We are in the process of finalising our postgraduate taught courses for 2026/27 entry. In the meantime, you can view our 2025/26 courses.
Our MPharm Pharmacy with Preparatory Year course will set you on the path to a career as a qualified pharmacist.
Please note that this course is now closed for 2025 applicants.
Our MPharm Pharmacy with Preparatory Year is a five-year programme that includes a year of foundational study and leads directly into the four-year course.
An MPharm is the only degree that will allow you to register as a qualified pharmacist, following a Foundation Training Year (see careers section). This degree is accredited by the pharmacy regulator, the General Pharmaceutical Council, and has been designed to reflect the changing roles of pharmacists. Accreditation and recognition reports, and the accreditation/recognition period, can be found on the GPhC website. We will equip you with the skills and knowledge needed for success in this constantly evolving sector.
You will learn how the body works, how medicines affect it, and how these medicines are designed. The course content focuses on the different areas of the body, such as the heart, and you will learn the chemistry, biology and pharmacy related to each one. This will enable you to apply information to patient care right from the first year.
We will also provide you with information and techniques essential for work in pharmacy, including law, storage of medicines, processes for reducing errors, assessing prescriptions, and professional behaviour. Our pharmacy practice suite uses professional dispensing software and real medicines, in order to build up your experience of key processes and handling substances.
Reading is one of the UK's top 10 universities for pharmacy and pharmacology (the Daily Mail University), and as a MPharm student, you will also benefit from business and leadership lectures run by the award-winning Henley Business School. In the National Student Survey 2024, 97% of our MPharm Pharmacy students said teaching staff are good at explaining things (93.48% of responders).
Additionally, you will develop your research skills throughout the course, and have the option in the final year to select a research project module to work alongside internationally recognised researchers on a project of your choice. Past topics have included molecular pharmacology, medical technology, pharmacy practice, and drug synthesis, analysis and formulation.
The 2021 educational standards from the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) will be implemented by all University providers of Pharmacy education by the academic year 2024/25. The changes implemented by the GPhC include an increased focus on clinical decision-making in preparation for becoming independent prescribers at the point of registration. The University of Reading made this transition in the 2023/24 academic year.
Throughout the course you will gain an insight into professional practice by carrying out placements in various settings, which will include hospital and community pharmacies, as well as GP practices.The placements are an essential component in your training to become a prescribing pharmacist of the future. Hence, placements are compulsory to attend and start at Part 1 of the programme.
Please note that travel will be required for your placements which may involve approximate commute times of up to one hour and a half each way, and that there may be some travel and accommodation costs incurred.
We also have an annual pharmacy careers fair that is attended by numerous employers and is a good source of work experience and job opportunities.
For more information, please visit the Pharmacy website.
