Level 3 Pharmacy Technician Apprenticeship

Structured online teaching, plus visits to your workplace

This is not a self-study course with a login and good luck. Your apprentice attends scheduled, tutor-led online sessions on a published timetable, and we come to your workplace for practical assessment and support.

• Live online lectures led by a tutor, not recorded modules
• Workplace visits from a named tutor for observation, assessment and support
• Progress reviews with you, the apprentice and the tutor together
• Aptem for coursework, evidence and off-the-job hours, with employer access

For you that means the apprentice stays in the workplace. No day release, no travel, no losing a member of staff for a day a week.

What your apprentice will hold

• Open Awards Level 3 Diploma in the Principles and Practice for Pharmacy Technicians (Integrated Apprenticeship) (RQF), qualification number 603/6988/7 – 788 guided learning hours, 1,320 total qualification time, regulated by the General Pharmaceutical Council

GPhC registration

On completion your apprentice can apply to register with the GPhC, including meeting any applicable health, character and fitness-to-practise requirements. Registration is not automatic and depends on their application and the requirements in force at the time.

The GPhC is also the external quality assurance provider for this standard, which is unusual – most are assured by Ofqual.

Assessment

This is an integrated apprenticeship. Apprentices in England must pass the apprenticeship assessment to be eligible to register. We handle the gateway and arrangements.

A change on the horizon

New GPhC standards published on 11 August 2026 will eventually raise pharmacy technician training to Level 4 and add a requirement to demonstrate final accuracy checking before registration. New programmes are expected from 2028, with full implementation not before autumn 2029. The changes apply to future learners only. Anyone starting now trains and registers under the current Level 3 route.

• Aged 16 or over
• GCSE English and maths at grade C / grade 4 or above, or an accepted equivalent, already achieved before joining the programme. This standard is unusual in requiring prior attainment rather than achievement during the apprenticeship.
• Enhanced DBS check
• Character reference or referee contact, and a health declaration

International qualifications

Qualifications gained outside the UK need a UK ENIC Statement of Comparability confirming equivalence. Apply early; it takes time.

What you must provide – the 14-hour rule

Work-based experience must be undertaken in the UK, under the supervision, direction or guidance of a pharmacist or pharmacy technician to whom the learner is directly accountable, for a minimum of 14 hours per week over a two-year period, excluding justified absence such as sickness, maternity, paternity, adoption leave and holidays.

This is a GPhC requirement, not ours, and it is the one that most often causes a problem late in the programme. Check your rota can sustain it before you enrol.

You must also provide paid time for the required apprenticeship training.

Why employers choose us

Choosing a training provider is a risk decision. The question is whether your apprentice finishes, and whether they finish well.

• 89% retention, against a sector target of 65%
• 47.8% achieve a distinction, against a national average of 29.3%
• 83.6% pass their assessment first time
• Rated Good in our most recent full Ofsted inspection, February 2024
• Over 10,000 people have begun their clinical career with us since 2008

Our clients include NHS ambulance trusts, Falck, Subsea 7 and the British Army.

What we do, and what you do

You provide the job, the hours and a workplace where your apprentice can practise. We do everything else.

• A named tutor for your apprentice and for you, not a call centre
• Enrolment and paperwork, including the apprenticeship service account setup if you do not have one
• Progress reviews with you, the apprentice and the tutor together, so you always know where they are
• Assessment arrangements, including gateway and liaison with the assessment organisation
• Safeguarding and wellbeing support, including 24/7 access to our learner safeguarding app

Employer access to Aptem

You get your own login to Aptem, the system we use to manage apprenticeships. You can see progress, off-the-job hours and review records whenever you want, rather than waiting for a report.

Ongoing employer guidance

Pharmacy has more regulatory moving parts than most sectors. Your named tutor is the point of contact for questions about supervision hours, scope and the GPhC requirements, not just about the apprentice.

Need to find an apprentice?

We can help. We will write and post your vacancy on the government’s apprenticeship service, promote it through our own channels, and pass on suitable applicants. You decide who to interview and who to appoint.

Posting a vacancy is fiddly the first time. If you would rather not, we will handle it.

For most employers, this costs nothing

If you do not pay the apprenticeship levy and your apprentice is aged 16 to 24 when training starts, the government funds 100% of the training and assessment, up to the maximum of £8,000 for this standard. You pay nothing toward training. The same applies if you do pay the levy but have insufficient funds in your account.

And you may be paid for taking one on

• £2,000 apprenticeship hiring payment – for non-levy employers taking on a new employee aged 16 to 24, where they joined you within the 90 days before the apprenticeship starts. Paid in two instalments.
• £1,000 additional payment – for apprentices aged 16 to 18, or aged 19 to 24 with an education, health and care plan or experience of local authority care.
• £3,000 Youth Jobs Grant – paid directly to you by the Department for Work and Pensions where your apprentice is aged 18 to 24 and has been unemployed and receiving Universal Credit for six months or more.
• No employer National Insurance on eligible earnings for apprentices under 25.

Taken together, an eligible employer can receive up to £6,000 for training someone at no cost.

If your apprentice is 25 or over

Non-levy employers contribute 5% of the cost and the government funds the remaining 95%. Levy payers with insufficient funds contribute 25%.

If you pay the apprenticeship levy

You draw the full cost from your apprenticeship service account, up to the £8,000 maximum for this standard. Two things changed on 1 August 2026 that are worth knowing: the 10% government top-up on new contributions has stopped, and new funds now expire after 12 months rather than 24. Funds already in your account before that date keep the old 24-month expiry.

Levy transfer

If you do not pay the levy, another employer can transfer funds to cover your apprentice in full. Levy payers can transfer up to 50% of their funds each year, and any business with an apprenticeship service account can receive them. We can help you find and set this up. Funding rules change. These figures are correct as at October 2026 and we will tell you if anything affecting your apprentice changes.

The full 2026 rules, grants and what each of our nine apprenticeships costs are on one page.
Apprenticeship funding and grants 2026