Foundation trainee pharmacist funding from 2025/26

NHS England (NHSE) has announced that from 2025/26, to support provision of an equitable offer to all foundation trainee pharmacists (previously known as pre-reg pharmacists), the funding available to all foundation training sites will be harmonised.

The level of funding for each site employing a foundation trainee pharmacist in the 2025/26 training year will be £26,500 per trainee.

This funding will be consistent across all sectors of practice and all regions of England.

In addition, NHSE will provide access to a consistent, funded training offer which will be available to all foundation trainee pharmacists across all sectors and regions.

In the 2025/26 training year, all foundation training sites will also be required to meet the same quality standards, with NHSE taking on new responsibilities, delegated by the General Pharmaceutical Council, for the quality assurance of all foundation training sites.

For more information on the 2025/26 training year, including on funding and FAQs, visit the Implementing the Foundation Pharmacist Training Year 2025/26 page of NHS England’s website, where you can also find a detailed update on the changes coming for the 2025/26 foundation training year, and the preparations that pharmacy owners need to make ahead of this.

Commenting on the announcement, Alastair Buxton, Director of NHS Services at Community Pharmacy England said:

“The increase in funding and the provision of a funded training programme is a welcome step in the right direction and an indication that NHS England has heard the sector’s messages about the inequity of the current payment and its low level. However, we need to see more increases to other NHS funding to recognise the much wider adverse impacts that inflationary pressures are having on pharmacies.”