As of yesterday (January 18), there were 237 provisionally registered pharmacists still on the provisional register, the GPhC wrote in a statement.

Of these, 84 provisionally registered pharmacists have either begun an application to join the main register or their application is “in process”. Meanwhile, 63 who are eligible to apply to join the main register have not yet started their application, according to the GPhC.

A further 90 who have not sat the GPhC assessment yet are not eligible to join the register and will not be able to work as pharmacists after January 31.

“The GPhC is urging employers to ask any provisionally registered trainees that they employ if they’ve applied for full registration and encourage those who haven’t to do so straight away,” the regulator said.

Those who have already submitted a “complete application” are expected to join the register by February 1, the GPhC added.

 

GPhC “has been sending regular communications” of register closure

 

The regulator said it “has been sending regular communications to provisionally registered pharmacists and employers since October 2021, to make them aware of the closure of the provisional register”.

This communication has urged “those who have passed the registration assessment to apply for registration as a pharmacist at the earliest opportunity”, it added.

 

“Prioritising” applications to join register

 

The GPhC is “prioritising” applications from eligible pharmacists to join the register and will work to ensure that “further applications are dealt with as quickly as possible”, chief executive Duncan Rudkin said.

He added that while the “vast majority" of provisionally registered pharmacists have already applied to join the register, the GPhC has been in contact with “the small number of people still on the provisional register on a regular basis”. 

“Those who have not yet sat the registration assessment will have the chance to do so in June,” he said.

The provisional register was introduced in August 2020, after all 2020 pre-registration assessments were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was originally due to close in July 2021 but was extended until January 2022 to give pre-registration trainees from the 2020/2021 cohort an opportunity to join.

The GPhC held three registration sittings throughout 2021. A pass rate of 88.2% was achieved for the first-ever online exam in March 2021, while 81.6% of candidates passed the July 2021 exam.

In November 2021 — the first time that the assessment had been held jointly by the GPhC and the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland — 61% of candidates passed.

 

Have you received a “fail” result from the GPhC after you sat its registration assessment? Read some tips on what you can do next.