How to become a Pharmacist
Official title: Pharmacists
Also called: Pharmacist, Pcn pharmacist, Pharmacist manager, Clinical pharmacist, Pharmacist's manager, Consultant pharmacist, Pharmacist store manager, Pharmacy manager, Dispensary manager, Prescribing adviser, Homeopathic chemist, Homoeopathic chemist
Pharmacists dispense drugs and medicaments in hospitals and pharmacies and advise on and participate in the development and testing of new drugs, compounds and therapies. They counsel on the proper use and adverse effects of drugs and medicines.
Main tasks
- Prepares or directs the preparation of prescribed medicaments in liquid, powder, tablet, ointment or other form following prescriptions issued by medical doctors and other health professionals
- Advises health professionals on the selection and appropriate use of medicines
- Highlights a drug’s potential side effects, identifies harmful interactions with other drugs and assesses the suitability of treatments for patients with particular health conditions
- Checks that recommended doses are not being exceeded and that instructions are understood by patients
- Maintains prescription files and records issue of narcotics, poisons and other habit-forming drugs
- Liaises with other professionals regarding the development, manufacturing and testing of drugs
- Tests and analyses drugs to determine their identity, purity and strength
- Ensures that drugs and medicaments are in good supply and are stored properly
How to become one
Entrants possess a degree in pharmacy. To register with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), entrants must have completed a one year period of pre-registration training and passed a registration exam. Further training is available to permit pharmacists to prescribe medicines independently.
Ways in
- University: Allied Health degrees, Offered by 17 universities in the UK
- University: Medicine & Dentistry degrees, Offered by 21 universities in the UK
Pay · Outlook
- Median full-time pay: £53,772 a year The middle half earn £44,891 to £62,344.
- About 79,200 people work in this job now, and about 86,900 are projected by 2035. (+9.6%)
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Questions people ask
How do I become a Pharmacist?
Entrants possess a degree in pharmacy. To register with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), entrants must have completed a one year period of pre-registration training and passed a registration exam. Further training is available to permit pharmacists to prescribe medicines independently.
How much does a Pharmacist earn in the UK?
Median full-time pay is £53,772 a year (Office for National Statistics). The middle half earn £44,891 to £62,344.
Is a Pharmacist a growing career in the UK?
Yes. Employment is projected to grow 10% by 2035, from about 79,200 to about 86,900 people (Department for Education).
Do you need a degree to become a Pharmacist?
Usually. 94% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.
Sources
- Office for National Statistics: Annual Population Survey: employment by occupation (April 2025 to March 2026), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
- Office for National Statistics: SOC 2020 Volume 1: structure and descriptions (2026-08-27 edition), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
- Department for Education: Skills Imperative 2035: employment projections by occupation (2021 to 2035 (Warwick IER / Cambridge Econometrics)), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
- Office for National Statistics: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14 (2025 provisional), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
Updated 2026-10-03
Graduate outcomes: Discover Uni dataset, HESA (www.hesa.ac.uk), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Aggregated by subject and adapted by Peernovo.