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Pharmacy
How to become a pharmacist
This guide explains the full career pathway to becoming a pharmacist in NHS Scotland. Pharmacy is a vital and rewarding career. As a pharmacist, you will use your expert knowledge of medicines to improve and save lives.
Salary
At NHS Scotland, your salary doesn’t stand still. We reward you for the skills you bring and increase your pay as you gain experience. Find out more about pay and benefits.
Entry
£41,608
Newly qualified pharmacists in the NHS start at around £41,608 before tax.
Experienced
£128,051
Both lead and highly specialised pharmacists in the NHS can earn up to £79,164 annually. Chief and consultant pharmacists can earn up to £128,051 before tax.
What is a pharmacist?
Pharmacists are highly skilled healthcare professionals and experts in medicines. They have a vital role in delivering safe, effective, and person-centred care across Scotland’s health system, supporting patients and the wider multidisciplinary team. Pharmacists work in a range of settings, including:
- hospitals
- GP practices
- community pharmacies
- specialist services
Pharmacists in NHS Scotland contribute to improving health outcomes, health inequalities, and maximising the use of medicines and other pharmacological resources.
Their responsibilities cover the entire patient journey with medicines—from prescribing and supply to monitoring and optimisation:
- Medicine review and optimisation—Pharmacists make sure prescriptions are clinically appropriate, safe, and effective. For example, this could be carrying out a structured medication review for an elderly patient with multiple long-term conditions.
- Patient education and support—Advising patients on how to take medicines correctly, what to expect, and how to manage side effects. They support people to make informed decisions about their treatment and support self-management of conditions.
- Providing clinical and public health services— Pharmacists deliver services such as vaccinations, blood pressure checks, and smoking cessation. They also manage common clinical conditions under NHS Pharmacy First Scotland and support long-term condition management, like asthma, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
- Prescribing and clinical decision-making—Many pharmacists in Scotland are independent prescribers, working in GP practices, hospitals, and community settings to initiate, adjust, and monitor treatment plans in collaboration with other clinicians.
- Supporting multidisciplinary teams—Pharmacists advise doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals on medicine choice, dosing, and interactions. For example, helping hospital teams select the most appropriate antibiotic for a patient with severe infection.
- Medicine safe supply and governance—Pharmacists oversee the dispensing process to ensure medicines are prepared and supplied accurately and safely. This includes supervising aseptic preparation of chemotherapy and other high-risk medicines in hospital settings.
Education and training pathway
The first step to becoming a pharmacist is getting a place at university. To apply for a Master of Pharmacy (MPharm) degree, you should choose these school subjects:
- Chemistry (essential)
- Biology
- Maths
- Physics
- English
Other useful subjects for a career as a pharmacist include:
- Administration and IT
- Business Management
- Foundation Apprenticeship: Scientific Technologies
Speak to your guidance teacher or careers adviser about subjects offered at your school.
Master of Pharmacy (MPharm) degree
To become a pharmacist, you must complete a 4-year undergraduate Master of Pharmacy (MPharm) degree. This is a GPhC-accredited qualification.
In Scotland, 2 universities offer this qualification:
- Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen
- University of Strathclyde, Glasgow
Find out more about the university application process on the UCAS website.
Widening access to pharmacy and alternative routes
Your background and circumstances should never be a barrier to a career in pharmacy. Colleges and universities in Scotland offer specific programmes to support applicants from diverse backgrounds who show potential.
These access routes are designed to help you meet the entry requirements. They include:
- Degree Link—A guaranteed progression pathway programme linking colleges across Scotland with Robert Gordon University (RGU). Each year, over 400 HNC and HND students gain advanced entry to undergraduate degree programmes at RGU. Learn more about Degree Link.
- Focus West—A programme for senior pupils (S4 to S6) in specific West of Scotland schools. It helps those from lower-income or underrepresented backgrounds get a place at university. Learn more about Focus West.
- Scottish Wider Access Programme (SWAP)—A route to higher education for adult learners who have few or no qualifications. It provides one-year college courses that provide a route to higher education at partner universities. Find out more about SWAP.
You may also be able to apply:
- as an existing healthcare professional, such as a registered pharmacy technician
- for a graduate entry programme if you already have a relevant degree
Contact the university admissions teams directly to find out which widening access programmes they recognise.
Get relevant experience and insight
Universities want to see that you have a realistic understanding of a pharmacy career. You can get experience through:
- Insight events—Some universities or pharmacy organisations may run insight events for school pupils. Check with the universities or the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS).
