A spokesperson told C+D yesterday (November 2) that the company had achieved the best results of the larger community pharmacy training providers through “dedication”.

“We want our trainees to finish the year as confident and competent pharmacists,” they said. “We constantly review and aspire to improve what we do.”

Pass rates vary by 50%

Community pharmacy training providers’ pass rates in the June exam varied by 52 percentage points, according to GPhC data published on October 3.

Ninety-four per cent of PCT Healthcare’s candidates passed, compared with 42% of those trained by Laville – trading as Britannia Pharmacy.

Three other training providers – Superdrug, Day Lewis and Paydens, all of which had between 20 and 49 candidates – achieved pass rates of 90% or more.

Explaining how it picks which branches to host pre-reg placements, Superdrug told C+D: “The pharmacy has to be busy enough so that they get a varied experience and exposure to different elements, but not so busy that the tutor would not be able to take time to coach and mentor the pre-reg properly.”

The multiple only takes on a “small number” – normally between 30 and 35 – of pre-regs annually, so it can give them sufficient resources, it said.

It also has weekly reviews with pre-regs to discuss progress and set goals to try to meet all performance standards, it added.

Payden’s pre-reg manager Barrie Smith told C+D last week that the company encourages pre-regs to take responsibility for their learning.

“Continual assessment of students identifies those that require extra support, and a package of measures is put into place to support them,” he said.

The June 2017 results were all lower than the previous year’s, when all of the 12 largest training providers achieved pass rates of over 94%.

Superdrug’s pass rate dropped nine percentage points between June 2016 and 2017. The multiple pointed to the overall pass rate dropping from 95% to 78% between the two assessments as a reason its June 2017 candidates were likely to have found the exam more difficult.

Pass rates by community pharmacy training provider, for candidates who sat the June 2017 registration assessment for the first time:

Variation between sectors

Unlike their community pharmacy equivalents, three hospital-based training providers achieved a 100% pass rate in the exam. Pass rates by hospital pharmacy training provider, for candidates who sat the June 2017 registration assessment for the first time, are listed below: