The Predictive Utility of NAPLEX Advantage for Forecasting Future NAPLEX Performance

OBJECTIVE: To present and discuss research conducted on the relationship between NAPLEX Advantage and NAPLEX performance. METHODS: The NAPLFEX Advantage is a 100-question practice examination which is administered by schools of pharmacy to prepare students for the NAPLEX. The score results of pharmacy school students who took the NAPLEX Advantage between January 2024 and November 2025 and who also took the NAPLEX were analyzed using linear regression. The interval of time between taking the NAPLEX Advantage and taking the NAPLEX was also analyzed to determine if this variable impacted NAPLEX performance. RESULTS: Results indicated that (1) NAPLEX Advantage scores accounted for a significant amount of variance in NAPLEX scores when administered in either the second-to-last or final year of a pharmacy school program; (2) an increased amount of variance in NAPLEX scores was accounted for when students took the NAPLEX Advantage multiple times; and (3) taking the NAPLEX Advantage between three and eight months before taking the NAPLEX led to increased NAPLEX performance. CONCLUSIONS: The results in this research demonstrate a predictive relationship between NAPLEX Advantage performance and NAPLEX performance and also reveal that students who took the NAPLEX Advantage three to eight months prior to taking the NAPLEX perform better compared to those who took the examinations one month apart. Future research will focus on the results of students who take the NAPLEX Advantage in year one and two of pharmacy school and analyze additional school level variables to further understand the predictive nature of NAPLEX Advantage results.