Welcome to the Student Zone!
Applicant Enquiries
The PGMDE Support Portal is used for applicants to find information relating to recruitment activity.
Please access the portal below, use the search function for FAQs or submit an applicant enquiry form if you cannot find the answers you are looking for.
In collaboration with NHS England, HEIW (Wales) and NES (Scotland), the RPS has published answers to commonly asked questions regarding the National Recruitment Scheme.
On this page you will find all the key information related to the National Recruitment Scheme, including the Person Specification and the Professional Attributes Framework on which the selection process is based.
Application window opens Wednesday 4 June 2025 at 12pm (GMT) and will close Wednesday 18 June 2025 at 12pm (GMT)
Applications for the 2026-27 Foundation Trainee Pharmacist training year open on 4 June 2025 (12pm) via the Oriel website, this is the only way to obtain a foundation training place in England and Wales.
The applicant handbook is available below, along with an excel spreadsheet of all the programmes available for 2026.
See below for a link to the RPS webinars.
RPS Webinar
Please see below for a webinar developed in partnership with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, Health Education and Improvement Wales, NHS Education Scotland and the British Pharmaceutical Student Association to discuss key aspects of the National Recruitment Scheme and to answer applicant questions. The full webinar is free to access and available below.
Opportunity to participate in User Research (Oriel Alpha Project)
The next phase in the development of a new national platform for recruitment to medical, dental, pharmacy and healthcare science has begun.
The Alpha phase will take forward the recommendations made in the earlier discovery phase of the project and explore new approaches for the delivery of a new recruitment system. The Alpha phase will be managed by Mastek who have been commissioned by NHS England to lead this phase of the project.
This milestone is the next step in the development of a national recruitment platform to deliver improved user experience.
Over the coming weeks, there will be an opportunity for Oriel users to participate in this project in a variety of ways including individual interviews, co-design workshops and prototype testing. If you would like to provide feedback on Oriel and shape how this service could be improved in the near future, please complete the expression of interest form below.
This work will not impact applicants’ ability to apply for training in any way and Oriel will continue to function as normal.
Recruitment Timeline
Activity
Month
Applicant handbook available
Mid May
Foundation Pharmacist Training Programme information available on Oriel
4 June 2025
Application window opens
4 June 2025 at 12pm
Application window closes
18 June 2025 at 12pm
Preferencing window opens
23 July 2025
Numeracy/SJT centre booking window opens
30 July 2025
Numeracy/SJT centre booking window closes
13 August 2025
Numeracy/SJT centre Start Date (Pearson VUE Test Centres)
18 September 2025
Numeracy/SJT centre End Date (Pearson VUE Test Centres)
1 October 2025
Preferencing window closes
23 October 2025
First round of offers released
Early November 2025
Offers upgrade deadline
Late November 2025
Programmes commence
July/August 2026
*Please note the date/items are subject to change/TBC