
Foundation trainee pharmacist: employment contracts
This page contains information about employment contracts for foundation trainee pharmacists. It includes information on what to look for in a contract and where to seek advice.
A brief guide for pharmacy students and trainee pharmacist applicants who would like to apply for a foundation training placement in England, Scotland or Wales using Oriel.
This page is a guide for pharmacy students and trainee pharmacist applicants who would like to apply for a foundation training placement in England, Scotland or Wales using Oriel.
Scottish applicants are now included in the Oriel system. This means that all applicants can use the system to apply for placements in England, Wales or Scotland. The two systems have tried wherever possible to synchronise the opening and close dates of the various parts of the Oriel process and this is the second year that NES will be using the Oriel system.
Candidates will still have to put in two applications, one for England and Wales, and one for Scotland. They will also have to complete two preferencing lists, however they will only need to do one SJT and one numeracy test.
Oriel is a portal used for the recruitment of a variety of healthcare professions. All pharmacy hospital foundation placements will be advertised via Oriel, and some, but not all community foundation placements. Students will be able to find community placements without Oriel in England, but should note that all available placements, no matter the sector, for Wales and Scotland will be advertised by Oriel alone.
The NHS has produced a handbook containing guidance to help applicants to submit a successful application. This covers areas including how to access Oriel and what information applicants will need to support their application, All third-year pharmacy students should receive a hard copy of the Oriel handbook.
Applicants who have not received a copy of the handbook can request a copy by e-mailing lasepharmacy@hee.nhs.uk
The handbook can also be downloaded from the resource bank section of the Oriel website.
The following groups are eligible to apply for foundation placements via Oriel:-
Bradford sandwich students should note that they will apply to Oriel via their own vacancy offering, which is separate to the national vacancy offering. Guidance will be provided to these students via Bradford University. For further information please contact fls-placements@bradford.ac.uk
The following groups are not eligible to apply for foundation placements via Oriel:-
Applicants should note that the deadline for submissions is midday on 22 June 2022. Late applications will not be accepted. Applicants should try to ensure that they submit their form in plenty of time. Leaving it until the very last minute is not a good idea.
Once the applications window has closed, long-listing by Oriel will begin. This will include checks to verify the eligibility of applicants. Some applicants may be required to provide additional information and applicants are advised to answer any such queries promptly to avoid having their application withdrawn from the recruitment process. Applicants should note that potential employers have no input in the long-listing process. Employers will only be notified about potential candidates at the end of the Oriel recruitment process (see below under, What happens when an offer has been accepted section).
Information about the various programmes on offer will be available to view from the point of registration. Therefore, applicants should register as soon as possible to allow time to make decisions about which programmes to apply for. In plenty of time before submitting an application. Applicants will only need to submit one form, no matter how many programs they opt for. Applicants who apply for both Scotland, and England and Wales will need to submit two forms.
Before starting an application, candidates are advised to read the person specification, job description, and professional attributes framework guidance.
Person specification, job description, and professional attributes framework information
Applicants will not be asked to express their preferences from the programmes advertised when they first submit their application form. Applicants will need to complete their preferencing during the preferencing window, which will run from the 27 July to 31 October 2022.
Please note, a programme is not necessarily an individual job offer, a programme can be a number of positions being offered by one employer. For example, a large multiple could have a programme containing multiple placements. Applicants will not be asked to express a preference for one individual role from within a programme.
A number of filters are available to help applicants to choose their preferences. These include:-
There are three preference levels:-
Applicants can select the preference option for as many programmes as they wish. Applicants can change their preferences as often as needed during the preferencing window.
Applicants will be able to move programmes in bulk from within the preferencing section of the application. This will be useful to candidates who know that there are certain types of programmes that they are not interested in. For example, candidates who are only interested in hospital placements can use the filtering tool to show all community programmes and then bulk preference them in the ‘not wanted’ category.
Enhanced preferencing comes into effect after offers have been made. It is designed to provide an opportunity for applicants to change their preferencing at a very late stage.
Applicants who have received and accepted an offer will be able to select upgrade options for programmes that they ranked both higher and lower in their preferencing table.
Applicants who have not received an offer will be able to amend their preferences up until the final round of offers. This will include re-ranking programmes from their ‘preferenced’ category and/or moving preferences from within the ‘no preference’ and ‘not wanted’ categories.
Enhanced preferencing will take place between offer rounds and applicants will be informed via Oriel when this service is available to them.
Applicants will only be able to specify a particular geographical area under the following circumstances:-
Applicants with special circumstances must provide supporting evidence. Parental responsibilities will not be taken into consideration when requesting a specific location.
There are a number of filters available when selecting preferences that will allow applicants to narrow their geographical area if needed (see below under Selecting preferences section).
For further information, see Appendix E of the Foundation pharmacy recruitment handbook.
A brief guide for pharmacy students and trainee pharmacist applicants who would like to apply for a foundation training placement in England, Scotland or Wales using Oriel.
