Information for Foundation Training Year Applicants
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
The recruitment timeline has now been published (please see below), applicants are advised to add key dates to their diary. There are strict deadlines for booking assessment slots and for responding to offers of a FTY post. It is really important for you to ensure you plan around the recruitment dates once published 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:
Recruitment Activity |
Date |
Training Provider Information Statements published on TPI site |
14 April 2022 |
Visitation period |
14 April 2022 to 13 October 2022 |
Training Provider Information Statements published on Oriel |
1 June 2022 |
Oriel applications open |
8 June 2022 (12pm) |
Oriel applications close |
22 June 2022 (12pm) |
Training Provider Preferences open (for those submitting a list) |
14 July 2022 (12pm) |
Candidate Preferencing window opens |
27 July 2022 |
Invitation to SJT/numeracy selection centre opens |
3 August 2022 |
Invitation to SJT/numeracy selection centre closes |
17 August 2022 |
SJT/Numeracy selection centre held |
26 September 2022 - 7 October 2022 |
Training Provider Preferencing window closes |
13 October 2022 (12pm) |
Candidate Preferencing window closes |
26 October 2022 (12pm) |
Unsuccessful students notified |
Early November 2022 |
First iteration of offers made |
Early November 2022 |
Hold deadline |
End of November 2022 |
Offers upgrade deadline |
End of November 2022 |
Programme commences |
July/August 2023 |
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 2023-24 will be available on Oriel, in the programme details of the pre-registration pharmacist - Scotland vacancy when the vacancy goes live on the 1st June 2022.
Training Provider Information Statements are available on the TPI site which you can access on the link below:
https://nes-tpi.azurewebsites.net/TPinfo.html
The visitation window is now open. During the visitation period applicants must adhere to the government social distancing and travel restrictions for their region due to the current COVID-19 pandemic.
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 2022 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 vocational 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.
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.
Training Provider Promotional Materials
Promotional Materials for the Training Providers participating in the 2022 recruitment process can be accessed here.
Support webinars and FAQ’s
NES Pharmacy are hosting a series of webinars to advertise different types of programmes applicants can undertake during their Foundation Training Year. Recordings of these webinars are included below
10th May 2022 Recruitment Overview
17th May 2022 Community training
Book onto the Foundation Training Year in Scotland webinars via the links below:
24th May 2022 Hospital training
31st May 2022 Modular training
If you need more information or an alternative format of this recording please contact pharmacy.recruitment@nes.scot.nhs.uk.
Please see a list of useful FAQ’s published for FTY recruitment in 2021 following an event organised by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.
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.
Brexit
Important: We would like to bring to the attention of all applicants the potential impact Brexit may have on your application, employment and training in the UK. We therefore encourage you to refer to the UK Government website for further information and advice.
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
For any queries regarding the Foundation Training Year Recruitment process, please email the Pharmacy Recruitment Team - pharmacy.recruitment@nes.scot.nhs.uk
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