MPharm in Pharmacy

At Reading, you don’t just study pharmacy in the classroom—you practice it in real settings with professional tools. From your very first year, you’ll step into community and hospital pharmacies, handle real medicines in the Clinical Skills Suite, and learn to use dispensing software. By your final year, you’ll be designing and carrying out an independent research project, supported by internationally recognised experts in pharmacy and biomedical sciences.

Here’s how it plays out in practice:

• Placements throughout the degree: You’ll complete placements in community and hospital pharmacies in every year of the MPharm. In your early years, these are short enhancement-week visits to understand the pharmacist’s role, while later years involve longer, more clinically focused placements with real patients and multidisciplinary teams.

• Clinical Skills Suite: A simulated pharmacy environment where you’ll work with prescriptions, medicines, and dispensing software. Here, you’ll practice consultation skills, prescription checking, and patient safety scenarios.

• Case-based and group learning: Many modules use problem-based workshops where you work in teams to solve patient cases—sharpening your decision-making, communication, and teamwork.

• Research Project: In your final year, you’ll choose and lead a supervised project in areas like molecular pharmacology, drug discovery, medicinal chemistry, or pharmacy practice—gaining hands-on experience in research methods.

• Interprofessional learning: Opportunities to collaborate with students from other healthcare disciplines, preparing you for working in real-world NHS teams.

• Specialist facilities: Access to the Chemical Analysis Facility (CAF), which houses advanced equipment such as NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry—used in both teaching and student-led projects.

• Careers & employer links: Regular careers events and employer fairs are organised by the School of Pharmacy, giving you a direct line to organisations such as Boots, GSK, NHS Trusts, and LloydsPharmacy.

Graduates of the MPharm at Reading are prepared for the full spectrum of pharmacy careers. With accreditation from the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), you’ll be ready to enter the Foundation Training Year, the next step toward becoming a registered pharmacist. Typical destinations include hospital pharmacy, community pharmacy, industrial pharmacy, and roles in regulatory affairs or public health.

Here’s what sets Reading apart:

• Career services and employer links: The School of Pharmacy hosts regular careers fairs and networking events with employers such as Boots, GSK, NHS Trusts, and LloydsPharmacy. Students also benefit from CV workshops, interview prep, and placement support provided by the university’s Careers Service.

• Employment outcomes: More than 95% of Reading pharmacy graduates are in work or further study within 15 months of graduating (Graduate Outcomes Survey).

• Salary figures: The average salary for Reading pharmacy graduates is around £34,000–£35,000 within 15 months, reflecting the strong professional demand.

• Industry partnerships: Strong ties with NHS Trusts and community pharmacy providers give you first-hand exposure to healthcare systems. Links with pharmaceutical companies such as GSK provide insight into industry pathways.

• Long-term accreditation value: The MPharm is fully accredited by the GPhC, which means the qualification is recognised across the UK for entry into the professional register of pharmacists.

• Graduate destinations: Alumni are working as registered pharmacists in hospitals, community pharmacies, and with organisations like the NHS and major retail pharmacy chains. Some also move into academia, teaching, or the pharmaceutical industry.

Further Academic Progression:
If you want to advance academically after your MPharm, you could:

• Undertake a PhD in areas such as pharmacology, drug discovery, or clinical pharmacy.

• Pursue postgraduate training in advanced clinical pharmacy practice or public health.

• Combine pharmacy with healthcare leadership or business through specialist master’s programmes, sometimes offered in collaboration with Henley Business School.