The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) now recognises OET Pharmacy for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians from other countries wishing to register to work in the UK.
A score of B in the four papers (listening, reading, writing and speaking) demonstrates that a pharmacist or pharmacy technician has the required English language skills to work effectively with customers, colleagues and patients.
Jump to each section with the links below, or just read ‘n’ scroll!
- Public consultation
- Profession-specific tests
- Pharmacist on the Shortage Occupation List
- OET Pharmacy with SLC
- Refugee Pharmacists
- Read More
1. Public consultation
The GPhC’s governing council approved the decision after a public consultation last autumn in which 96% of respondents agreed with the proposal to accept OET. OET Pharmacy is recognised in addition to the academic version of the IELTS test where candidates are required to score at least a 7 in the four papers.
2. Profession-specific tests
At SLC, we’re delighted with this decision. OET is designed specifically for healthcare professionals and while Reading and Listening are cross-sector, the Writing and Speaking are profession-specific. This means that learners really focus on acquiring and using the language they need in practice. Our work with doctors and nurses shows how motivating this is when compared to studying for other language tests.
3. Pharmacists on the Shortage Occupation List
This coincides with the recent addition of pharmacists to the UK government’s Shortage Occupation List which gives overseas workers an advantage in obtaining a skilled worker visa. This acknowledgement of UK shortages means we should see more applications from other countries, so growing the amazingly diverse staff within the UK healthcare sector.
4. OET Pharmacy with SLC
As the UK’s leading provider of OET Preparation and Medical English services, we’re looking forward to working with a growing number of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.
We have in-house expertise with teachers who have extensive experience teaching pharmacists in Australia and Virginia Allum, our Head of Medical English, already writes for the OET test.
Our Reach OET B courses will be released with a Pharmacy edition, and we already offer a highly successful English for Pharmacy course.
5. Refugee pharmacists
We recently started working with a group of refugee pharmacists through our ongoing partnership with RefuAid, through whom we have already prepared many doctors and nurses for OET, read the case study clicking here. They are strong candidates and we expect them to do well in the test. Watch this space!
Get in touch if you would like to discuss preparation options for OET Pharmacy.
