MPharm Pharmacy with a Foundation Year

Use the links below to view lists of courses in related subject areas.

• Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Public Health
• Speech and Hearing
• Speech and Language Therapy

BBC - CCC including Chemistry and Maths and/or Biology, plus one further rigorous academic subject (excluding General Studies or Critical Thinking). You will also need to meet the University's contextual admissions (widening participation) selection criteria detailed on our application process page under 'how your application is considered'.

Students will need to be predicted or have achieved grades between CCC-BBC, grades outside these requirements will not be considered.

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

Practical skills are a crucial part of science education and therefore will be a requirement to pass the practical element of any science A Level taken. Where applicants are applying for science and related degrees, this is likely to be made explicit in the offer you will receive.

Applicants taking A Levels are normally expected to offer three full A Levels. If you’re taking more than three A Levels, these won’t be included in your offer. We will only make offers consisting of three A Levels.

Please check for specific GCSE/IGCSE subject entry requirements below

BBC - CCC including Chemistry and Maths and/or Biology, plus one further rigorous academic subject (excluding General Studies or Critical Thinking). You will also need to meet the University's contextual admissions (widening participation) selection criteria detailed on our application process page under 'how your application is considered'.

Practical skills are a crucial part of science education and therefore will be a requirement to pass the practical element of any science A Level taken. Where applicants are applying for science and related degrees, this is likely to be made explicit in the offer you will receive.

Applicants taking A Levels are normally expected to offer three full A Levels. If you’re taking more than three A Levels, these won’t be included in your offer. We will only make offers consisting of three A Levels.

Please check for specific GCSE/IGCSE subject entry requirements below

Contextual offers are available for applicants who:

• live in the UK and will be under the age of 21 on 1 September of the year they will start their course; and
• live in an area of disadvantage or with low progression into higher education; and
• have attended a UK school or college for their GCSEs or A-levels (or equivalent qualifications) that has performed below the national average over multiple years.

See our contextual admissions page for full details and to check your eligibility.

BBC - CCC including Chemistry and Maths and/or Biology, plus one further rigorous academic subject (excluding General Studies or Critical Thinkin). You will also need to meet the University's contextual admissions (widening participation) selection criteria detailed on our application process page under 'how your application is considered'.

Practical skills are a crucial part of science education and therefore will be a requirement to pass the practical element of any science A Level taken. Where applicants are applying for science and related degrees, this is likely to be made explicit in the offer you will receive.

Applicants taking A Levels are normally expected to offer three full A Levels. If you’re taking more than three A Levels, these won’t be included in your offer. We will only make offers consisting of three A Levels.

Please check for specific GCSE/IGCSE subject entry requirements below

UK refugee/care-experienced offers are available for applicants who:

• have been looked after in care for more than three months; or
• have been granted refugee status by the UK government or have been issued a UK visa under one of the Ukrainian schemes (Homes for Ukraine, Ukraine Family Scheme or Ukraine Extension Scheme).

See our contextual admissions page for full details and to check your eligibility.

28 - 30 points overall. 5,4,4 in higher level Chemistry, alongside higher level Biology and standard level Mathematics or Higher level Mathematics and standard level Biology. Please note this is only for UK students who have taken the International Baccalaureate.

For this programme of study we will accept: Higher Level Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches or Applications and Interpretation.

Applicants must also meet the University contextual admissions requirements (widening participation). Further information about the selection criteria is detailed on our application process page (How your application is considered').

Applicants must demonstrate a broad general education including at least five GCSEs at minimum grade 5/B including English Language and Mathematics. We will accept C+ in the Northern Ireland reformed GCSE. GCSE/IGCSE English Literature will not be accepted in lieu of GCSE/IGCSE English Language.

For applicants whose status has been confirmed as WP+ using the University's Contextual Data Eligibility tool , we will allow an overall reduction of 2 grades on the full GCSE requirements. Please note, however, that no individual subject should be lower than C/4.

For applicants whose status has been confirmed as WP++ using the University's Contextual Data Eligibility tool , we will allow an overall reduction of 4 grades on the full GCSE requirements. Please note, however, that no individual subject should be lower than C/4.

Please note that if you hold English as a second language IGCSE qualification, we may also require you to offer one of  our acceptable equivalent English Language qualifications  or achieve a higher grade in your IGCSE than the one stated above. Please contact the admissions team in your academic School/Department for clarification.

All applicants to the University (from the UK and Overseas) are required to show evidence of English Language proficiency. The minimum English Language requirement for this course is either:

GCSE/IGCSE English Language grade 5/B, or;

IELTS 7.0, with no less than 6.5 in any component, or;

An acceptable equivalent qualification.

