Pharmacy technician education and training

They work in a wide range of different places including: 

• pharmacies
• GP practices
• hospitals
• care homes
• community services
• prisons
• armed forces
• pharmaceutical industry

To qualify as a pharmacy technician, you’ll need to complete a GPhC-approved integrated competency and knowledge-based qualification or course.

As it’s a vocation course it’s flexible and can be delivered face-to-face, at a distance, online or a combination of these. The training consists of two years consecutive work-based experience under the direction of a pharmacist or another pharmacy technician. You must be directly accountable to them for at least 14 hours per week.

Our approved qualifications and courses replace an earlier requirement to have a separate competency-based qualification and a knowledge-based qualification. Trainees enrolled onto these separate qualifications are still able to register with us within five calendar years from starting their courses.

The entry requirements will vary depending on the course provider. As a guide, you might be expected to have the equivalent of four GCSEs at Grade C and above, including mathematics, English language, science and one other subject.

You’ll also need to be working in a pharmacy under the supervision of a pharmacist or pharmacy technician. 

The training programmes cover a range of topics including pharmaceutical science, pharmacy law and ethics, pharmacology, dispensing medications, patient communication, and pharmaceutical calculations.

Alongside theoretical learning, you will need to complete a certain number of hours of practical training in a community pharmacy, hospital pharmacy, GP practice or other pharmacy settings. This must be under the supervision of a registered pharmacist or pharmacy technician.

To find out more about the courses available, see the section below. 

To find out how to register once you’ve completed training, see the registration section.

You can become a pharmacy technician through an apprenticeship.

GPhC-approved courses and qualifications delivered through an apprenticeship funding route must fulfil all the relevant requirements of the apprenticeship standard. This will include the End Point Assessment (EPA).

It’s a requirement that apprentice pharmacy technician trainees must pass the EPA to be eligible to register with us. The funding route for pharmacy technical education in Wales and Scotland is devolved and is subject to local arrangements.