You are a Nigerian pharmacist looking to migrate to the UK.
In short, Nigerian pharmacy degrees are not directly accepted by the UK you will need to do a 1-year University-based conversion course called the OSPAP, after this, you will need to do the “pre-reg exam” and then you will become licensed to work by the GPhC (see below).
Overview
- First, ensure that your spoken English is up to scratch, consider taking an online course or try passing an OET – English language test for healthcare professionals (this is a government requirement).
- The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) is the regulator of pharmacists and pharmacies in the UK, this is similar to the Pharmacy Council in Nigeria.
- Classification – as you have obtained your degree outside of the European Union, you will be classified as an “overseas (non-EEA) qualified pharmacists” and will be required to take a few additional steps.
Steps to registering in the UK via the GPhC
- Apply for the Overseas Pharmacists Assessment Programme (OSPAP) – a postgraduate diploma (similar to the housemanship in medicine) provided by the Universities of Aston, Brighton, Hertfordshire, and Sunderland. See the map below for precise locations.
- Undertake the Fitness to practise evaluation – this is a document submission where you need to prove to the GPhC that you are not a criminal etc.
- Take the Pre-registration training program – this is a 52-week in-pharmacy training programme conducted in England, Scotland or Wales. Once complete, you must be signed off as satisfactory by your pharmacist tutor-employer.
- Sit the GPhC registration assessment – this is a clinical knowledge exam, the failure rate is between 10-30% each year.
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There are 4 universities in the UK that offer the OSPAP.
- Aston University
- University of Brighton
- University of Hertfordshire
- University of Sunderland
The closest to London, England’s capital is either Hertfordshire in the North or Brighton in the south.
