Pharmacist and Technician Training
The ACPT programme is a 3-12-month training and development programme available to pharmacy technicians, with employer support. The course is designed to support pharmacy technicians in meeting a range of competencies during their training in order to deliver safe and effective patient care.
The aim of the programme is to train and assess pharmacy technicians to perform the final accuracy check of dispensed items on prescriptions that have been clinically screened/approved by a pharmacist.
Funding is currently not available for these places.
Apply for the CPPE Accuracy checking pharmacy technician programme
NHS England (NHSE) has introduced the Newly Qualified Pharmacist pathway, a programme for newly qualified pharmacists, designed to bridge the gap between initial education and post-registration development. More on CPE here.
Further Resources: HEE Newly Qualified Pharmacist Pathway
NHS Briefing for employers and key stakeholders NHSE-NQPh-Pathway-Employer-key-stakeholder-briefing-August-2023
Preparing to train as an independent prescriber on the CPPE website: www.cppe.ac.uk/career/preparingtotrainip.
Its aim is to help pharmacists prepare an application and prepare themselves for prescribing training by helping them to understand what it means to be a prescriber, considerations when choosing a course, how they can demonstrate relevant knowledge and skills and plan for the study and supervised practice requirements of the course.
Applications for training offers with start dates up to March 2027 are open.
https://www.hee.nhs.uk/our-work/pharmacy/independent-prescribing
For any further enquiries, please contact england.pharmacyteam@nhs.net
Independent Prescribing – the Pathfinder Programme:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/primary-care/pharmacy/pharmacy-integration-fund/independent-prescribing/
Employers intending to host a trainee pharmacist in 2026/27 must register their programme(s) in the National Recruitment Scheme (Oriel) by early March 2025. Currently, all programmes are expected to include a multi-sector rotation. Although NHS England remains fully committed to implementing multi-sector rotations for all trainees and strongly supports continued progress toward this goal, some areas may require a phased approach, with full implementation anticipated by the 2027/28 cohort.
The goal remains that by March 2025, the employer national recruitment deadline, most programmes will be developed to include multi-sector rotations. However, single sector programmes submitted to the National Recruitment Scheme will still be eligible for the 2026/27 recruitment cycle. From March 2026 onwards, single-sector programmes will not be accepted for training programmes starting in 2027.
NHSE WT&E Midlands Pharmacy June 2026 Newsletter
As many of you are aware the NHS England is collaborating with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) to offer a pharmacy-specific professional development pathway for advanced pharmacist practice that recognises the quality assurance of the advanced practice education, training, and experience of pharmacists practicing as advanced practitioners. Successful completion of the pathway, assured through the RPS Core Advanced Pharmacist Curriculum assessment, results in pharmacists being recognised by the RPS as an advanced pharmacist, along with attaining the Centre for Advancing Practice’s ‘Advanced’ digital badge, demonstrating the quality assurance of their advanced practice preparation to patients, families, carers, and other healthcare professionals.
Accordingly, prospective pharmacist applicants for the Centre’s ePortfolio (supported) Route have the opportunity for their applications to be assessed and supported by RPS working in collaboration with the Centre for Advancing Practice, and the education partner of the RPS, the Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education (CPPE). This collaborative approach enables pharmacists working in advanced practice role to gain correspondent recognition with both the RPS and Centre that they are working at an advanced level of practice without needing to complete two separate ePortfolio processes, and this dual recognition route is fully funded by the Centre for Advancing Practice.
The Centre for Advancing Practice and the RPS has the opportunity for more pharmacists to participate in this collaborative ePortfolio process to gain correspondent recognition with the RPS as an advanced pharmacist and to gain the Centre’s ‘Advanced’ digital badge – if you are a pharmacist working in advanced practice role who is interested in this recognition activity you will firstly need to complete the Centre’s Expression of Interest form, and then complete the registration form for CPPE, the education partner of the RPS.
If you have any questions about this ePortfolio process for pharmacists, please contact the Centre via: england.advancedpractice@nhs.net
