Career Suggestion

Pharmacy technician

Pharmacy technicians prepare and supply medicines for prescriptions, under the supervision of a pharmacist.

Average salary (a year)

£28000.0 to £39000.0 (starter to experienced)

Typical hours (a week)

37.0 to 40.0

You could work

evenings / weekends / bank holidays on a rota

You can get into this job through:

  • an apprenticeship
  • working towards this role

Apprenticeship

You could do a Pharmacy Technician Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship.

You can also train to be a pharmacy technician through an apprenticeship with the NHS or the armed forces.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship

More Information

  • equivalent entry requirements|https://www.gov.uk/what-different-qualification-levels-mean/list-of-qualification-levels
  • guide to apprenticeships|https://www.gov.uk/apprenticeships-guide
  • search for apprenticeships on NHS Jobs|https://www.jobs.nhs.uk/candidate
  • Army apprenticeships|https://jobs.army.mod.uk/regular-army/what-you-get/apprenticeships-skills/
  • RAF apprenticeships|https://recruitment.raf.mod.uk/apprenticeships

Work

You can apply for a trainee pharmacy technician position and learn on the job.

Employers will often ask for 4 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), including English, maths and science, Level 2 Diploma in Applied Science, or equivalent qualifications.

You'll do on-the-job training over 2 years and work towards a Level 3 Diploma in the Principles and Practice for Pharmacy Technicians.

More Information

Registrations

you'll need to register with the General Pharmaceutical Council

Professional and Industry Bodies

Once qualified you can join the Association of Pharmacy Technicians for continuous professional development.

Further Information

You can find out more about becoming a pharmacy technician from Health Careers and the Association of Pharmacy Technicians .

Skills and knowledge

You'll need:

  • customer service skills
  • to be thorough and pay attention to detail
  • excellent verbal communication skills
  • active listening skills
  • maths knowledge
  • the ability to work well with others
  • patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
  • administration skills
  • to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently

Restrictions and Requirements

You'll need to:

Day-to-day tasks

In this role you could:

  • prepare prescription items
  • make sure prescriptions are legal and accurate
  • order new stock using computerised systems
  • give advice to customers about medicines and refer complex queries to the pharmacist
  • handle confidential information

Working environment

You could work in an NHS or private hospital, at a health centre, in a prison or at a store.

You may need to wear protective clothing and a uniform.

With experience you could become a lead pharmacy technician or a department manager.

You could take on a specialist role like clinical technician, working with healthcare professionals and patients on wards. There may also be opportunities to move into areas like oncology, paediatrics or clinical trials.

Some pharmacy technicians go into research and development work, or move into pharmaceutical production, sales or marketing.

You could train to be a pharmacist .

Another option is to become a pharmacy assessor working with trainee pharmacy technicians.

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