Pharmacy with Preparatory Year

Pharmacy is one of the few professions where scientific knowledge, clinical judgement, and direct patient care converge in a single role. Pharmacists are responsible not only for the accurate dispensing of medicines but for understanding how drugs work at a molecular level, advising patients and healthcare teams, and helping to ensure that medicines are used safely and effectively. The MPharm is the degree that leads to registration as a practising pharmacist in the UK, and it demands both rigorous scientific training and well-developed communication skills.

The Pharmacy with Preparatory Year programme at Reading is a five-year course that begins with a year of foundational study, giving you a thorough grounding in the science you will need before progressing into the main MPharm degree. This preparatory year is designed for students who are ready to work at degree level but whose prior study needs to be broadened or consolidated in areas such as chemistry and biology. From the second year onwards you will study pharmaceutical sciences, pharmacology, medicinal chemistry, physiology, law and ethics relating to medicines, and the clinical and communication skills that pharmacy practice requires.

The full-time programme integrates scientific learning with placements in community and hospital pharmacy settings.

Registered pharmacists work in community pharmacies, hospitals, the pharmaceutical industry, academia, the armed forces, and regulatory bodies. The qualification also opens routes into clinical research, medicines management, and public health. Graduates who wish to specialise further can undertake postgraduate study including clinical pharmacy diplomas, specialist training programmes, or research degrees.

Pharmacy is a regulated profession, and completion of the MPharm and subsequent pre-registration training leads to registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council.