If you qualified as a pharmacist in a European Economic Area (EEA) country other than the United Kingdom (UK), you can apply to have your qualification recognised by the GPhC, if your qualification:
- is from an EEA country listed in Annex V, section 5.6.2 of Directive 2005/36/EC
- was started after the reference date specified against the EEA country in which your qualification was awarded
- complies with all the minimum training requirements described in Article 44 of Directive 2005/36/EC
If your qualification does not meet the above criteria, please see our Overseas qualified pharmacists page
Applying for recognition of your qualification
1. English language skills
You will need to provide us with evidence of your high level of English across all four language skills - listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Important: We expect your evidence of English language skills to be provided with your application for recognition of qualifications. Use the Providing evidence of English language competency form to find out out what evidence we will accept.
Providing evidence of English language competency [Word 1.06 MB] The form will download on click.
2. Complete application form and provide supporting documents
You will need to provide evidence of your qualifications, ID and supporting information. You will need to arrange for documents to be sent directly to the GPhC by the appropriate regulator and competent authority in your home country.
Guidance and application form [Word 1.2 MB] The form will download on click.
3. We check your application form and supporting documents
We may contact you for additional information if your application is missing any supporting documents.
4. Notifying you of the outcome
When we have checked your application form, ID, qualifications and supporting documents, we will notify you of the outcome of your application to have your EEA qualification recognised.
If your application for recognition of your EEA qualification is successful, we will send you the application form you need to complete to apply to join the pharmacists' register.
5. Apply to register as a GPhC pharmacist
We expect you to apply to register as a pharmacist within three months of us notifying you that your application for recognition of your EEA qualification was successful.
As part of your application to register as pharmacist in Great Britain, you will be asked to complete fitness to practise declarations and to check again that your supporting documents are up to date.
Managing your registration as a GPhC pharmacist
If your application to join the pharmacists' register is successful, we will send you a confirmation letter.
You will need to create a new my GPhC account [710KB] to manage your registration and complete your revalidation each registration year.
Brexit
On 31 December 2020, the Brexit transition period ended, following the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union (EU). From 1 January 2021, the registration process for some pharmacists with non-UK qualifications changed.
Please see our Brexit Q&A for further information.
Professional qualifications - EU Exit standstill provisions: review by the Secretary of State
Published by the Deparment of Health and Social Care, June 2023
Switzerland
If you are a ‘qualifying applicant’ as defined in SI 2020/1394, for example you are a Swiss National with an EEA qualification, please contact international@pharmacyregulation.org for information on the process you need to follow.