Pharmacy courses highly sought-after during clearing, says university
The University of Hertfordshire has revealed data for the 2022/23 academic year that shows pharmacy courses were the second most sought-after by students in the clearing process.
Pharmacy courses were the second most sought-after for students in the clearing process for the 2022/23 academic year, a UK university has said.
The University of Hertfordshire this week (July 8) revealed data from a survey of 186 students that pharmacy and pharmaceutical science courses were the second most popular for students to apply to in clearing, with nursing taking the number one spot.
Read more: Life’s a journey: How to excel at the different stages of your pharmacy career
The survey showed that 24% used clearing to change where they wanted to study, while 23% changed their mind about what they wanted to study. Contrary to popular assumption, not getting the expected grades was only fourth in the list of reasons why students used clearing.
The university’s head of clinical, pharmaceutical and biological sciences Dr Sherael Webley said that pharmacy courses are “extremely popular”, with students interested in “the strong career-focused programmes" as they are an attractive option for “somebody thinking about not just their education, but also their future”.
"Most essential" service for local people
It comes as a new poll by the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) yesterday (July 9) once again ranked community pharmacies as the number one "most essential" service for local people, reflecting how respected careers in pharmacy and their role in the local community is.
National Pharmacy Association (NPA) chief executive Paul Rees said the poll was a “timely reminder that pharmacies are a local lifeline that enrich communities across the country and provide vital healthcare for millions of people”.
Read more: Pharmacies ‘most essential’ service for neighbourhoods, survey finds
But he added that pharmacy closures due to “chronic government underfunding” have left a gap in local communities and called for the government to “invest to maintain the pharmacy network and help pharmacies play a significant part in reducing GP and hospital waiting times”.
The ACS poll also ranked pharmacies second for "most positive impact", fifth for "most wanted" service and seventh for "most important in supporting the local economy" when pitted against other local services such as coffee shops, hairdressers, gyms, restaurants, banks, pubs and petrol stations.
