Pharmacy staff training for employers
Recruiting qualified pharmacy technicians is hard, expensive, and getting harder. Growing your own is the reliable alternative — and it’s what PPets is built for. We deliver GPhC-recognised Open Awards Level 2 and Level 3 qualifications around your rotas, so your staff qualify while they keep working in your pharmacy.
The two qualifications your team needs
Both are awarded by Open Awards and recognised by the GPhC. Delivered around your rotas — online evening classes, work-based assessment in your own pharmacy, no release to college, no exams.
No VAT to add — PPets is not VAT registered, so the price you see is the price you pay. Deposits secure places; the balance can be spread over instalments with no interest or charges. Full fee breakdown · Ask for a quote
Why employers train their own
It solves the recruitment problem at source
Demand for registered pharmacy technicians outstrips supply across most of the UK. Advertising for one you can’t find costs more, in vacancy time and agency cover, than developing the person already on your counter.
People who train with you, stay with you
Investing in someone’s qualification is one of the strongest retention levers available, particularly for staff who’d otherwise leave to progress elsewhere.
It evidences your GPhC training obligations
The GPhC expects staff to be competent for the roles they perform, with training that’s documented. Accredited qualifications and recorded app-based training give you evidence that stands up at inspection.
It expands what your pharmacy can deliver
Qualified pharmacy technicians release pharmacist time. Accuracy checking, medicines reconciliation and counselling handled by your pharmacy technicians means more pharmacist capacity for clinical services.
What we deliver for pharmacy teams
Accredited qualifications
Open Awards, recognised by the GPhC, delivered as blended learning: structured online study your staff complete around their shifts, plus work-based assessment carried out in your pharmacy. There’s no day-release, so you don’t lose a person off the rota every week.
- Level 2 Technical Occupational Entry in the Principles and Practice for Pharmacy Support Staff (Certificate) — the qualification your dispensing and counter staff need for their role.
- Level 3 Technical Occupational Entry in the Principles and Practice for Pharmacy Technicians (Diploma) — the route to GPhC registration as a pharmacy technician, completed over about two years in post.
Your staff are supported, not left to it. Alongside the weekly class, every learner can book unlimited one-to-one sessions with their tutor at times that suit their shifts. That’s the difference between a learner who quietly stalls and one who finishes — and it protects the money you’ve put in.
Your side of it is light: a named workplace supervisor (a pharmacist or registered pharmacy technician), a short health and safety and placement confirmation at the start, and access for three workplace observations across the qualification, which we book with you in advance and keep brief.
Training apps for the whole team
For staff who aren’t on a qualification — or alongside one — our apps give your team structured, recorded practice. The Pharmacy Counter app puts counter staff in front of AI patients for realistic over-the-counter consultations, scored on WWHAM completeness and red-flag recognition. The POM Counselling Trainer does the same for prescription medicines counselling.
On the Organisation plan you get an admin dashboard, team progress overview, bulk user management, branded certificates and a GPhC inspection evidence pack, with invoice billing available. See team pricing.
Career conversations for your staff
Not sure who on your team is ready for Level 3, or how to structure a development conversation? Our founder Daniel Dicker — a registered pharmacy technician — runs free 30-minute calls that your staff (or you) can book directly.
Training you can stand behind at inspection
If you're paying for training, you need to know it means something. Three things separate an accredited PPets qualification from an online course with a certificate at the end:
- Externally verified by the awarding body. Open Awards independently quality-assures our delivery and samples our assessment decisions. Our judgements are checked by someone outside our organisation — that's what makes it a recognised qualification rather than an in-house certificate.
- Assessed in your pharmacy, in person. Our assessors visit your workplace three times across the qualification and observe your staff member actually doing the job. Not a video call, not a self-declaration. It means the competence on the certificate is competence you'll see on your shop floor.
- Authenticity checked throughout. Workplace evidence is countersigned by a witness. Understanding is tested by professional discussion and oral questioning. AI-generated submissions are treated as malpractice. Nobody passes by copying and pasting.
For you that means two things: staff who are genuinely competent rather than merely certificated, and documented, externally verified training evidence when an inspector asks how you assure your team.
Who we work with
Independent community pharmacies, small groups and multiples, hospital and primary care teams, and GP practice pharmacy teams. We’re small enough that you get a direct line to the person delivering your training, and everything is designed around real pharmacy rotas rather than academic terms.
How it works
- Tell us about your team. How many staff, what roles they’re in now, and where you want them to get to.
- We recommend a route. Which staff suit Level 2, who’s ready for Level 3, and where the apps fill the gaps.
- We confirm costs in writing. Clear per-learner fees for qualifications and per-seat pricing for apps, with invoice billing. No surprises.
- We handle enrolment. Your staff apply, we interview them, and we manage awarding body registration and all the paperwork.
- You get progress updates. You’ll know how your learners are getting on without having to chase.
Let’s talk about your team
Tell us how many staff you’re looking to train and what you need them qualified in. We’ll come back with a route and a written quote — no pressure, no hard sell.
Get in touch →Explore what your team could use
Level 2 Certificate — Pharmacy Support Staff
The qualification your dispensing assistants need for their role, and the stepping stone to Level 3.
See the course Grow your own pharmacy techniciansLevel 3 Diploma — Pharmacy Technicians
The route to GPhC registration, delivered around your rotas over about two years, with work-based assessment in your pharmacy.
See the course & feesTraining apps — Organisation plan
Pharmacy Counter and POM Counselling Trainer for your whole team, with admin dashboard, progress reporting, branded certificates and an inspection evidence pack.
See team pricingGet Into Pharmacy course
Bringing someone in with no pharmacy background? This 10-module starter course gets them useful faster, from £49.
See the courseEmployer FAQ
How much time will my staff be off the rota?
None for scheduled classes — study is online and self-paced, designed to fit around shifts. The only in-pharmacy time is three workplace observations across the qualification, booked with you in advance and typically around an hour each, plus the time your supervisor spends countersigning evidence.
What do we need to provide as an employer?
A named workplace supervisor who’s a GPhC-registered pharmacist or pharmacy technician, a suitable range of practical experience for the learner, and completion of a short placement and health and safety confirmation at the start. We provide all the forms and walk you through them.
Can we train several staff at once?
Yes, and it costs you less. Enrol two or more learners from the same pharmacy and every one of them gets a further 5% off, on top of the 5% discount for paying in full. Tell us how many and at what levels, and we’ll put together a written quote covering the group. Invoice billing is available.
Does this count as evidence for GPhC inspection?
Accredited qualifications are externally verified by the awarding body, and app-based training is recorded per user with certificates and an exportable evidence pack on the Organisation plan — both are the kind of documented, role-appropriate training inspectors expect to see.
What if a learner leaves partway through?
Talk to us early and we’ll work it through — depending on circumstances that may mean transferring the place, pausing, or applying our standard withdrawal terms. Everything is set out in writing before you commit.