MPharm Pharmacy / Application and selection

Because of the high volume of applications we receive, we will not consider those applicants who choose Phamacy as a second option and whose personal statement is geared towards a different discipline.

Interviews are part of the selection process. Please refer to the  application process  page for more information.

We would normally only consider applicants who obtained the relevant qualification within the three years prior to commencing the MPharm. If your most recent qualification was taken more than three years ago, please contact the Admissions Office ( ug.pharmacy@manchester.ac.uk ). We will consider each application individually and may require you to submit further information, such as transcripts and details of employment.

Applicants living overseas (excluding Northern Ireland, ROI and the Channel Isles) will not need to attend a face-to-face interview in Manchester. However, you will be required to attend a Zoom interview.

We will contact candidates after consideration of their UCAS form to arrange the Zoom session and will ensure it is timetabled at a mutually convenient date/time with sufficient advance notice. In some cases, we may contact applicants for additional supporting documents (eg transcripts, syllabus of courses) which may delay the timetabling of the Zoom interview.

Please note that occasionally overseas qualifications do not permit direct entry onto the MPharm course.

Becoming a pharmacist after a UK-based course (advice from the Pharmacy Schools Council)

After the successful completion of the course, you will receive an MPharm degree. There are further steps to go through before you will be able to register with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) and practise as a qualified pharmacist in the UK.

Once you have completed an MPharm, you will need to apply for a foundation training year, where you will further develop the skills you gained during your degree as a paid employee in a professional environment.

Entrance to a foundation training year is competitive and there is no guarantee that you will receive a place. A proportion of these foundation training places are with the NHS, but the majority of placements involve working with community pharmacists.

Again, you should be aware that your place on the foundation training year is not guaranteed, as the number of available placements is dependent on different factors.

One such factor is that the availability of foundation training places offered by community pharmacies can vary from year to year. International students will require a Graduate Immigration route visa.

After the completion of 52 weeks of foundation training, and subject to you passing the common registration assessment at the end of the training, you will be eligible to register with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) and practise as a fully qualified pharmacist.

Please see the government's visas and immigration pages for further information.

All international applicants will need to provide a Certificate of Good Conduct from their home country at the point their application status is UF.

Pharmacy is a registered healthcare profession, and carries both privileges and responsibilities. You must demonstrate that you are able to exercise those privileges and bear those responsibilities. To join the pharmacy profession at the end of your training, you must abide by the General Pharmaceutical Council's (GPhC) Standards for Pharmacy Professionals, undergo a medical fitness assessment and a Disclosure and Barring Service check at the start of your degree.

When the time comes to apply to join the register of pharmacists, you must also make a health declaration and submit to character checks. If you wish to study pharmacy, you should note that your fitness to practise both before and/or during your studies may impair your eligibility to register and practice as a pharmacist.

Communication and dress code

We have adopted the same policy regarding dress code as set out by the General Medical Council (GMC). The GMC states that non-verbal communication is at least as important as verbal communication, and so how a student or pharmacist appears to patients, relatives or colleagues means as much as what he or she says.

Students (and pharmacists) in professional settings must dress in a manner that adds to, and does not detract from, effective communication.

Furthermore, the Standards for Pharmacy Professionals states that students must learn how to listen to patients and their carers, and communicate effectively with them in a way they can understand.

This applies not only in clinical settings, but also throughout the educational elements of the undergraduate course, which is built around group work with other students and tutors.

In addition, the convention of some units may require wearing white coats, being bare below the elbow or other approved clothing (eg scrubs). Hair should be tied back if it interferes with, or adds risk, to a clinical activity. Nail polish and gel nails are an infection risk and may not be permitted in some clinical areas. Students must abide by all workplace dress codes when on placement, which may vary between sites.

You must be able to participate fully in communication and other skills training, discussion and assessment. As well as adhering to the dress code above, it means being able to interact fully with patients, standardised patients, teachers and examiners of any cultural or ethnic background or either gender. This includes conducting physical examinations that are a compulsory component of the course eg blood pressure, pulse and temperature.