- Work placements and volunteering—Getting healthcare or community pharmacy experience helps you develop new skills and shows your commitment.
How long does it take to study pharmacy?
In Scotland, a standard entry MPharm undergraduate degree takes 4 years. This is followed by a 1-year paid Foundation Training Year (FTY)
From 2026 onwards, pharmacy graduates in Scotland will complete their degree as independent prescribers, meaning you will leave university with the skills and legal authority to prescribe medicines. This is a major development in the profession, allowing pharmacists to play an even greater role in patient care from day one.
The total time from starting university to qualifying as a pharmacist prescriber is 5 years.
What is studying pharmacy at university really like?
Studying pharmacy at university combines science, clinical practice, and patient care. You’ll learn through lectures, tutorials, practical lab sessions, and simulation-based activities. Your learning will include:
- Understanding medicines and the body—Explore body systems, pharmacology, and how medicines work to treat disease.
- Developing practical skills—Gain hands-on experience in dispensing, compounding, and preparing medicines safely.
- Clinical and communication skills—Learn how to carry out basic clinical examinations, conduct patient consultations, and build effective communication skills.
- Simulation-based learning—Practice clinical decision-making and patient care in realistic simulation suites.
- Law, ethics, and professionalism—Understand the legal, ethical, and professional standards that guide pharmacy practice.
You’ll also complete clinical placements to experience pharmacy in real-world settings, such as:
- community pharmacy
- hospital pharmacy
- GP practices
These placements help you apply your knowledge, develop confidence, and prepare for your career as a pharmacist in NHS Scotland.
Foundation Training Year in Scotland
After completing your pharmacy degree, your first paid role is the one-year Foundation Training Year (FTY). This is the final stage of your initial education and training before becoming a fully registered pharmacist. To start this year, you must register with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) as a foundation trainee.
Find out more about applying for foundation training on the NES website.
In Scotland, you apply for your FTY placement through a national recruitment scheme managed by NHS Education for Scotland (NES).
As a foundation trainee pharmacist, you will work under the supervision of experienced pharmacists in a clinical setting. This year builds on the knowledge and skills gained at university and focuses on:
- delivering patient-centred care in real-world settings
- developing clinical decision-making and prescribing skills
- working as part of multidisciplinary teams
- meeting the GPhC learning outcomes for registration
You will complete structured training and assessments throughout the year to demonstrate readiness for independent practice and as a prescriber.
Find out more about the foundation programme in Scotland.
GPhC Registration Assessment
When you successfully complete your foundation training year, your designated supervisor will confirm you are eligible to sit the GPhC registration assessment.
This is the final exam you must pass to become a qualified pharmacist. It tests your clinical knowledge and decision-making skills.
Find out more about the registration assessment on the GPhC website.
Qualifying as an independent prescriber
The education and training for pharmacists have changed. From 2026, all newly registered pharmacists in the UK will also be qualified as independent prescribers (IP).
This means that from the point of registration, you will be able to prescribe medicines for patients in your area of practice, similar to a doctor or specialist nurse. Your MPharm degree and foundation training year are designed to give you the skills and knowledge to meet this new standard.
Join the GPhC register
When you complete your MPharm degree, your Foundation Training Year, and pass the GPhC registration assessment, you can apply to join the GPhC register.
This allows you to practise as a registered pharmacist in the UK. You can then apply for pharmacist posts in NHS Scotland.
Get to know the role
As a pharmacist, you'll use your expert knowledge of medicines to help patients and healthcare teams get the best results from treatments. Throughout your career, your specialist expertise will positively impact the lives of thousands of people. You’ll make sure medicine use is safe, effective, and tailored to the individual.
Your main tasks could include:
- Prescribing medicines to manage long-term conditions or treat common illnesses.
- Carrying out medication reviews with patients to make sure their medicines are working and are still needed.
- Advising doctors and nurses on the safest and most effective medicine choices for patients in hospitals or GP practices.
- Accurately checking and dispensing prescriptions.
- Training and supervising junior pharmacists, trainees, and pharmacy technicians.
- Answering complex medicine questions from the public and other healthcare staff.
- Providing public health services, such as vaccinations and smoking cessation clinics.
- Adhering to pharmacy laws, ethics, and clinical governance.
To succeed as a pharmacist, you will need to develop a unique set of timeless, high-level skills, known as meta-skills. These are the core abilities that will help you adapt and excel throughout your career.
