Courses and qualifications for pharmacists

A five-year MPharm degree programme with a preparatory year, sometimes referred to as a foundation year, or ‘year 0’, followed by the usual four years MPharm.

You must complete the programme successfully to start foundation training.

A two-year MPharm foundation degree leading to direct entry into Year 2 of an four-year accredited MPharm degree programme, which would take a total of five years.

You must successfully complete the course to start foundation training.

Doing a foundation degree

If you want to pursue a career in pharmacy but don’t have the required qualifications to be accepted onto an MPharm degree, you can apply to do a pharmacy foundation degree.

This is a two-year full-time course which includes the content of the first year of an MPharm degree combined with work experience placements. The foundation degree aims to give students the appropriate knowledge and experience to allow them to apply to enter Year Two of an accredited MPharm degree. It’s important to understand that doing a foundation degree doesn’t guarantee a place on an MPharm degree.

Foundation degree entry requirements

To see a list of accepted qualifications for entry to the foundation degree, please visit the websites of the course providers.

A five-year integrated MPharm degree programme which includes both the degree qualification and foundation training year.

Entry requirements

The entry requirements for our accredited MPharm degrees vary between universities. As a guide, most universities will expect you to have an A or B grade in A-level chemistry and two further A-levels in either biology, mathematics or physics. If you have A-levels in chemistry and biology, you may also be considered with an alternative third subject.

The entry requirements are set by the individual university offering the MPharm degree. Universities may accept equivalent qualifications, other than A-levels, including qualifications gained outside of the UK. Universities may also set other entry requirements for the course.

If you’d like to pursue a career as a pharmacist but don’t have the required A-level grades or subjects, you can consider doing one of our accredited foundation degrees as an alternative route to enter an MPharm degree.

Currently, one School of Pharmacy offers an accredited MPharm programme which is taught in part overseas at a partner university. This programme is called an MPharm 2+2.

Students on an MPharm programme study at the overseas partner university for the first two years and join the UK MPharm course for Years Three and Four.

Students who graduate from the accredited MPharm 2+2 are eligible to enter the foundation year training in the UK.

This means they can then follow the UK route to registration allowing them to practise as a pharmacist in the UK.

Entry requirements

Applicants applying for the overseas MPharm degree must apply through the overseas partner’s application process and not through UCAS. Visit the website of the partner university for details of entry requirements.

If you’ve qualified as a pharmacist outside of the European Economic Area, you can do a postgraduate diploma as the first part of the route to UK registration.

The Overseas Pharmacists’ Assessment Programme (OSPAP) is a one-year course that prepares people who have qualified overseas to practise in the UK and do the foundation training.

Entry requirements

The OSPAP course is available to people who hold a pharmacy qualification from overseas and are registered, or eligible to register, as pharmacists in their country of qualification.

Find out more information on the route to registration for pharmacists who have qualified overseas