Pharmacy Practice PGDip

Course overview

This course is open to UK-registered pharmacists with patient-facing roles across all sectors of practice. In partnership with workplaces across the region, a team of academic and practice experts have crafted this diploma to support pharmacists to develop the skills needed to deliver excellent person-centred care and to meet the challenges of a rapidly advancing profession. Mapped to the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) Post-registration Foundation Framework, this PGDip provides opportunity to gather portfolio evidence, if you are working towards RPS credentialing.

In your first year you will develop your personal and professional skills, plus your clinical skills for a range of long-term conditions. This offers you an excellent foundation of the clinical skills and knowledge needed to deliver safe and effective patient care, coupled with the teamwork, communication, educational and professional skills needed to deliver this with optimal efficacy.

In the second year, you will focus on delivering high-quality care across a range of specialist conditions and on service improvement in practice. You will have a choice of optional modules including independent prescribing, allowing you to tailor your learning.

You'll work in partnership with academics and designated work-based educational supervisors. This practice-based approach supports authentic assessment, based directly on your experiences of practice. You will undertake learning needs analyses across the duration of the course to inform development of individualised learning plans.

The School of Healthcare is part of the Faculty of Medicine and Health, a centre of excellence in the provision of high-quality education and research which develops knowledge that informs and improves practice.

You can also study this subject at Master of Science level.

Course details

This part-time course allows you to develop a full range of skills necessary for advancing your pharmacy career, enabling you to deliver excellence in person-centred care. Beyond the interpersonal, communication and clinical skills already noted, there is also a specific focus on developing critical thinking skills, enabling you to apply the principles of medicines optimisation through critical evaluation of both national guidance and the primary evidence underpinning this.

The course is themed around understanding medicines use from the patients’ perspective and ensuring medicines use is evidence based and as safe as possible run throughout the course.

Optional modules in the second year enable tailoring of your PGDip according to your specific interests and work-based opportunities. There are opportunities to gain Independent Prescriber status as part of the course, to focus on clinical assessment, or on ongoing professional development.

On successful completion of the course, you will be able to:

• Critically apply specialist knowledge in order to provide pharmaceutical care to patients with a range of core and specialist conditions.
• Demonstrate a pro-active and self-reflective approach to leadership, to achieve high standards of performance and personal development.
• Effectively communicate complex information and provide specialised advice within the healthcare environment.
• Critically evaluate and manage medicines use, to ensure patient safety and optimise patient care.
• Synthesise strategies and work effectively with others to develop and evaluate new services.

You will be studying in a research-based learning environment. Our programme team includes experts in educational theory and work-based learning, medicines adherence, health behavior change, person-centred care, medicines information and medicines optimisation in care homes. Our high-quality research informs national and international policy and practice to ensure the safe and effective use of medicines; our work in reducing medication errors and improving safety in care homes has had a significant impact on policy and practice.

The Programme Leader is Dr Claire Easthall.

Course structure

The list shown below represents typical modules/components studied and may change from time to time. Read more in our terms and conditions.

For more information and a full list of typical modules available on this course, please read Pharmacy Practice PGDip in the course catalogue

Year 1 compulsory modules

Year 2 compulsory modules

Year 2 optional modules (selection of typical options shown below)

In Year 2, students will also have to undertake 30 credits of extra modules.

Learning and teaching

You will learn through a mixture of study days, e-learning and work-based learning. Whilst almost all of our study days are delivered in person, a handful are delivered via synchronised online sessions, allowing you access to innovative digital technologies and different ways of learning. Our study days adopt a small group teaching tutorial style format, whereby delivery of taught content is combined with breakout activities which allow application of learning to case-scenarios and your experiences of practice, through peer discussion.

You will also learn through case-based discussion both in the workplace and on study sessions, allowing you to share learning with your peer group. We offer a fully inclusive and active approach to learning, where opportunities to create a sense of belonging are sought. Our teaching methods support flexible, work-based learning and develop skills for lifelong learning. Teachers and facilitators draw on a range of expertise in education, clinical practice and research. Many of the optional modules are multi-disciplinary, allowing you the opportunity to learn from members of the wider multidisciplinary team.