Invitations to the selection centre interviews will be sent out via e-mail. The SJT and numeracy test will both take place on the same day at the same venue. The MMI test will be undertaken separately on a different day at a different venue.
Applicants will be assessed against criteria taken directly from the Person Specification and Foundation Pharmacist Professional Attributes Framework. The NHS recommends that all candidates read both of these documents thoroughly to aid preparation for the interview and assessment day.
Both documents can be accessed via the HEE on-line support portal.
Click here for HEE online support portal
There will be no MMIs this year owing to the government social distancing guidance during the pandemic.
All SJT/numeracy tests will take place at a Pearson VUE Centre. Applicants will need to arrive 15 minutes before their booked time. Invitations to the SJT/numeracy tests will be sent out between the 3rd and 17th of August 2022. Applicants who have requested reasonable adjustments will be able to book their slot in the usual manner if they have only requested additional time, as the booking system will recognise and facilitate this. Anyone who has adjustments beyond additional time will be contacted directly by Pearson VUE.
Applicants should also note that they may be sitting with people who are taking non HEE trainee pharmacy recruitment tests, for example, a driver theory test.
For further information about Pearson VUE centres, see the Pearson VUE website.
Click Here for Pearson VUE website
The numeracy test lasts approximately fifteen minutes. Smartphones and smartwatches are prohibited, however, candidates will be able to take a calculator into the numeracy test.
Only the following calculators are permitted:
Applicants should note that their calculators will be subject to a visual inspection prior to the test. Other items, such as spare calculators, calculator covers, keystroke cards, instruction manuals and spare batteries will not be permitted in the testing room. Applicants can store these items in a secure locker and request to retrieve them if needed during the test.
The SJT is an online test examining four of the attributes from within the Foundation Pharmacist Professional Attributes Framework. The test will consist of 52 scenarios. To be completed in 104 minutes. SJT examples can be viewed on the HEE website.
Applicants who wish to request reasonable adjustments for a medical condition or disability, for example, for the selection centre interviews and assessments, will need to fill in the on-line Request for Adjustments form. This form and supporting documents should then be completed and submitted by midday 22 June 2022.
For full details, including accessing the form and submission, see Appendix D in the Foundation Pharmacist Recruitment handbook.
Following the interviews applicants’ scores are loaded to Oriel which will then generate unique ranks based on scores. Applicants are then matched to programmes according to rank and then preference.
Oriel will make the first offers in mid-November. Applicants will be notified of offers via e-mail. Once the offers are made applicants have 48 hours excluding weekends and bank holidays to accept, accept with upgrades or decline an offer. Applicants who decline an offer will be removed from the process. Applicants who let an offer expire will be removed from the process. Once applicants have been removed they will no longer be eligible to receive any subsequent offers.
Applicants who opt-in, to the upgrade option, will automatically be upgraded to any of their higher-ranked preferences should they become available. The upgrades deadline has yet to be confirmed but it should be towards the end of November.
Depending on the number of programmes left at the end of the offer process, a clearing process to match remaining candidates to available programmes may be undertaken. If clearing does take place, applicants will have the option to re-preference all of the remaining programmes and offers will then be made according to candidate ranking.
Information about successful applicants will be passed on to employers in December. The NHS recommends that applicants wait for their employer to contact them.
All offers will be subject to pre-employment checks, for example, occupational health checks and appropriate references. These checks will normally be done between January and March 2022.
Applicants should ask to see a copy of their employment contract before they begin their placement.
For further information about employment contracts, see our Foundation pharmacists employment contracts page.
Click here to view our Foundation pharmacists employment contracts page
Whilst all hospital placements will only be offered via Oriel, many community placements will still be offered independently. Applicants should note that even those community pharmacies who are using Oriel may still be offering additional placements that will not require an on-line Oriel application submission.
A full list of all employers using the Oriel recruitment system will be made available in June.
For further information about finding a trainee registration placement, see our Finding a placement information page.
Click here to view our Finding a placement page
Some candidates might like to seek assistance before completing an application form. Students could contact their personal tutor for further assistance.
Graduates could contact their university graduate careers service. All universities offer a graduate careers service as standard.
The HEE handbook contains a wealth of information about applying for a placement using the Oriel recruitment portal. To view a copy of the handbook on-line, go to the resource bank section of the Oriel website.
Health Education England has set up a support portal to assist applicants with queries regarding completion of an application form. This support portal holds information about registration pharmacy recruitment, including a list of FAQs. Applicants who cannot find an answer to their query also have the option of submitting an enquiry. This service is available from Monday-Friday 9.00-17.00.
Enquiries can be submitted via hee.freshdesk.com/support/home
Alternatively, applicants can visit the HEE student zone.
Click here for the HEE student zone
This page was updated on 28 July 2021.
This page contains information about employment contracts for foundation trainee pharmacists. It includes information on what to look for in a contract and where to seek advice.
This page contains information about visa requirements for international students who have finished their MPharm or OSPAP and want to begin their foundation training.
This page contains information about the foundation training grant, including who can claim it and what happens if a trainee pharmacist switches training provider part way through the year.