The starting point
Where it started.
PassPharma is an exam preparation platform for trainee pharmacists in the UK. After their training year, every trainee sits the GPhC Registration Assessment: one calculations paper and one clinical paper. Passing it is the difference between qualifying and not qualifying.
The founder knew the problem from the inside. Paid mock papers were expensive for people on a training-year salary. Training providers often released one paper, a couple of weeks before the exam. The rest was screenshots passed around study groups, often with answers missing.
He wanted trainees to have more papers, better explanations, real exam conditions and a clear view of where they were weak, at a price a trainee could afford.
What was getting in the way
- Paid mock papers were expensive, and trainees are on a training-year salary
- Practice often arrived late, as one paper shortly before the exam
- Trainees had no clear view of which topics they were weak on
The approach
How we thought about it.
The exam itself came first. The sitting screen is built to feel like the real assessment: a timer, a question map, flags and nothing else on the page. If that part felt wrong, nothing around it would matter.
The second priority was trust in the content. Correct answers never reach the browser during a paper, every explanation names its source, and a student who disagrees with an answer can say so from the question itself.
Then came the business around the exam: payments, referrals, study emails and an admin dashboard. The founder runs PassPharma from that dashboard without needing a developer for day-to-day work such as replying to a student, checking a flagged question or approving a blog post.
Inside the build
What we built, and why.
The exam screen
A countdown, a question map, flag for review and a confirm step before submitting. A paper submits itself when time runs out, and an unfinished paper can be picked up again.
Answers stay on the server
While a paper is being sat, the browser never receives the correct answers. Marking happens on the server, and an explanation is released only for a question the student has attempted.
AI study tools
A student can upload or record a lecture and get a summary, turn their own notes into a quiz, or ask the tutor to explain an answer. The mock exam bank itself is curated, not generated.
Payments, referrals and ambassadors
Weekly, monthly and annual plans, a limited founder pre-sale, referral credit that comes off the next bill automatically, and a dashboard for content creators who promote the product.
The admin dashboard
One place for the team: users and revenue, a support inbox that receives and sends email, questions students have flagged as wrong, a content plan, the blog and marketing results.
How it works
From start to finish.
From a trainee’s side, it goes like this.
- Sign upA trainee creates an account, picks the exam sitting they are aiming for and can start on the free plan.
- Sit a mockThey choose a calculations paper, a clinical paper or a topic quiz and sit it against the clock.
- Flag and reviewDuring the paper they can flag questions to come back to and jump between them from a question map.
- See the resultsAfter submitting they get a score and an explanation with its source for every question.
- Work on weak topicsProgress pages rank their strongest and weakest topics, and the AI tools help with the ones that need work.
- UpgradePaying through Stripe unlocks full access, and a referral gives credit to both people.
Decisions that shaped it
The choices behind it.
Protect the answers first
An exam product is worth nothing if the answers can be read from the browser. Answer data is locked away in the database and only marking on the server can see it.
Students can challenge a question
Each question has a "Not quite right?" button. Disputes land in the admin dashboard, so a doubtful answer is reviewed by a person and corrected for everyone.
A free plan with a monthly limit
Trainees can try mixed mocks each month before paying. The limit is counted on the server, so it cannot be skipped from the browser.
Guard the sign-up form
Sign-up, login and password reset sit behind a bot check and rate limits, and addresses that bounce are dropped from study emails to protect delivery.
Where it stands
Where it stands.
PassPharma launched to the November 2026 exam cohort. This page describes what was built and why. We do not publish figures for this project, and results depend on the business, its offer and its market.
The same shape suits any business that sells access to something people practise or learn: a product people sign in to, payments that manage themselves, and an admin dashboard that shows the owner what needs attention today.