials. The instruction to round up rather than round to the nearest whole number is clinically important: you cannot prepare a dose from a partial vial in this context, so always round up when the question asks for the number of vials required. Questions involving weight-based dosing and vial quantities are a reliable fixture of the numeracy assessment and reward methodical step-by-step working.
A pharmacist needs to prepare 200ml of a 0.1% w/v chlorhexidine solution using a 20% w/v stock solution. What volume of stock solution is required?
A. 0.1ml
B. 0.5ml
C. 1.0ml
D. 2.0ml
E. 10ml
Answer: C
Using the dilution equation C1V1 = C2V2: 20% multiplied by V1 = 0.1% multiplied by 200ml. Solving for V1: (0.1 × 200) divided by 20 = 20 divided by 20 = 1.0ml. Dilution calculations require careful attention to ensuring both concentrations are expressed in the same units before applying the formula. A useful sense check is to confirm that the volume of stock solution is very small relative to the final volume when diluting from a highly concentrated stock to a very dilute final solution: 1ml from a 20% stock to produce 200ml of 0.1% is consistent with a 200-fold dilution, which confirms the answer is plausible.