The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has backed government plans to cap the number of pharmacy students and recommended limiting intake to the number of pre-registration placements available.

Allowing student numbers to grow without any form of control could drive down the quality of candidates, eventually damaging both the profession and patient care, the RPS said in an analysis of entry to the pharmacy profession, published on Thursday (August 22).

The analysis examined six options for planning the workforce, from doing nothing, limiting access to pre-reg placements and controlling admissions to the MPharm degree.

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	The academic, community, hospital and industry branches of pharmacy all fed their views into the analysis, which concluded that matching student admission numbers with pre-reg placements would be the least risky option.

Under the plans, employers would have to commit to providing pre-reg placements four years in advance and pharmacy schools would have to restrict student numbers.

A cap would increase students' chances of securing placements and eventual employment, as well as gear selection towards candidates who were more academically able, the RPS education expert advisory panel and education reference group found.

However, it warned it would take several years to complete the transition to the new system, which could "significantly" reduce revenue for some universities. There was strong support for a moratorium on all new pharmacy schools, but mixed views on whether an agreed number of schools should close.

Although one group member warned school closures could result in the loss of "a lot of experience from the academic workforce", another said it was harsh but necessary.

Last December, the Department of Health set out plans to cap intake into pharmacy schools in the same way as medical and dental degrees.

It pledged to consider funding constraints and carry out an impact assessment and consultation before going ahead with the proposals.

Locum Voice founder Lindsey Gilpin expressed support for matching pre-reg placements with student numbers as soon as possible. "This would focus minds on at least allowing all students the possibility of becoming pharmacists," she told C+D on Thursday. "Anything else would be totally unfair on them."