Language and revised indemnity requirements

Evidence of English language skills

There is a legal requirement for all registrants and applicants to have the necessary knowledge of English for safe and effective practice as a condition of their registration with us. This means that if you are applying to register as a pharmacist or pharmacy technician, you will need to provide evidence that you meet requirements. If you are applying to renew or restore your registration, you may need to provide evidence to show you meet the requirements.  

The law applies whether you qualified as a pharmacy professional

  • in the UK;
  • in another European Economic Area (EEA) member state or Switzerland; or
  • in a country outside of the UK, EEA or Switzerland.

Applicants to the register of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are now able to use a recent pass of the Pharmacy Occupational English Language Test (OET) as evidence of English language competence as an alternative to the IELTS. We will continue to accept a recent pass of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) as evidence where applicants have opted to take this test instead. 

Our guidance on evidence of English Language skills  [PDF 672 KB].sets out the evidence, information or documents you must provide to show you have the necessary knowledge of English to practise safely in Great Britain and our processes for checking this. 

You can find out how to provide evidence, and what types we will accept in the Providing evidence of English language competency guidance pack.[Word 1.2 MB] 
The document will automatically download, as you click on the above link.

Revised indemnity requirements

As a condition of your registration you are required to have a professional indemnity arrangement in place before you start to practise. A change in the law now means that the way we ask you to declare the indemnity arrangements you have in place to practise has changed. If you are applying to join the register, or to renew or restore your registration, make sure you understand the new declarations.

Find out more about professional indemnity requirements