Please note that if you hold English as a second language IGCSE qualification, we may also require you to offer one of  our acceptable equivalent English Language qualifications  or achieve a higher grade in your IGCSE than the one stated above. Please contact the academic School for clarification.

If you need to improve your English language skills to meet the entry requirements for your academic course, the University Centre for Academic English (UCAE) summer pre-sessional courses can help. Check if your academic course offers the option of taking a pre-sessional course on the UCAE page .

The UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) requires that every student requiring a visa to study in the UK must show evidence of a minimum level of English Language (common European Framework (CEFR B2 level) to be granted a Student Route visa (previously known as a Tier 4 visa) to study at undergraduate or postgraduate level.

In addition, our academic Schools/Departments may require applicants to demonstrate English proficiency above the B2 level. Further information about our English Language policy, including a list of some of the English Language qualifications we accept, can be found  here .

Fees for entry in 2026 have not yet been set. For entry in 2025 the tuition fees were £9,535 per annum for home students, and are expected to increase slightly for 2026 entry.

We work hard to ensure that our course can be completed without significant additional study costs over and above the tuition fee.

The two areas where additional costs can be incurred are travel to clinical placements and reading. In both of these situations, we seek to ensure that additional costs are kept as low as possible.

The University defines low cost as an annual cost that is no more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee.

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

Mature students are some of our most well-equipped learners, bringing skills and attributes gained from work, family and other life experiences.  Students come from a whole array of backgrounds, study every kind of course, undertake full-time and part-time learning and are motivated by career intentions as well as personal interest.  There is no such thing as a typical mature student at Manchester.

The application process is the same as for other prospective undergraduates.  If you require further clarification about the acceptability of the qualifications you hold please contact the academic School(s) you plan to apply to.  Further information for mature students can be found here ( http://www.manchester.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/mature-students/ )

Applicants should apply for either the MPharm or the Pharmacy Preparatory (Foundation) Year and should not submit an application for both. Please ensure you check the entry requirements for each option before submitting your application.

Interviews will be scheduled via Zoom and will be conducted one-to-one with an academic member of staff.

The interviews will be timetabled for 20 minutes, and this will allow you to ask any questions you might have about the Foundation course.

We will ensure that you are given plenty of notice about the interview and, if necessary, we will be happy to reschedule if the date/time is inconvenient.

Please note that the interview is an essential part of the application process. Those who fail to attend, without prior explanation, will have their application withdrawn.

Applicants being considered for interview will receive a decision through UCAS Track and will be sent more information on the interview via email.

Events for offer holders

Following the interviews, our intention is to arrange on-campus offer holder events (from March 2026) to give you the opportunity to visit the University of Manchester campus, meet our staff and current students, and see the facilities in the Stopford Building.

We welcome applications from those wishing to return to education. All such applications are considered on an individual basis.

We would normally only consider applicants who obtained the relevant qualification within the three years prior to application. 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. 

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 the Preparatory (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 year places offered by community pharmacies can vary from year to year.

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

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.

It follows from the GMC guidance that students (and pharmacists) in professional settings must dress in a manner that adds to, and does not detract from, effective communication.

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

How you appear as a student professional or a pharmacist is something all students and graduates must consider and respond to. In general, students should be clean and smartly dressed. The following are not permitted as they are deemed to be incompatible with effective, sensitive communication:

• wearing a t-shirt with slogans;
• baseball hats;
• visible body art;
• large amounts of body and face jewellery;
• revealing clothing that may be considered unacceptable by patients;
• covering most of the face.

This is true 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 or other approved clothing. Hair should be tied back if it interferes with, or adds risk, to a clinical interaction.

Students 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.

Fitness to Practise procedures

Where a course requires the student 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.

To protect present or future patients, clients or service users - and to comply with the requirements of professional/regulatory bodies - we have established a procedure for dealing with student-related fitness to practise issues.

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.

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) Programme (Word, 73KB)
• Medical Fitness Assessment Procedure (Word, 59KB).

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 self-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.

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

The preparatory (foundation) year is a one-year full-time course following a modular structure. All units on the course are compulsory.

Course units in Chemistry and Biology - both of which feature Mathematics - and a specific unit on Orientation to Pharmacy provides appropriate learning opportunities for students from diverse backgrounds.

The rest of the MPharm degree follows the same structure as the four-year course .

You will study the following units during the foundation year:

• Cells and Foundation Biology
• Biochemistry
• Physiology
• Health and Disease
• 1A Principles of Chemistry
• 1B Principles of Chemistry
• 2A Pharmaceutical Chemistry
• 2B Inorganic and Organic Chemistry
• Orientation to Pharmacy

The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.

The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.

The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.

The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.

Practical support and advice for current students and applicants is available from the Disability Support Office