Self-management
This is about how you manage yourself and your work in what can sometimes be a high-pressure, patient-facing environment.
- Focusing—Maintaining exceptional attention to detail to spot errors in prescriptions or drug interactions that could harm a patient.
- Adapting—Being resilient and able to respond calmly to unexpected challenges. This could include sudden medicine shortages or a patient having a severe allergic reaction.
- Initiative—Taking ownership of patient safety and having the confidence to challenge a prescription if you believe it is unsafe or inappropriate.
- Integrity—Acting in an honest and ethical way, always putting the patient's wellbeing first and maintaining strict confidentiality.
Social intelligence
This is about how you connect with and understand patients and colleagues.
- Communicating—Explaining complex information about how a medicine works, or its side effects, so that a patient can understand.
- Feeling—Showing empathy and compassion, listening to a patient's worries or concerns about their medication without judgment.
- Collaborating—Working effectively with doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals to create the best treatment plan for a patient.
- Leading—Inspiring and directing the pharmacy team, creating a culture of safety, trust, and high performance.
Innovation
This is about how you approach problems and adapt to new developments.
- Curiosity—Having a commitment to lifelong learning and a desire to keep your expert knowledge of new drugs and treatment guidelines up to date.
- Creativity—Thinking of new ways to help a patient manage their medicines. This could include using a new app or simplifying a complex dosing schedule.
Sense-making—Identifying and understanding problems by analysing a patient's full medication history, blood test results, and symptoms.
Critical thinking—Analysing patient information to make an accurate and informed decision. This could require you to calculate a complex dose for a child or a patient with kidney disease.
You could work with:
- pharmacy technicians
- pharmacy support workers
- GPs
- hospital consultants
- nurses
- allied health professionals
- healthcare scientists
- healthcare support workers
- hospital porters
- administrative staff
You could work in these settings:
- community pharmacies
- hospital wards and specialist clinics
- hospital dispensaries and sterile preparation units
- GP practices
- NHS Scotland Board headquarters
- universities or colleges
Your working hours will depend on your role.
In community pharmacy, this may include evenings and weekends.
In a hospital, you will likely work on a rota that includes evenings, nights, and weekends. You may also be part of an on-call rota to provide emergency pharmacy advice.
Your career learning and development
As a registered pharmacist, you’re expected to engage in continuous professional development (CPD) activities to keep your knowledge and skills up to date. This is a requirement for revalidation.
Seminars, webinars, and clinical skills courses to support your professional development are offered by:
- NES Pharmacy
- The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS)
- Universities and other training bodies
You can find out more about CPD for pharmacists on the NES website.
Revalidation
All pharmacists in the UK are legally required to renew their registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) every year.
As part of this, you must complete revalidation, which demonstrates to the GPhC that you remain fit to practise.
Learn more about the revalidation process for pharmacists on the GPhC website.
Career progression
With experience, you can progress to a senior or specialist pharmacist role. You could specialise in an area like:
- oncology
- mental health
- paediatrics
- critical care
- infectious diseases
Many pharmacists also take on greater responsibilities in teaching, research, or management. This could include becoming a clinical lead, pharmacy manager, or consultant pharmacist.
You'll find all NHS Scotland vacancies on our recruitment website.
Professional bodies
To work as a pharmacist in the UK, you must hold a licence to practise and be on the GPhC register.
You can also join the professional leadership body for pharmacists. Find out more about the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS).
Your career learning and development
As a registered pharmacist, you’re expected to engage in continuous professional development (CPD) activities to keep your knowledge and skills up to date. This is a requirement for revalidation.
Seminars, webinars, and clinical skills courses to support your professional development are offered by:
- NES Pharmacy
- The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS)
- Universities and other training bodies
You can find out more about CPD for pharmacists on the NES website.
Revalidation
All pharmacists in the UK are legally required to renew their registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) every year.
As part of this, you must complete revalidation, which demonstrates to the GPhC that you remain fit to practise.
Learn more about the revalidation process for pharmacists on the GPhC website.
Career progression
With experience, you can progress to a senior or specialist pharmacist role. You could specialise in an area like:
- oncology
- mental health
- paediatrics
- critical care
- infectious diseases
Many pharmacists also take on greater responsibilities in teaching, research, or management. This could include becoming a clinical lead, pharmacy manager, or consultant pharmacist.
You'll find all NHS Scotland vacancies on our recruitment website.
Help with recruitment
We'll guide you through the recruitment process, from applying online to interview preparation.
Help with recruitment
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