The pharmacy regulator has been given the green light to introduce ‘enhanced processes’ to its quality assurance of pharmacist’s education and training.

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has been given approval by its governing council to carry out an annual survey of students and trainees about the quality of education and training they are receiving.

It has also approved the GPhC to make ‘better use’ of internal and external data when accrediting pharmacy training programmes.

This could include data such as student performance in foundation training year tests and graduate performance in the GPhC registration assessment.

The GPhC’s council has also given its approval for the aligning of course reapproval cycles across all pharmacy education and training ‘so that all pharmacy technicians, support staff, independent prescribing and overseas pharmacists’ assessment programmes will be on a six-yearly reaccreditation cycle with a three-year interim event’.

The changes, which were consulted on earlier this year, will be implemented in the 2025/26 academic year.

Chief strategy officer at the GPhC, Louise Edwards, said: ‘Our overall aim is to ensure pharmacy education and training providers continue to deliver high quality education and training that meets our standards and requirements, and gives students and trainees appropriate knowledge, skills and experience to provide high-quality care to patients and the public.

‘The changes we’re planning to make to our quality assurance of education and training represent a shift in our way of working with education and training providers.

‘This updated approach will increase our engagement with the providers and give us and them more opportunities to discuss challenges and opportunities to raise the quality of their courses.’

She added: ‘Through collecting and analysing more data on a regular basis, including introducing an annual survey of students and trainees about the quality of their education or training, we will have more evidence to provide ongoing assurance that our standards and requirements are being met, as well as to highlight potential areas of concern that would trigger further inquiry with the provider.’

The news comes as some within the pharmacy sector have expressed concerns about the training and education of pharmacy technicians as they are set to take on more responsibilities, including supplying medicines under patient group directions (PGDs).

Changes are also being made to the pharmacist profession, with independent prescribing being incorporated into the MPharm degree so that all new UK-educated pharmacists will join the register with a prescribing qualification from 2026.

This week the GPhC also announced plans to ‘update and improve’ the way it inspects pharmacies.