October 2021

Registering as a pharmacist in Great

Britain: internationally- qualified
pharmacists
Find out about the route to registering as a pharmacist in Great Britain if you
have a non- UK qualification which is not a ‘relevant’ EEA qualification
Who this factsheet is for What education and training
If you want to register as a pharmacist with us do I need to complete?
and you
To be eligible to apply to register as a
• have a non-EEA qualification, or
pharmacist, you will need to complete:
• are a non-EEA national with an EEA
1. an Overseas Pharmacists Assessment
qualification other than a UK-recognised
Programme (OSPAP)
pharmacist qualification
2. 52 weeks of pre-registration training in
and you have completed all the education and
England, Scotland or Wales signed off as
training requirements to be eligible to register
satisfactory by your tutor
as a pharmacist in the country where you
qualified, this factsheet explains the steps you 3. the GPhC registration assessment with a
will need to complete and the additional pass result
education and training you will need to carry You must complete these steps and apply to be
out in Great Britain before you are able to apply registered within four years from the date you
to register. start your OSPAP course.

The right to live and work in the UK

If you complete the education and training you need to able to apply to register, this does not
mean that you will be able to live or work in the UK, or that you are guaranteed to find a job as a
pharmacist.
Before you start the education and training, you should carefully consider information provided
by the UK Borders Agency (UKBA) to see whether you will be able to get the necessary visas and
work permits. Unfortunately, we are not able to answer questions about this.
Registering as a pharmacist in Great Britain: internationally- qualified
pharmacists
October 2021

The course is designed to make sure that you

About the GPhC
receive the right education and training to
Who we are prepare you to practise in the UK, and to
We regulate pharmacists, pharmacy complete pre-registration training.
technicians and pharmacies in Great Britain. You will need to pay a fee to a university to
We work to assure and improve standards of complete the course, and you will have to
care for people using pharmacy services. consider how to support yourself while you are
studying.
What we do
Applying to complete an OSPAP course
Our role is to protect the public and give them
assurance that they will receive safe and We will verify your qualifications and experience
effective care when using pharmacy services. to check that you are eligible to apply to
complete an OSPAP course.
We set standards for pharmacy professionals
and pharmacies to enter and remain on our Complete our Applying for eligibility to complete
register. an Overseas Pharmacists Assessment Programme
(OSPAP) form so that we can assess your
We seek assurance that pharmacy
eligibility. There is a £687.00 fee for processing
professionals and pharmacies continue to
this application form.
meet our standards, including by inspecting
pharmacies. Your pharmacy qualification
We act to protect the public and to uphold You will need to know how your pharmacy
public confidence in pharmacy if there are qualification compares to the UK MPharm
concerns about a pharmacy professional or qualification.
pharmacy on our register.
The UK ENIC organisation can assess your
Through our work we help to promote qualification and provide an official document
professionalism, support continuous called a ‘Statement of Comparability’, that
improvement and assure the quality and states how your international qualifications
safety of pharmacy. compare to UK qualifications.
You can find out more on the UK ENIC
website. If you have any doubts about how
Step 1: completing an OSPAP your qualification compares with a UK
course qualification, we recommend that you
request an assessment before going any
An OSPAP course is a one-year, full time
further.
postgraduate diploma course run by some UK
universities. You can find a list of universities
that offer OSPAP courses on our website.

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Registering as a pharmacist in Great Britain: internationally- qualified
pharmacists
October 2021

If we decide that your qualifications and experience, to decide about offering you a
experience meet the eligibility criteria, you will place. The information we send them shows
be able to apply for an OSPAP course. You must that you are eligible to apply, but it does not
start a course within the next two academic mean that they must offer you a place.
years of the date of the decision. For example, if
Make sure you apply in good time for
you receive confirmation of the decision before
your course and your training placement
September 2019, you must start your course in
2019, or in 2020. There is no deadline for you to submit your
application to us, but you should do it in good
If you do not meet the eligibility criteria, you
time before the start of the course that you plan
must complete one of the qualifications leading
to study. National training placement schemes
to registration (such as an MPharm) to be able
also open their applications up to 14 months
to practise as a pharmacist in Great Britain.
before placements are due to start.
As part of the Applying for eligibility to complete
The OSPAP course normally starts at the start of
an Overseas Pharmacists Assessment Programme
the UK academic year, in September or October.
(OSPAP) form, we will ask you to choose the
To make sure you can apply for courses, you
universities where you would like to complete
should send your application to us so that we
your OSPAP.
receive it before 31 July.
You can find a list of universities that offer
OSPAP courses on our website. We Providing evidence of English language
recommend that you find out about the competency
different courses on offer before you send us You will need to provide evidence of your
your form. English language competency as part of your
If your qualifications and experience meet the application. You can find out how to provide
eligibility criteria, we notify the universities you evidence, and what types we will accept in the
have chosen that you are eligible to apply. We Providing evidence of English language
will contact them to confirm that you are eligible competency guidance pack. You can find
to apply for the course, and we may send them more information about the legal requirements
some more of the information that you provide in our guidance on evidence of English
as part of your application. language skills.

