Foundation Trainee Pharmacist National Recruitment Scheme
The main changes to the registration process for 2026 are:
Closing date for employer registration has changed and will now be the first Tuesday of March at 12:00 Midday.
Employer site code - you will be asked to provide your ODS code after contact details as part of the registration form.
If you are a Pharmacy site, you will have a GPhC site registration number; please add this information when prompted. Non Pharmacy sites, eg GP practices, should enter N/A
Additional questions regarding employment model, please select the correct option and provide the details accordingly for shared employment model.
Terms of Participation have been updated to reflect programme requirements, please read these, in full, prior to registering
Recruiting via Oriel is the only route to employing a foundation trainee pharmacist.
The National Recruitment Scheme (NRS) is the only way to obtain a foundation pharmacy training place in England and Wales.
The NRS aims to have a fair, equitable and transparent recruitment process for all. Applying through the online portal (Oriel) requires you to submit one application in order to apply for all foundation training places in England and Wales.
The number of funded foundation pharmacy training places in England and Wales each year is set by an annual budget setting process informed by workforce need data. It is not guaranteed that there will be funded places available for all applicants to the NRS.
Foundation Training 2027 - 2028 - What's happening now (Jan - Mar)
Employer registration for the 2027-28 foundation training year is now open. Registration closes at 12:00 Midday on Tuesday 3 March 2026
The documents below support employers with the registration process.
Foundation Training 2026-27
Employers
Employers who have successfully filled their programmes during the 2025 recruitment round, should log into Oriel for relevant details to contact applicants in a timely manner and begin the process off initiating employment contracts for onboarding in Spring.
Further information on the 2026-2027 training year, including the Terms of Participation and employer programme information can be found by clicking on the 'Employer information and FAQs' page above.
2026 Start Dates
To support consistent inductions and appropriate allocation of staff, Employers must ensure trainees begin their training on a suitable date within the below windows:
Summer window: 13 July 2026 to 3 August 2026
In exceptional circumstances only; Autumn window: 19 October 2026 to 9 November 2026
National Recruitment Scheme Overview
Complaints Policy
The recruitment and selection process to foundation trainee pharmacist training places aims to have methods that are fair, transparent and free from discrimination.
We publish our recruitment and selection methods within the applicant handbook.
The processes are designed and delivered by the Pharmacy National Recruitment Office (PNRO) working in partnership with local offices of NHS England and Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW). However hard we try to respond to the wishes and aspirations of applicants accessing our recruitment services, we do recognise that, on occasion, our service may fall short of expectations. If you believe this has happened to you, you can use the complaints procedure below, which tells you how to make a complaint and how it will be handled.
Recruitment Timeline
Activity
Month
Applicant handbook available
Mid May
Foundation Pharmacist Training Programme information available on Oriel
15 June 2026
Application window opens
15 June 2026 at 12pm
Application window closes
3 July 2026 at 12pm
Preferencing window opens
29 July 2026
Numeracy/SJT centre booking window opens
3 August 2026
Numeracy/SJT centre booking window closes
14 August 2026
Numeracy/SJT centre Start Date (Pearson VUE Test Centres)
21 September 2026
Numeracy/SJT centre End Date (Pearson VUE Test Centres)
1 October 2026
Preferencing window closes
22 October 2026
First round of offers released
Early November 2026
Offers upgrade deadline
Late November 2026
Employers informed of recruited applicants
Mid-December 2026
Programmes commence
July/August 2027
*Please note the date/items are subject to change/TBC