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GPhC consultation on new education procedures and registration criteria

23 November 2009

A consultation on new education procedures and registration criteria has been issued on behalf of the General Pharmaceutical Council designate.

The procedures describe the way key education processes, such as accreditation and pre-registration training, work. They are the proposed governance structures for education and, following consideration by the GPhC of the results of consultation, are intended to replace the current Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) byelaws on education and registration which will be revoked once the draft Pharmacy Order comes into force and the GPhC begins its work.

The draft procedures contain some changes to pre-registration arrangements, particularly the length of time permissible to complete education and training. It is proposed that the Registration Examination will be renamed the Registration Assessment and the number of attempts at the assessment will be altered.

The consultation will run until 15 February 2010 and can be found on the GPhC website.

Bob Nicholls, GPhC Chair designate, said: ''I wish to encourage those involved in pharmacy education and training, and pharmacy students, to respond to this consultation on these important issues.

''The changes are intended to bring pharmacy education into line with the education and training of other healthcare professionals.''

Notes for editors

1. For media enquiries please contact Emma Beals, GPhC Communications Manager, on 0203 3653505.

2. Further information on changes within the proposed procedures and criteria:

Q: How long can someone take to complete their education and training as a pharmacist in the future?
A: The consultation proposes a normal maximum of 8 years to complete an MPharm and pre-registration programme. Normally this takes 5 years, which means that a student would have time to re-take parts of an MPharm, the Registration Assessment and pre-registration training and still register, if all these stages were completed successfully within 8 years.

Q: What's the point of a time limit on completion of training?
A: The GPhC needs to ensure that students taking the Registration Assessment/ Examination have current knowledge from their degree. At the moment a student can complete their degree and take as many years off as they like before attempting the Registration Examination. The older someone's degree is, the more out of date their knowledge base is. This could make them unsafe. Ultimately, it's a patient safety issue.

Q: What about if a student works part-time, is ill, has a disability or needs maternity/paternity leave?
A: All of these things will be taken into consideration and time limits will be adjusted accordingly.

Q: Will there be an examination?
A: Yes. The Registration Examination is being renamed the Registration Assessment but the GPhC will want to gather evidence about alternatives before considering any change to the current arrangements.

Q: How many attempts at the Registration Assessment will be allowed?
A: Three. The consultation recommends that the GPhC should remove the exceptional 4th attempt. This will bring pharmacy into line with other regulated healthcare professions and with higher education — for example, UK universities would not allow a fourth attempt at a degree examination.

Q: How do these proposals compare with the rest of Europe?
A: In the main most other countries adopt a similar approach to that proposed.

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