Qualify for your role in the pharmacy
The Open Awards Level 2 Technical Occupational Entry in the Principles and Practice for Pharmacy Support Staff (Certificate), delivered by PPets. An Open Awards qualification recognised by the GPhC for pharmacy support staff, for dispensing and medicines counter staff, combining online learning with real practice in your pharmacy.
Open Awards Level 2 Technical Occupational Entry in the Principles and Practice for Pharmacy Support Staff (Certificate) (RQF)
Qualification number 610/4508/1
This qualification is awarded by Open Awards, a national awarding organisation. PPets is an approved Open Awards centre delivering this qualification.
Course at a glance
- Qualification
- Open Awards Level 2 Technical Occupational Entry in the Principles and Practice for Pharmacy Support Staff (Certificate) (RQF)
- Qualification number
- 610/4508/1
- Awarding organisation
- Open Awards
- Delivered by
- PharmProfessionals Education & Training Specialists Ltd (PPets), an approved Open Awards provider
- Leads to
- The qualification for dispensing and medicines counter roles, and progression to Level 3
- Level
- Level 2
- Duration
- Designed around 12 months from your own induction date. Many finish in 6–8 months if evidence comes together quickly — note that certificates are claimed from Open Awards only once the fee is paid in full, so on an instalment plan your certificate follows your final payment.
- Study mode
- Online learning, plus a live weekly class and work-based assessment in your own pharmacy
- Live class
- One hour, once a week, online — attendance expected
- Next intake
- Cohorts run regularly
- Entry requirements
- No formal entry qualifications; a UK pharmacy placement with a named supervisor; admission interview
- Course fee
- £1,600 paying in full, or £1,680 by instalments (introductory price)
- First payment
- £200 — the first instalment of your fee, fixes your price and covers Open Awards registration
- One-to-one support
- Flexible one-to-one tutor sessions, arranged around your working hours, at no extra cost
- Exams
- None. Assessment is by portfolio, workplace observation and professional discussion.
- Optional extra
- Medicines counter assistant unit, +£200
Regulated qualification
This is a regulated qualification — and that matters
Not every pharmacy course is a regulated qualification. Some are certificates a training provider has designed, delivered, marked and issued itself. Ours is different, and you can verify it in about thirty seconds.
Qualification number 610/4508/1 — Open Awards Level 2 Technical Occupational Entry in the Principles and Practice for Pharmacy Support Staff (Certificate) (RQF). Awarded by Open Awards, an Ofqual-recognised awarding organisation, and regulated by Ofqual on the Regulated Qualifications Framework. Search that number on the public register of regulated qualifications.
What being regulated gives you
- Someone independent sets the standard. The units, assessment criteria and grading come from Open Awards, not from us. We deliver the qualification — we don’t get to decide what counts as a pass.
- Someone independent checks our marking. Open Awards appoints an external quality assurer to sample assessment decisions. If our judgements drifted, that is who would catch it.
- Your certificate comes from the awarding organisation. It is issued by Open Awards and recorded on their systems, not ours — so it exists independently of PPets.
- It travels with you. A regulated qualification is recognised by employers and other providers on its qualification number, whoever delivered the teaching. Nobody has to have heard of us for it to count.
- You can check it before you spend a penny. A qualification number on a public government register is a fact you can verify. A provider’s own certificate is a claim you have to take on trust.
Worth asking of any course you consider: what is the qualification number, and which awarding organisation issues the certificate? If there isn’t a straight answer to both, it isn’t a regulated qualification.
Is this course for you?
If you work in a UK pharmacy in a dispensing or medicines supply role, this is the qualification that makes you competent, confident and recognised. It's the standard employers expect for dispensing assistants, and it's the springboard to Level 3 and a registered pharmacy technician career.
New starters
Just joined a pharmacy team? This is the qualification your role needs, and the foundation everything else builds on.
Counter staff moving up
Ready to move from the medicines counter into the dispensary? This is the step.
Employers
Meet GPhC training requirements for your dispensing staff with a course built by people who know the job.
What you'll need to start
Read this first: our Before you enrol guide gives you the honest picture — time commitment, how assessment works, and what we need from your workplace.
