NHS Education for Scotland
A skilled and sustainable workforce for a healthier Scotland
NHS Education for Scotland
A skilled and sustainable workforce for a healthier Scotland
The FTY Recruitment Applicant Handbook for Prospective Trainee Pharmacists contains essential information regarding how the scheme is structured and how the recruitment process operates, including an overview of the assessment process
***This guidance will be published in due course.
The Job Description, Person Specification and Professional Attributes Framework are also very important and provide specific details of the criteria that candidates are required to demonstrate throughout the recruitment process. All applicants are strongly advised to read these documents thoroughly prior to submitting an application.
***These documents will be published in due course.
In collaboration with HEE (England), HEIW (Wales) and NES (Scotland), the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has published answers to commonly asked questions regarding the National Recruitment Scheme.
Recruitment timeline and online recruitment
Applications will open on Oriel in June 2025 and the recruitment timeline will be published in due course, applicants are advised to add these key dates to their diary. There are strict deadlines for applications, booking assessment slots and for responding to offers of a FTY post. It is really important for you to ensure you plan around these dates as it will not be possible for us to make any alternative arrangements.
The online recruitment system Oriel will be used throughout the recruitment process for the following purposes:
If you get locked out of your oriel account, please contact nationalrecruitment@nes.scot.nhs.uk for assistance.
Training Provider Information Statements
The Training Provider Information Statements allow applicants to search for Training Providers according to their preference for sector and/or geographical area.
Details of Training Providers involved in FTY for training year 2026-27 will be published on the public NES TPI site once reviewed.
As part of the selection process, applicants are required to submit a Preference List of Training Providers that they are interested in completing their training with.
For the 2025 cycle of recruitment Training Providers were given two options:
Option A – to submit a preference list – in this case it is extremely important that Training Providers get to know you prior to the selection process and it is the responsibility of the candidate to make contact with Training Providers at their earliest opportunity to increase their chance of being included on a Preference List. You should endeavour to contact all of your preferred Training Providers to discuss the opportunities for vacational or part-time employment with them, or, at the very least, to arrange to contact/visit the pharmacy and discuss the FTY with them.
Option B – not to submit a preference list – in this case it is possible for the Training Provider to be matched with any appointable candidates who have added the Training Provider to their Preference List. You are not required to contact Training Providers who are not submitting a list, however, we strongly encourage candidates to do so in order to find out more about the opportunities available if you wish to preference a Training Provider in this category.
Each Training Provider Information Statement clearly states if a Training Provider will be submitting a Preference List or not.
Training Provider Information Statements will also be published on Oriel once applications open.
Training Provider Promotional Materials
Promotional Materials for the Training Providers participating in the 2025 recruitment process will be available in due course.
Examples and scoring guidance for the Situational Judgement Test and Numeracy Test
The Pharmaceutical Journal has published some articles for students on what you need to know about the Situational Judgement Test (SJT) and Numeracy assessment. Please refer to the links below for some examples and scoring guidance.
1) Special Circumstances Process
There is a formal process to manage applicants with special circumstances who require placement in a certain geographical area or specified location for their training. If, following the matching process, your matched training provider is unable to accommodate these requirements, you will need to follow the below process for special circumstances requests.
Special Circumstance Guidance Document
Once you have read the guidance document linked above, you should complete the below proforma. The proforma should be submitted to the NES Pharmacy team at nes.ftypharmacy@nhs.scot The team will assign an appropriate NES Pharmacy team member who will manage your request once this form has been submitted.
Special Circumstances Proforma
Next Steps – once you have been assigned a NES Pharmacy team member, you can view and submit the relevant submission forms below, along with the requested documents. Please do not submit this information until NES Pharmacy have been in touch.
Please see the individual forms to be submitted depending upon the criterion you are applying under:
Medical condition submission form
Parental responsibility submission form
2) Deferral Process
There is a formal process to manage applicants with deferral requests who can no longer start with their training provider on the agreed dates.
Once you have read the guidance document linked above, you should complete the below proforma. The proforma should be submitted to the NES Pharmacy team at nes.ftypharmacy@nhs.scot The team will assign an appropriate NES Pharmacy team member who will manage your request once this form has been submitted.
Next Steps – once you have been assigned a NES Pharmacy team member, you will be asked to provide your supporting evidence (per the guidance document). Please do not submit this information until NES Pharmacy request it.
Visa and Immigration
Some pharmacy graduates will require a work visa to enable them to undertake Foundation Training in the UK. It is the graduate’s own responsibility to ensure that you follow the government’s visa processes correctly.
For visa and immigration guidance please visit https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-visas-and-immigration.
Pharmacist Support is an independent charity that provide a wide variety of support services to pharmacists and pharmacy students. This includes online information on finding a foundation trainee pharmacist placement and a list of job vacancy sites that students may find helpful. For your emotional support they offer a range of wellbeing resources , a Listening Friends peer support service, or a counselling service for psychological and emotional support. Please have a look at their webpages Pharmacy Support or alternatively contact them at info@pharmacistsupport.org or on 0808 168 2233 or 0808 168 5133
Contact us
For any queries regarding the Foundation Training Year Recruitment process, please contact the Pharmacy Recruitment Team by going to the Service Desk here and submitting a support request.
For general pharmacy queries relating to training premises approval or any queries not related to the recruitment process, please email the Pharmacy Team - pharmacy@nes.scot.nhs.uk