AdvDip(CPD) Non-Medical Independent and Supplementary Prescribing for Pharmacists (HE7): 26 week programme
Course Overview
Independent and supplementary prescribing is a key area of practice for pharmacists, requiring a broad understanding of the pharmacy discipline and proven skills in practice. Pharmacists need to practice safely and effectively, which calls for knowledge of clinical pharmacology, governance, professional accountability and legal, policy and ethical aspects. The University of Bolton's Non-Medical Independent and Supplementary Prescribing for Pharmacists professional development course allows you to study all these areas and other key concepts.The course will offer plenty of opportunities to put your knowledge into practice. Our medical professionals will guide you as you learn to apply your skills in a clinical setting, offering guidance and feedback to support your development. You can also expect to build skills like planning, teamwork, cooperation, critical thinking and rational decision-making. By critiquing and applying sources of information and keeping abreast of current developments in industry and policy, you'll have the chance to progress in your career in line with changes in the sector.
This course is known colloquially as V300, although this term is purely an NMC term.
Highlights
- Our academic staff have a wealth of industry experience in NHS settings and relevant research positions.
- We've been offering high-quality courses specifically designed to meet the needs of the health and social care sector for over 30 years.
- This course combines knowledge of theory and practice. We'll support you in developing your prescribing consultation skills and applying your growing understanding of pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics in practice.
- When you successfully complete the course, you'll be eligible to register your qualification as a Pharmacist Independent Prescriber with the General Pharmaceutical Council. You'll also possess 40 credits at Level HE7 that can contribute towards a larger award in the University of Bolton's professional development framework.
Key Features
- Our courses are developed to reflect the requirements of the NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework and are updated regularly in accordance with the changing healthcare landscape.
- As part of this course, you'll have the opportunity to develop employability skills, values and behaviours, including action planning, personal impact and confidence.
- You'll explore how to communicate effectively with patients and carers and assess patients' needs for medicines, taking account of their wishes, values, ethnicity and choices in their treatment.
- We review the course curriculum regularly to ensure we incorporate contemporary theories and advancements.
- This course is designed to help you achieve your potential and encourages you to take charge of your development to advance your career in healthcare.
- Your employer may give you financial support to undertake this course, or you may be self-funded.
- When you successfully complete this course, the University of Bolton will award you an Advanced Diploma of CPD in Non-Medical Independent and Supplementary Prescribing for Pharmacists worth 40 credits at Level HE7.
Entry Requirements
- You must be registered with the appropriate professional body in the UK and practising within the UK to be eligible to join the course. This means that we're unable to consider most international applicants.
- You must be currently registered as a Pharmacist with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).
- You should also have a minimum of two years of appropriate patient-orientated experience in a UK hospital, community or primary care setting following your pre-registration year.
- You'll become part of a tripartite learning agreement. The other parties are the Academic Assessor and a Designated Prescribing Practitioner.
- You'll need to arrange to have the support of a Designated Prescribing Practitioner in practice who can provide guidance and supervision of your practice-based learning whilst you're on the course. This mentor may be a doctor or appropriate NMP with whom you usually work, and they must meet specific criteria outlined in the Nomination Form. Your mentor will be supplied with full documentation in support of their role.
- You'll also need to show that you possess basic computer literacy skills.
- To be eligible to register as a Pharmacist Independent Prescriber with the General Pharmaceutical Council when you complete this course, you must complete the V300 Nomination Form before you enrol. You can download the V300 Nomination Form from the Health and Education Co-operative's website at https://www.hecooperative.co.uk/nmp-area/nmp-courses-uk/
- This course involves regulated activity so you must gain an Enhanced Disclosure certificate from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) before starting your studies. Charges are payable to cover the cost of the DBS Enhanced Disclosure application and annual registration with the online Update Service. (Normally your sponsoring organisation will organise this.) Please note that your DBS must have been completed within three years of the course start date.
- You may be required to attend an interview and/or provide a portfolio of work.
- If English isn’t your first language, you’ll also need IELTS 7.0 with normally no less than 6.5 in any band (or equivalent). We also accept a range of other English language qualifications – please visit our English Language Requirements web page for more details.
- Please note that this course is subject to the University of Bolton's Fitness to Practise procedure.
Where changes are made to material information contained in this course description or a decision is taken to suspend a course between the offer of admissions and enrolment, we will inform applicants at the earliest possible opportunity and will outline the various options available to the applicant.
