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Short courses & CPD
Independent Prescribing for Pharmacists

Independent Prescribing for Pharmacists* University Certificate in Postgraduate Professional Development

You develop the knowledge and skills to prescribe safely and effectively. You work within your own scope of practice and area of competence to complete the care cycle holistically for the clients in your care.

 

Course overview

The module runs for 18 weeks, starting with a one-week induction block, followed by weekly attendance and finishing with a final block week.

You spend 12 negotiated days (90 hours) in supervised, supernumerary practice with a medical Designated Prescribing Practitioner (DPP), as well as time with other medical and non-medical prescribers. You must complete this practice learning and assessment between weeks 2 and 17, spreading your practice days across the full module so you can integrate theory with practice as you go.

Before submitting your application, you must read the entry requirements. This will guide your completion of the application form. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

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* Subject to University approval

 

Course details

What you study

You learn how to prescribe as an independent prescriber within the professional standards stipulated by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).

The teaching team includes pharmacists, nurses, allied health professionals and medical practitioners.

How you learn

You learn through a combination of in-person and online learning including lectures, seminars, guided study and discussion groups and experiential learning. Collaborative multi-professional working enables you to consider a whole systems approach to influencing and driving the delivery of improvements in prescribing practice.

How you are assessed

You are assessed using a portfolio of evidence, a structured clinical examination of practice, written examination, and evidence of having passed a period of supervised supernumerary practice experience.

 

Entry requirements

Entry requirements



You are registered as a pharmacist with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) or, in Northern Ireland, with the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

You are in good standing with the GPhC and/or PSNI and any other healthcare regulator with which you are registered.

You must have relevant experience in a UK pharmacy setting and be able to recognise, understand and articulate the skills and attributes required of a prescriber. This is the foundation of your prescribing practice during training.

You must identify an area of clinical or therapeutic practice on which to base your learning.

You must have a designated prescribing practitioner who has agreed to supervise your learning in practice. They must be a registered healthcare professional in Great Britain or Northern Ireland with legal independent prescribing rights and suitably experienced and qualified to carry out this supervisory role, and who has demonstrated CPD or revalidation relevant to this role.

The designated prescribing practitioner is the person who will certify that successful pharmacists are competent to practise as independent prescribers. This can be evidenced by completing the Independent Prescribing for Pharmacists Authorisation Form

 
 

Part-time

2026-27 entry

Fee for applicants:
£1,710

  • Length: 18 weeks
  • Week 1 – full week, Weeks 2-17 – 1 day per week, Week 18 – full week
  • Start date: September

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