Health requirements and Fitness to Practise procedures

Offers of a place are subject to satisfactory health screening. The health screening procedure is based upon the Higher Education Occupational Physicians/Practitioners (HEOPS) standards of medical fitness to train for pharmacy students.

If you are concerned that your health or disability may affect your ability to fulfil the requirements of the MPharm course, you are encouraged to contact the Occupational Health Service and/or the Disability Advisory and Support Service at an early stage in order to explore the feasibility of making reasonable adjustments.

Health screening requires you to complete a detailed health questionnaire and possibly attend an appointment with the University's Occupational Health Department. In order to be admitted and continue on the course, you must be deemed as medically fit for both campus-based learning and placements by the Occupational Health Department. You will be required to comply with any viral screening and vaccination as requested by the Department of Health.

Where a course requires the you to undertake practical training in a quasi-professional role in relation to patients, clients or service users, or where the qualification provides a direct licence to practise, The University of Manchester has a duty to ensure that students are fit to practise.

A pharmacy student's fitness to practise is called into question when their behaviour or health raises a serious or persistent cause for concern about their ability or suitability to continue on the MPharm course. A student's fitness to practise, before or during their period of study as a student, may impair their eligibility to register and to practise as a Pharmacist. For further information, please read the guidance on the GPhC website.

This includes, but is not limited to, the possibility that they could put patients, the public, other students, staff or themselves at risk, and the need to maintain the public's trust in the pharmacy profession. Issues surrounding professional behaviour and fitness to practise are monitored and investigated initially. We consider cases that are brought to us and follow initial investigations via appropriate staff.

For information specific to the University, please read:

• Guidance and procedure for applicants to the Master of Pharmacy (MPharm) (PDF, 179KB)
• Medical Fitness Assessment Procedure (PDF 127KB).

Applicants and students should note that we treat all information disclosed by students in the strictest of confidence. Information about a student's fitness to practise will only be disclosed to the GPhC when the Faculty's Committee on Fitness to Practise has imposed sanctions upon the student.

When sanctions have been imposed, the student must also disclose them to the GPhC if they apply to join the register of pharmacists. Sanctions include:

• conditions or undertakings
• suspension from the course
• expulsion from the course.

To ensure students are of good character as part of the GPhC's fitness to practise requirements, you must complete a professional conduct declaration form at interview and then annually, and submit to a criminal records check during the first year of the MPharm course.

You must declare any convictions, cautions or reprimands received at any time before or during your studies, either in this country or in other countries.

The criminal records check is an Enhanced Level search by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). We will assist you in the completion of these forms.

International applicants will need to submit an overseas police check and this will be included as a formal offer condition.  

To assess good character, the GPhC Good Character Framework is used.

Applications for deferred entry are considered equally to other applications up to the point of confirmation.

Requests for deferred entry are granted on the discretion of admissions staff, and are normally granted for one year only. However, in certain circumstances (for example, if an international student needs to complete National Service), we might consider a request to defer for 2 years.

Please contact the admissions team directly for advice. Some English Language test results, such as IELTS or TOEFL, are only valid for two years from the test date.

We will consider resit applications provided you have obtained a minimum of A-level grades BBB at the first attempt (or equivalent qualifications).

If you have applied via UCAS previously, any subsequent application should provide updated information on your suitability for the course. We reserve the right to draw on any information from previous applications.

If you have already achieved your A-level grades, you must have obtained a minimum of AAB in three suitable subjects including Chemistry, and either Biology or Mathematics.

Transfer requests are not accepted as such. All applications must be directed through  UCAS  and applicants must satisfy our specific entry requirements, ie a minimum of AAB in three suitable A-level subjects including Chemistry and either Biology or Mathematics (or equivalent qualifications). We do not accept insufficient A-level grades alongside one or two years on an alternative degree course.

Advanced entry

All applications are considered for first-year entry only onto the MPharm course.