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Overview
If you're an experienced practicing pharmacist and want to further your career in a specialist area, joining our PgCert Independent Prescribing for Pharmacists course is the perfect way to fulfil your ambitions.
On this course you'll develop your clinical examination and consultation skills, and build on your understanding of pharmacology and therapeutics, to inform evidence-based management decisions alongside patients within your chosen scope of practice.
When you graduate, you'll be qualified for a career as an independent prescriber within a clinical setting.
On this course, you'll:
- Learn from experts in the School of Medicine, Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, and the School of Dental, Health and Care Professions
- Get hands-on experience in clinical examination and history taking
- Study topics including pharmacology and therapeutics for prescribers, clinical skills for prescribers, and professional aspects of prescribing
- Improve your counselling and consultation skills in our practice dispensary facilities, where you'll consult with patient actors
- Build on your clinical simulation experience in our clinical skills suite, featuring a Laerdal human patient simulator
- Be supported by experienced clinical pharmacists as you develop your competencies portfolio
Accreditation
This PgCert course carries General Pharmaceutical Council accreditation as a prescribing programme leading to the right to have your pharmacist registration annotated as 'Independent prescriber'.
Contact information
Contact AdmissionsEntry requirements
PgCert Independent Prescribing for Pharmacists entry requirements
Qualifications or experience
- A second-class honours degree in Pharmacy (BSc, BPharm or MPharm), registration as a practising pharmacist with the General Pharmaceutical Council and two year's UK-based patient-facing experience post-registration.
- Applicants require the written agreement of a Designated Medical Practitioner to mentor them throughout the course and the support of their employing organisation where applicable.
English language requirements
- English language proficiency at a minimum of IELTS band 7.0 with no component score below 7.0.
If you don't meet the English language requirements yet, you can achieve the level you need by successfully completing a pre-sessional English programme before you start your course.
Selection process
- All shortlisted applicants will be invited to attend an interview.
Course costs and funding
Tuition fees (September 2025 start)
- £2,870 (may be subject to annual increase)
- £2,870 (may be subject to annual increase)
- £2,870 (may be subject to annual increase)
Funding your studies
Find out more how to fund your studies, including the scholarships and bursaries you could get. You can also find more about tuition fees and living costs, including what your tuition fees cover.
NHS funded places are available for pharmacists working in NHS roles including community, hospital and primary care environments. Please get in touch with us or NHS England for further information.
Applying from outside the UK? Find out about funding options for international students.
Modules
What you'll study
You’ll be eligible to become an annotated independent prescriber by demonstrating prescribing skills in your chosen area of clinical practice.
By the end of this module you’ll be able to meet the standards set by the RPS competency framework, as well as additional GPhC learning outcomes, and be ready for prescribing roles.
Changes to course content
We use the best and most current research and professional practice alongside feedback from our students to make sure course content is relevant to your future career or further studies.
Therefore, some course content may change over time to reflect changes in the discipline or industry. If a module doesn't run, we'll let you know as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative module.
How you’ll spend your time
Teaching
Teaching on this course includes:
- online learning
- seminars
- workshops
- practice
How you're assessed
You'll be assessed through:
- practical skills assessment
- written case studies and therapeutic reviews
- portfolio of competencies and reflective accounts
Career development
What can you do with a Independent Prescribing for Pharmacists qualification?
Graduates have gone on to take roles in:
- Mental health
- Rheumatology
- Minor ailments
- Pain management
- Nutrition
- Travel medicine
- Critical care
- Cardiology
- Renal disease
- HIV medicine
- Respiratory and dermatology
We'll provide you with as much support as possible in finding employment through contacts, careers events, recruitment fairs and individual advice.
Supporting you
Learning support
During term time, Faculty Academic Skills Tutors (AST) are available for bookable 1-to-1 sessions, small group sessions and online sessions. These sessions are tailored to your needs.
Support is available for skills including:
- University study
- Getting into the right study mindset
- Note-taking and note-making skills
- Referencing
- Presentation skills
- Time management, planning, and goal setting
- Critical thinking
- Avoiding plagiarism
If you have a disability or need extra support, the Additional Support and Disability Centre (ASDAC) will give you help, support and advice.
Support with English
If English isn't your first language, you can do one of our English language courses to improve your written and spoken English language skills before starting your degree. Once you're here, you can take part in our free In-Sessional English (ISE) programme to improve your English further.
Apply
Unlike undergraduate applications, which go through UCAS, applications for this Master's course are made directly to us.
There's no deadline for applications to this course. We accept applications right up until the start date in September, as long as there are places available. If you wait until September to apply, you may find that the course is full.
If you're applying as an international student, remember that you'll need to leave plenty of time to get your visa organised.
You can find more advice about applying in our Master's application checklist. International students and current students and recent graduates of the University of Portsmouth also have some different application options, which are detailed below.
Ready to apply?
You'll be asked to complete a shorter course specific application form once you have submitted your initial application. This includes a short section for your designated prescribing practitioner (DPP) to complete too.
All shortlisted applicants are also subject to interview.
International students
If you're from outside of the UK, you can apply directly to us (above) or you can get an agent to help with your application. Check your country page for details of agents in your region. To find out what to include in your application, head to the how to apply page of our international students section.
If you don’t meet the English language requirements for this course yet, you can achieve the level you need by successfully completing a pre-sessional English programme before you start your course.
Admissions terms and conditions
When you accept an offer to study at the University of Portsmouth, you also agree to abide by our Student Contract (which includes the University's relevant policies, rules and regulations). You should read and consider these before you apply.