EXCLUSIVE

More than two-thirds of pharmacists have noticed a drop in the quality of pre-registration students, a C+D poll has revealed.

Of the 256 people who responded to a poll on the C+D website between August 8 and August 18, 68% said they had seen a fall in the “average level of skills and knowledge” of students over the past five years. 

The remaining 32% of respondents to the poll – published in response to the lowest June registration exam pass rate in six years – said they had not noticed a reduction in the quality of students.

Claire Anderson, professor of social pharmacy at the University of Nottingham and vice chair of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s English pharmacy board, told C+D she has also noticed a “variation in quality” among students.

She attributed this to the fact that universities are often “forced” to admit students who have achieved “lower grades” at school. “What is clear is that people [with] low scores get into university, and they are the ones who aren’t doing well in pre-registration,” she said.

"Disappointing" findings

But Professor Don Cairns, head of pharmacy at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, said he was “a little disappointed” by the results of the poll, and suggested that the standard of pre-registration students has “remained the same or is increasing”.

“Schools of pharmacy are striving to deliver the best-qualified graduates they can and enable them to hit the ground running for [their pre-registration year],” he told C+D.

Sanjay Ganvir, director of London’s Green Light Pharmacy chain - which includes the UK’s first teaching pharmacy - said the quality of pre-registration students is “way better” than when he completed his own training “20-odd years ago”.

A pharmacist tweeting as Pill Man UK said he had noticed “the complete converse” of the poll results. “All pharmacy pre-reg [students] are highly educated and motivated to deliver patient care,” he told C+D. 

Last month (July 17), the General Pharmaceutical Council criticised the University of Central Lancashire for dropping its standards by as much as four A-level grade points to allow some students onto the course in September 2014. 
 

Has your experience of pre-reg students changed in recent years?

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