The MPharm degree is offered at several universities in the UK. This is the first part of the route to registration if you want to become a pharmacist.
If you’ve qualified as a pharmacist outside of the European Economic Area, you can do a postgraduate diploma (known as an Overseas Pharmacist Assessment Programme or OSPAP) as the first part of the route to UK registration.
An accredited degree or postgraduate programme combines science and practice and equips students with the theoretical knowledge, professional behaviours and clinical skills needed to become a pharmacist.
There are a number of different course formats. Click on the tabs below to find out more about each option.
Previously accredited courses
MPharm and OSPAP programmes of education and training previously accredited by the GPhC
A full time degree course which is usually completed in four years. This is the most frequent type of course offered.
You must successfully complete the course to start foundation training.
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.
This programme is a five-year MPharm that includes the same content as a standard MPharm degree with an additional year at the start of the programme, usually with a focus on science.
You must complete the programme successfully to start foundation training.
This programme is a five-year MPharm that includes the same content as a standard MPharm, but with year 1 delivered over two years to include additional content, usually with a focus on science.
You must successfully complete the course to start foundation training.
This programme is a five-year MPharm degree that includes foundation training undertaken during the programme. Students are released for two six-month blocks during the programme.
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
This programme is a five-year MPharm degree that includes integrated foundation training managed by the University and assessed as part of the programme.
Students undertaking an MPharm taught in-part overseas have the option to apply to undertake an MPharm with integrated foundation training at the UK partner university, therefore completing a five year MPharm programme and undertaking years 3, 4 and 5 in the UK (MPharm 2+3).
Graduates of 5-year MPharm degrees that include foundation training are eligible to apply to register as a pharmacist when they successfully complete the degree programme and pass the GPhC registration assessment.
Search courses
Use the search below to find specific MPharm and OSPAP courses. You can use the filters on the left to find different types of courses, or search by location. You can also see accreditation reports for foundation training schemes.
Aston University (Birmingham)
MPharm degree
OSPAP
*extension granted for two academic years
Manchester, University of
MPharm degree
MPharm degree with preparatory year
Robert Gordon University (Aberdeen)
MPharm degree with preparatory year
MPharm degree
Reading, University of
MPharm degree with preparatory year
MPharm degree
Queen’s University Belfast
MPharm degree
Portsmouth, University of
MPharm degree with preparatory year
MPharm degree
Newcastle University
MPharm degree
Swansea University
MPharm degree
MPharm degree with preparatory year
Medway School of Pharmacy, Universities of Greenwich and Kent
MPharm degree with preparatory year
MPharm degree
Liverpool John Moores University
MPharm degree with preparatory year
Closed to further intakes
MPharm degree
Lincoln, University of
MPharm degree with preparatory year
MPharm degree
King's College, University of London
MPharm degree
Leicester, University of
MPharm degree
Liverpool, University of
MPharm degree with preparatory year
MPharm degree
NHS England
Foundation training year programme
Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW)
Foundation training year programme
NHS Education for Scotland (NES)
Foundation training year programme
Teesside University
MPharm degree
Sheffield, University of
MPharm degree with preparatory year
MPharm degree
Huddersfield, University of
MPharm degree
Northern Ireland Centre for Pharmacy Learning and Development (NICPLD)
Foundation training year programme
Bangor University
MPharm degree with preparatory year
MPharm degree
Wolverhampton, University of
MPharm degree
Ulster University (Coleraine)
MPharm degree with preparatory year
MPharm degree
Strathclyde (Glasgow), University of
MPharm degree
MPharm degree with preparatory year
Brighton, University of
OSPAP
*extension granted for two academic years
MPharm degree
MPharm degree with preparatory year
Kingston University London
MPharm degree with year 1 - taught over two years
MPharm degree with preparatory year
MPharm degree
Keele University
MPharm with preparatory year
MPharm degree
Suffolk, University of
MPharm degree
Nottingham, University of
MPharm degree with integrated foundation training
MPharm 2+2 degree
MPharm degree
University College London
MPharm degree with integrated foundation training
MPharm degree with integrated foundation training
MPharm degree
Bath, University of
MPharm degree
MPharm degree with preparatory year
University of Bath in partnership with the University of Plymouth
MPharm degree
University of Bath in partnership with the University of Plymouth
De Montfort University (Leicester)
MPharm degree with preparatory year
MPharm degree
Lancashire, University of (previously University of Central Lancashire)
MPharm degree
previously the University of Central Lancashire
Bradford, University of
MPharm degree with sandwich year
No longer accepting applications
MPharm degree
Birmingham, University of
MPharm degree
Cardiff University
MPharm degree
East Anglia (Norwich), University of
MPharm degree with preparatory year
MPharm degree
Sunderland, University of
MPharm degree
OSPAP
*extension granted for two academic years
Hertfordshire, University of
MPharm degree
OSPAP
*extension granted for two academic years