- A pharmacy placement. The qualification includes work-based practice and assessment, so you need to be working in a UK pharmacy with your employer’s support. Not in a pharmacy role yet? You can still sign up, as a career starter. Your first payment fixes your price and includes our Get Into Pharmacy course plus one-to-one mentoring to help you find a role. We register you with Open Awards once you have completed Get Into Pharmacy and started in a pharmacy role. How the career-starter route works →
- A workplace supervisor. A pharmacist or registered pharmacy technician who can oversee your practice.
- No formal entry qualifications required. Reasonable English and maths help, and we support you where they're rusty.
- To be free for a one-hour class each week. The one-hour live class runs once a week online and attendance is expected, so check it works with your rota before you apply.
- A short admission interview. After you apply, we’ll invite you to a brief online interview so we can check the course is right for you before making an offer.
Not working in a pharmacy yet? You don’t have to wait — you can sign up for this qualification now as a career starter, and we’ll help you get the job. See how that works below.
What you'll study
The certificate covers the knowledge and skills that safe dispensing depends on, including:
- 💊 Assembling prescribed items and dispensing accuracy
- ⚖️ Pharmacy law, safe working and professional behaviour
- 🗣️ Communicating with patients and the pharmacy team
- 📦 Ordering, receiving and storing medicines safely
- 🛡️ Safeguarding, confidentiality and consent
- 🌱 Personal development in your pharmacy role
Every module is written and clinically reviewed against current UK practice: the BNF, GPhC standards and current legislation.
Live weekly class — attendance expected
One hour, once a week — online
Rolling cohorts — no fixed intake to wait for. Applications are open now, and we confirm your start date with you.
Alongside your self-paced learning there’s a one-hour live online class once a week with your tutor. This is a core part of the course, not an optional extra — it’s where topics are taught, questions get answered, and you work through the harder material as a group. Sessions are timed for after work. We know shifts and life happen, so let us know in advance if you can’t make one and we’ll help you catch up, but you should plan to attend each week before you enrol.
No exams
You are assessed on the job you already do — workbooks on your e-portfolio, workplace observations, and professional discussions with your assessor. There is no exam hall and nothing to revise for at the end.
One-to-one support, whenever you need it
You’re never left working it out alone. Alongside the weekly class, you can book a one-to-one session with your tutor at a time that suits you — before a shift, after one, on a day off. Book as often as you need it; there’s no cap and no extra charge.
Use it for whatever’s in the way: a unit that isn’t clicking, feedback on evidence before you submit it, getting back on track after a busy few weeks, or just talking through how it’s going. Most people who don’t finish a course like this drop out quietly rather than ask for help — so we make asking easy.
How it works
Learn online, at your pace
Structured e-learning modules built by PPets, with interactive scenarios, quizzes and progress tracking. Study around your shifts, on any device — backed up by a one-hour live class once a week.
Practise at work
You apply what you learn in your own pharmacy, building a portfolio of real evidence with support from your workplace supervisor.
Be assessed and supported throughout
Your PPets assessor reviews your evidence and keeps you on track from induction to completion — plus flexible one-to-one sessions arranged around your working hours.
Qualify, then keep going
Complete the certificate and you're qualified for your dispensing role, with a clear route on to the Level 3 pharmacy technician diploma when you're ready.
Course fees
The course fee is £1,680, payable by instalments starting with a £200 first payment. Pay in full before your start date and save 5% — £1,600.
What you’d actually pay
Every option starts with the £200 first payment, paid up front. It secures your place and counts towards your fee — it is not an extra charge. There is nothing to pay when you apply: it falls due once your application is accepted.
Nothing is added for spreading the cost. Your schedule is agreed in writing and the exact dates and amounts are set out in your offer letter, before you commit to anything.
Certificates are claimed from Open Awards once your fee is paid in full, so if you finish early on an instalment plan your certificate follows your final payment.
Employers: ask us about training multiple staff members.
This is an introductory price for our first intake. Fees will rise for later cohorts — the price you enrol at is the price you pay for your whole course.
Medicines counter assistant training
Add the counter assistant unit to your Level 2 Certificate. If you sell medicines over the counter, this is the accredited training that covers it — and it sits alongside your main qualification rather than extending it. Tell us on your application, or add it later during your course.