The university may contact you once we have The OSPAP course structure and content
written to them to confirm that you are eligible The course includes:
to apply, but we recommend that you get in
touch with them yourself, once you know the • a structured academic assessment of your
outcome of your application. qualifications

Once we have sent your information to the • attending specific modules

university, they may ask you for more • completing assessments
information about your qualifications and

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Registering as a pharmacist in Great Britain: internationally- qualified
pharmacists
October 2021

Depending on your knowledge and previous Finding a training placement

experience, you may be exempt from some
Once you have successfully completed your
taught elements, but you will have to complete
OSPAP, you will be eligible to start your pre-
all the assessments.
registration training placement.
If you complete the OSPAP course successfully,
But you should investigate applying for your
this will demonstrate that you have met the UK
placement before you start your OSPAP course,
MPharm graduate criteria, but it will not give
especially if you want to apply to a national
you a MPharm (Master of Pharmacy) degree
scheme.
qualification.
Trainees are responsible for finding their own
You can find out more information about each
training placement and tutor, and letting us
course structure and content on the university
know the arrangements they have made by
website.
applying for entry to the pre-registration
Step 2: pre-registration scheme. We will assess their application to
make sure that they are eligible to start training,
training placement and that the arrangements they have made are
Under the supervision of a tutor, trainees spend suitable and will provide them with the
at least 52 weeks in a GPhC approved training opportunity to meet the performance
site, developing their practice to meet a range of standards.
performance standards. Their progress is Your course tutors should be able to tell you
guided by and verified by their tutor, using more about the pre-registration training
progress reviews. placements available near you.
You can find out more about the structure of You can find out more about finding a
the training placement in the pre- training placement on our website.
registration manual.
National training schemes
Both UK-qualified MPharm and OSPAP students
must successfully complete the pre-registration As well as individual training providers, there
training placement to be eligible to sit the are national recruitment schemes for training
registration assessment and meet the criteria places.
for registration. If you want to train in England or Wales, Health
The placement is currently a paid position, and Education England operates a national
is usually full time. You may be able to make recruitment scheme for all hospital pre-
arrangements with your employer about registration placements, and many other
working patterns, or to work part time, but you community training providers.
should contact us so we can approve this. If you want to train in Scotland, NHS Education
for Scotland operates a national recruitment
scheme for all pre-registration placements. You

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Registering as a pharmacist in Great Britain: internationally- qualified
pharmacists
October 2021

can find out more about the scheme and the pass the registration assessment. The
timeline for applications on their website. assessment is carried out simultaneously in
locations across Great Britain.
You can apply to the individual schemes
through the online application portal, Oriel. You must complete a certain amount of training
The Scotland scheme accepts applications in before you are eligible to apply to sit the
May each year and England and Wales accepts registration assessment. When you reach these
applications in June each year, for placements points in your training will affect whether you sit
starting the following year. This means that you the assessment in June or September.
may not have started your OSPAP course before
You can find out more about the registration
you apply for pre-registration training, if you
assessment in the pre-registration manual.
want to start training straight after your course.
For example, if you want to complete your Step 4: registration
OSPAP course in 2019/20 and start training in Once you have successfully completed an
2020, you will need to apply for your placement OSPAP course, 52 weeks of pre-registration
in May or June 2019, depending on which training, and the registration assessment, you
scheme you are applying to. are eligible to apply to register with us as a
You can find out more about the England and pharmacist. You will need to apply through the
Wales application process (including the myGPhC online system. You must apply to be
application timelines and the structure of the registered within four years of the date you
interviews) by visiting the ‘Resource Bank’ start your OSPAP course.
section on the Oriel website. You can find out more about applying to
register as a pharmacist on our website.
Step 3: the registration
assessment
The registration assessment is one of the ways
we test whether trainees can demonstrate that
they understand how to apply knowledge
appropriately and in a timely way, to make
professional judgements in pharmacy practice.
It also tests their number sense and that they
can perform the calculations needed to practise
as a pharmacist.
There are two registration assessments per
year, in June and September. The registration
assessment consists of two question papers.
Candidates must pass both papers at one
attempt but can have up to three attempts to

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General Pharmaceutical Council @TheGPHC
25 Canada Square, London E14 5LQ TheGPHC
F 020 3713 8000 /company/general-pharmaceutical-council
E [email protected] www.pharmacyregulation.org