On this course, you’ll be taught by our expert academics, from lecturers through to professors. You may also be taught by industry professionals with years of experience, as well as trained postgraduate researchers, connecting you to some of the brightest minds on campus.

Assessment

We use a variety of assessment approaches throughout this course, including work-based assessment, consultation skills, essays and oral presentations. The assessments are skillfully developed by leading academics with expertise in educational theory. This allows you to showcase your learning and development when applied to topics of interest to your own practice.

This authentic assessment approach facilitates partnership working between your academic and work-based learning. Almost all of your assessments will involve some level of choosing a patient or medicines-related case from your practice to critically analyse and reflect upon. Our focus on critically evaluating patient and medicines-related cases from your workplace will enhance your ability to bring together evidence from a variety of sources. You will also critically understand and conceptually evaluate contemporary debates.

Your assessments will also challenge you to develop the writing, presentation, communication and critical thinking skills necessary for career progression, specifically in pharmacy but as wider transferable skills too. Our continuous feedback mechanism and regular review ensure that your assessments remain relevant, meaningful and engaging.

Postgraduate diplomas are not a professionally accredited qualification. However, if you opt to take Independent Prescribing as your optional module in year two, successful completion of this element will provide you with General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) accreditation as an Independent Prescriber. Our Independent Prescribing module is delivered by an interdisciplinary team of leading experts and is a fully accredited course with the GPhC.

Applying

Entry requirements

• A bachelor degree with a 2:1 (hons) in Pharmacy.
• Current registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) or Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland (PSNI).
• Access to appropriate pharmacy practice to allow the undertaking of work-based assignments.
• Appointment of an agreed work-based tutor and support from a work-based manager.

Opportunities for the accreditation of prior certificate learning and prior experiential learning exist through the School's credit accumulation and transfer procedures.

English language requirements

Improve your English

International students who do not meet the English language requirements for this programme may be able to study our postgraduate pre-sessional English course, to help improve your English language level.

This pre-sessional course is designed with a progression route to your degree programme and you’ll learn academic English in the context of your subject area. To find out more, read Language for Science (6 weeks) and Language for Science: General Science (10 weeks). 

We also offer online pre-sessionals alongside our on-campus pre-sessionals. Find out more about our six week online pre-sessional.

You can also study pre-sessionals for longer periods – read about our postgraduate pre-sessional English courses.

How to apply

Find out more about how to apply.

The ‘Apply’ link at the top of this page will take you to information on applying for taught programmes and to the University's online application system.

If you're unsure about the application process, contact the admissions team for help.

Admissions policy

Taught Admissions Policy 2025-26

This course is taught by

School of Healthcare

Contact us

School of Healthcare Admissions Team

Email: admissions@healthcare.leeds.ac.uk
Telephone:

Fees

UK: £9,250 (Total)

Read more about paying fees and charges.

Additional cost information

There may be additional costs related to your course or programme of study, or related to being a student at the University of Leeds. Read more on our living costs and budgeting page.

Scholarships and financial support

If you have the talent and drive, we want you to be able to study with us, whatever your financial circumstances. There may be help for students in the form of loans and non-repayable grants from the University and from the government.  Find out more at Masters funding overview.

Career opportunities

On completion of the course you will be well equipped to progress to more senior or specialist pharmacy posts in either primary or secondary care.

Alternatively - upon completion of the PGDip - some students secure additional funding and continue their studies, eg a focus on practice research to progress to an MSc. This can pave the way for pursuing clinical academic careers.

Careers support

We encourage you to prepare for your career from day one. That’s one of the reasons Leeds graduates are so sought after by employers.

The Careers Centre and staff in your faculty provide a range of help and advice to help you plan your career and make well-informed decisions along the way, even after you graduate. Find out more about Careers support.