Why train with PPets
Experienced tutors, all pharmacy technicians
Every PPets tutor is a registered pharmacy technician. Not career trainers who once read about pharmacy, but people who have stood where you stand: on the counter, in the dispensary, under pressure.
We've been through the same route
Level 2, Level 3, registration and beyond. Your tutors took the exact career path you're on, so when you hit the hard parts, you're supported by someone who remembers what they felt like.
Externally verified qualification
Your qualification is awarded by Open Awards and externally verified by them, so your certificate carries independent weight with employers and the GPhC.
Flexible to you
Everyone learns differently and every pharmacy runs differently. Study online around your shifts, build evidence at your pace, and get a plan shaped around your job, not the other way round.
Your course lead
Daniel Dicker
UK-registered pharmacy technician · GPhC reg. 5033017 · Founder, PPets
Daniel started exactly where you are: as a pharmacy assistant at sixteen. Twenty years on, your course was built by someone who has done your job, assessed hundreds of learners doing it, and knows where people struggle. The learning is backed by the PPets training apps, so you can practise real counter conversations between shifts.
Frequently asked questions
How long does the course take?
Duration depends on your starting point and how quickly you build your work-based evidence. We'll confirm typical timescales when you apply, and your assessor will agree a personal plan with you at induction.
Do I need to be working in a pharmacy?
Yes. The qualification includes work-based practice and assessment, so you need to be employed in a UK pharmacy with your employer's support. Not in a pharmacy yet? Start with our Get Into Pharmacy course, it's designed to help you land that first job.
Is this qualification recognised by the GPhC?
Yes. The Open Awards Level 2 Technical Occupational Entry in the Principles and Practice for Pharmacy Support Staff (Certificate) is recognised by the GPhC for pharmacy support staff working in dispensing roles.
What comes after Level 2?
The Level 3 Technical Occupational Entry in the Principles and Practice for Pharmacy Technicians (Diploma), which leads to registration with the GPhC as a pharmacy technician. Many of our Level 2 learners continue straight on.
Can my employer put several staff through at once?
Yes, and we'd encourage it. Group enrolments come with employer-side support: progress visibility, planning around rotas, and a single point of contact. Use the form below or email admin@ppets.co.uk.
I'm not sure if I'm ready. Can I talk to someone first?
Book a free 30-minute PPets Connect call with Daniel. No obligation, just an honest conversation about whether this is the right step and the right time.
Ready when you are
Applying takes about two minutes and you don’t need any documents to hand. There’s nothing to pay now — your £200 first payment comes after your admission interview, and it is the first instalment of your fee.
Apply for the Level 2 Certificate →
Not sure this is the right course? Answer three quick questions and we’ll tell you which one fits — or book a free 30-minute call with Daniel, a registered pharmacy technician rather than a salesperson. No obligation, and he’ll say honestly if now isn’t the right time. Book a free chat →
Prefer to just ask something? Email admin@ppets.co.uk and he’ll reply within one working day.
Not working in a pharmacy yet? You can still sign up.
We can’t register you with Open Awards until you’re working in a UK pharmacy in a pharmacy role with a supervisor in place — that’s how the qualification works, not a PPets rule. But you don’t have to wait to start.
Your £200 first payment fixes your Level 2 Certificate price so it can’t rise while you job hunt, and it includes:
- Get Into Pharmacy — ten online modules, about 13 hours, on how UK pharmacy really works and what employers look for.
- One-to-one mentoring with Daniel — CV review, where the vacancies are, how to approach a pharmacy about a trainee role, interview practice.
- Get Into Pharmacy Live — a free online class one Saturday a month, 10am to 1pm.
Two things have to be in place before we can register you with Open Awards:
- You have completed the Get Into Pharmacy course.
- You have started in a pharmacy role, with a supervisor in place.
Once both are done, we carry out the workplace assessment, register you with Open Awards, and you start at the price you fixed.
You won’t wait long to begin. Level 2 runs rolling cohorts, so once you’re registered and ready the next one normally starts within four weeks.
And if you don’t find a job: you have six months from your first payment. Complete Get Into Pharmacy, attend your mentoring and apply for roles, and if you’re still not employed at the end of it we withdraw you and refund your first payment less £49 for the course you completed — £151 back. You can also change your mind within 14 days and get every penny back.
Cohorts run regularly. Fee £1,600 paying in full — see the full fee breakdown.