Enhanced curriculum and credentialing
Published: 13 July 2026
Coming soon on 7 September 2026
Available at launch
- The enhanced curriculum document
- e-portfolio
- An implementation toolkit with bitesize resources
From 7 September 2026, the Royal College of Pharmacy (RCPharm) will launch the Enhanced Curriculum and Credential, aligning with the introduction of prescribing for most newly qualified pharmacists in the UK.
As prescribing becomes part of routine practice for newly qualified pharmacists, structured support will be essential to help them develop confidence and capability in their expanded role. The enhanced curriculum supports pharmacists to build their prescribing practice alongside leadership and management, education, and research and evaluation skills.
The enhanced pathway will provide consistent, practical support across community, primary care and secondary care settings, helping pharmacists develop their practice through a structured curriculum and credentialing pathway.
What are we trying to achieve?
1. A clear, practical curriculum
We aim to create a curriculum and credentialing pathway that is relevant, accessible, and easy to understand.
The enhanced curriculum will:
- Build confidence in pharmacist prescribers to define and develop their scope of practice.
- Support development of leadership, education, and research and evaluation skills in early post-registration practice.
- Provide a structured portfolio to record learning and demonstrate practice.
2. A more flexible approach to credentialing
We have heard that developing a portfolio across all domains at once can feel overwhelming for newly qualified pharmacists.
In response, we are introducing a more flexible, modular approach for the enhanced credentialing pathway.
Pharmacists will be able to submit portfolios for:
- Enhanced clinical credential (Domains 1 & 2)
- Enhanced non-clinical credential (Domains 3, 4 & 5)
- Full enhanced credential (all domains)
This allows pharmacists to progress in a more manageable, step-by-step way.
3. A sustainable model for delivering credentialing assessments
We know that assessment demand is increasing and that assessor capacity is limited in a system with growing pressures and demands.
To ensure the model is sustainable and can support pharmacists at scale, we are proposing a single-assessor model, with quality assurance through moderation.
This approach will help maintain quality while increasing capacity.
National training providers
Use the links below to access information from national training providers about the Enhanced Curriculum, who are providing training against the curriculum outcomes:
| Training provider | Email address | Enhanced pathway/programme |
| PSD (Scotland) | [email protected] | Available here |
| HEIW (Wales) | [email protected] | Available here |
| NHSE (England) England CPPE | [email protected] – | Available here Available here |
| NICPLD (Northern Ireland) | [email protected] |
When will the curriculum be published?
The curriculum will be published on 7 September 2026, ready for newly qualified pharmacists joining the register as prescribers.
The e-Portfolio to support this will also be available from this date, along with an implementation toolkit with bitesize resources to support learners, educational supervisors and collaborators, and employers.