Professional Recognition
This course is validated and approved by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).
When you successfully complete the course, you'll be eligible to register your qualification as a Pharmacist Independent Prescriber with the General Pharmaceutical Council.
Fees & Funding
Home/EU Fees
Home students starting this course in the first year will be required to pay a Home fee of £1,600 for the academic year 2024/25.
International Fees
Overseas students starting this course in the first year will be required to pay a Overseas fee of £1,600 for the academic year 2024/25.
Bursaries
Important note regarding tuition fees for the 2024-25 academic year: EU nationals who meet residency requirements (have settled or pre-settled status) may be eligible for 'Home' fee status. If you do not meet these residency requirements, overseas fees will apply. Irish citizens living in the UK or Ireland will be eligible for 'Home' fee status under the Common Travel Area arrangement. Please read the student finance for EU students web page on www.gov.uk for information.
The fees for a student's course of study will be set for the normal duration of that course subject only to inflationary increases – measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded in March each year to take effect for subsequent start dates.
How to apply
Home Applicants
You may apply directly to the University using the University's online application form. Please select your chosen start date from the list below:
You should have to hand:
-
Details of the educational establishments you attended and dates
-
Your certificates for the qualifications you are using to gain entry to the course – you will need to enter the completion date and upload copies
-
Details of any employment history including name, address, dates and role
-
Personal statement – this can be either input into the relevant field or uploaded separately
-
Details including e-mail addresses of two referees, at least one of which should be someone who can provide an academic reference
Please make sure any documents you wish to upload in support of your application are in pdf or jpeg format. Personal statements may be word documents.
Please ensure your data is correct at each stage of the application before you proceed to the next page. If you use the back button at any time during the application, you should check the validity of the data you have already input.
If you experience difficulties during the application process, contact the Admissions Team on 01204 903394 or admissions-team@bolton.ac.uk
-
Apply online: University of Bolton Non-Medical Independent and Supplementary Prescribing for Pharmacists - 15 September 2025
International Applicants
International applications are not possible for this course
As an international student you are not allowed to study this course because of the restrictions on your visa.
We offer a wide range of full-time courses in lots of different subjects, many of our courses start in September and January. If you would like to see what courses are available please visit our Course Search.
Teaching & Assessment
We take a blended approach offering a combination of face-to-face and online activities, including lectures, workshops, tutorials, role-play, discussions, and e-learning via the virtual learning environment. In classroom sessions, you'll focus mainly on studying the theory of independent and supplementary prescribing.
To cover the fundamentals of practice, we'll expect you to complete 12 days of hands-on experience to develop and demonstrate competence in prescribing within your area of clinical practice. During the course, you'll have access to staff support and meetings with your tutor at least twice each trimester. However, you'll be primarily responsible for managing your learning and must commit to considerable independent study time.
During assessments, you'll need to demonstrate that you can prescribe medicines safely and effectively for patients within the current legal, ethical and professional frameworks relating to prescribing practice. You'll also need to demonstrate that you're competent to prescribe within the context of your clinical placement. We'll expect you to create a portfolio and reflective learning log relevant to your prescribing practice in your own clinical setting. You'll also sit several written examinations, and your Designated Prescribing Practitioner will assess your communication, consultation and clinical decision-making skills in practice.
Modules
The modules listed below may be a mixture of compulsory and optional. You may not have the opportunity to study all the modules shown as part of the course.
- Non-Medical Independent and Supplementary Prescribing for Pharmacists (26 weeks)
Assessment methods
| Level | Assessment method |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | Coursework 50% Written exams 50% |
Learning Activities
| Level | Activity |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | Guided independent study 25% Placement/study abroad 50% Scheduled learning and teaching activities 25% |
The university will use all reasonable endeavours to deliver your course as described in its published material and the programme specification for the academic year in which you begin your course. The university considers changes to courses very carefully and the university will minimise any changes. Please be aware that our courses are subject to review on an ongoing basis and changes may be necessary due to legitimate staffing, financial, regulatory and academic reasons. The content of course modules and mode of associated assessments may be updated on an annual basis. This is to ensure that all modules are up-to-date and responsive to employment and sector needs. The published course material and the programme specification contain indicative ‘optional modules’ that may be subject to change due to circumstances outside of our control. For this reason, we cannot guarantee to run any specific optional module.
