Pharmacy is a healthcare profession requiring a high level of education and training. The first thing you need to do to become a pharmacist is gain an MPharm, a four-year degree. MPharms are offered by UK universities: see the list below. After passing an MPharm you then have to enter pre-registration training for one year and pass the Society’s registration examination, which is offered twice a year. Once you have done all that you can apply to register as a pharmacist.
Pharmacy students have their own association, British Pharmaceutical Students Association, which promotes students' interests and welfare. Also, many schools of pharmacy have their own students association.
Pharmacy degrees are accredited by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, to ensure that students have received a thorough and appropriate education for their professional registration and subsequent development and careers.
The following universities have fully-accredited MPharms. A summary of the last accreditation report is available by clicking the relevant link below.
The following universities are provisionally accredited. This means that they are new MPharm providers who are admitting students but have not yet graduated any students:
To view the list of accredited courses leading to eligibility to apply to enter pharmacist pre-registration training in the United Kingdom click here
MPharm’s are peer reviewed for accreditation by expert teams of accreditors drawn from the Society’s Accreditation Panel. To see who is a member of the accreditation panel, click here.
Accreditation teams for MPharms comprise:
Teams are supported by staff from the Society’s education and registration directorate and a rapporteur [who writes the report of an accreditation event].
The Society’s accreditation teams use two documents to judge whether a provider should be accredited or not: Accreditation Criteria and an Indicative Syllabus. All criteria must be met (subject to conditions and recommendations) for accreditation to be granted. A provider can be placed on probation if criteria are not met. Ultimately, if that position persists, the Society’s Council can withdraw accreditation.
It takes at least seven years to graduate a cohort of MPharm students and gain full accreditation: before that providers are either not accredited or provisionally accredited. The process to full accreditation is a follows:
Once a provider has graduated a cohort of students, they are reaccredited periodically. The full and usual period of full accreditation is five years. However, accreditation can be for a lesser period, if there is a good reason for not granting a full period.
If the Society becomes aware of an issue that may affect the accreditation status of an MPharm, it reserves the right to investigate in the public interest. If a concern is found by the Society’s education committee, a provider can be placed on probation.
Society accreditation documents
Step submission templates (to be used by a university submitting documentation):
Code of Conduct for accreditors
Other useful information
Background documents
Further information
For further information contact:
Damian Day
Head of Accreditation
Tel: + 44 (0) 207 572 2215
email: damian.day@rpsgb.org
Fitness to practise procedures in schools of pharmacy
Background
The student code of conduct is based on the same seven principles as the Code of Ethics for Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians.
For literature reviews commissioned by the Society, click the links below:
The Society consulted on the student code of conduct and fitness to practise procedures between 22 May and 19 June 2009. The consulation was launched in parallel with consultation on a code of conduct for preregistration trainee pharmacy technicians (student pharmacy technicians).