Regulator guide: GPhC
GPhC: revalidation and fitness to practise for pharmacy
Four CPD records, a peer discussion and a reflective account every year, plus how the GPhC weighs remediation, with courses mapped to the nine standards.
CPD for pharmacists in the UK: what the GPhC asks each year
CPD for pharmacists in the UK works on a yearly rhythm. Unlike regulators with three- or five-year cycles, the General Pharmaceutical Council asks for revalidation records every year at renewal: four CPD records, one peer discussion and one reflective account. This page sets out those requirements, including the change to reflective account standards from January 2026. It also explains how the GPhC's fitness to practise guidance treats remediation and which of our courses fit each record.
The rules apply to pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. Log your records through the year with the free CPD and revalidation tracker. If a concern has been raised, start with the remediation pathway. Other regulators are covered on the regulators hub.
The nine standards for pharmacy professionals
The GPhC's Standards for pharmacy professionals contain nine standards. Pharmacy professionals must:
- provide person-centred care;
- work in partnership with others;
- communicate effectively;
- maintain, develop and use their professional knowledge and skills;
- use professional judgement;
- behave in a professional manner;
- respect and maintain the person's confidentiality and privacy;
- speak up when they have concerns or when things go wrong;
- demonstrate leadership.
These standards apply wherever you practise, including community, hospital, primary care, industry and online. They are also the yardstick in fitness to practise: a committee asks which standards were not met.
Recommended courses
Written for UK registrants and mapped to what GPhC guidance asks of you.
- GPhC
Professionalism and Professional Standards for Pharmacy Professionals
Professionalism in pharmacy is visible in hundreds of daily actions: the way a pharmacy professional greets a patient, checks a prescription under pressure, supervises the team, responds to an error,…
- GPhC
Ethics and Ethical Standards for Pharmacists
Pharmacy professionals make ethical decisions many times a day, often at speed and in public: whether to supply an emergency medicine without a prescription, how to respond to a request…
- All UK regulators
Module on Insight for Healthcare Professionals
This module explores insight: the self-awareness that lets healthcare professionals understand their actions, recognise their impact and learn from experience. It covers what insight is and why it matters, when…
- GMCNMCHCPC+5 more regulators
Reflection for Healthcare Professionals
This CPD module helps healthcare professionals in the UK understand and strengthen reflective practice. It explains what reflection is and why it matters, the UK regulatory context, structured models of…
- GMCNMCHCPC+2 more regulators
Remediation for Healthcare Professionals
This CPD module helps healthcare professionals in the UK understand and undertake effective remediation. It explains what remediation is and why it matters, the UK regulatory and employer context, the…
Annual revalidation: the records you submit
| Record | Each year | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| CPD records | 4 | At least 2 must be planned; the rest can be unplanned |
| Peer discussion | 1 | With someone you trust who understands your role; it does not have to be another pharmacy professional |
| Reflective account | 1 | Reflect against one or more of the standards for pharmacy professionals |
Reflective account standards. For 2025 the GPhC set three standards to reflect on: standard 1 (person-centred care), standard 2 (work in partnership with others) and standard 5 (use professional judgement). For submissions on or after 1 January 2026, the GPhC says you can reflect against any of the nine standards, provided you reflect against one or more of them.
Planned and unplanned. A planned record starts with a learning need you identified in advance. You then describe how you met it and give an example of how it benefited the people using your services. An unplanned record captures learning that happened along the way. A course that you choose in response to a known gap, such as a new prescribing role or a complaint theme, is a natural planned record.
Do not leave all six records until the week before renewal. The tracker shows which of the six you have done and flags when you are short of planned records.
Turning one course into a planned CPD record
A practical routine:
- Before: write down the need. For example: "I have started prescribing independently and want to be confident about the ethics of prescribing for people I know."
- During: take the course and its assessment. Each course ends with 15 scenario-based questions with an 80% pass mark.
- After: record what you did differently and one example of benefit, such as a clearer conversation with a patient or a changed check in the dispensary. Do not include anything that identifies a person.
- Reuse carefully: the same learning can feed into your peer discussion or your reflective account, but each record should describe its own activity and outcome.
The reflective statement builder has GPhC prompts organised by the nine standards. You write the content; the tool provides the structure and a privacy check.
Getting the peer discussion and reflective account right
These two records are where pharmacy professionals most often lose time, because they cannot be written the night before.
- Peer discussion: book it early in your registration year. Bring two or three questions you genuinely want to test, such as how you handle pressure to hit targets or how you document a judgement call. Afterwards, record what changed because of the conversation, not just that it happened.
- Reflective account: pick one real situation, say which standard or standards it relates to, describe what you did and why, and give a specific example of how people using your services benefited. One focused example is stronger than a general summary of your year.
- Privacy: leave out names, dates and anything else that could identify a patient or colleague.
Our ethics and professionalism courses each end with a reflective prompt that can become the starting point for either record.
Courses for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians
All courses are self-paced, take about 2 hours according to their course files, and end with a guided reflective account and the assessment described above.
Professionalism and Professional Standards for Pharmacy Professionals
The standards in pharmacy practice. It covers registration, revalidation and indemnity; the roles of the responsible pharmacist and superintendent pharmacist; standards for registered pharmacies and GPhC inspections; leadership, delegation and supervising the pharmacy team; speaking up; workload and working under pressure; and conduct online and outside work. It ends with breaches, regulatory action and remediation. Standards: mainly 6, 8 and 9, with 2 and 7.
Ethics and Ethical Standards for Pharmacists
Ethical principles in pharmacy and the legal framework for practice. It covers personal values, beliefs and access to care; candour and record-keeping; commercial pressures, targets and online pharmacy; ethics in pharmacist prescribing; consent and communication; and boundaries. Standards: mainly 1, 3, 5 and 7.
Module on Insight
How to develop insight and how regulators assess it. It supports a reflective account against standard 6 or standard 8.
Reflection for Healthcare Professionals
Models, worked examples and sample reflections. Useful before you write your annual reflective account or prepare for your peer discussion.
Remediation for Healthcare Professionals
Root cause analysis, remediation plans, evidence and preventing recurrence, including a section on returning to practice after restrictions.
Fitness to practise at the GPhC
Serious concerns are decided by the GPhC's Fitness to Practise Committee. Its approach is set out in Good decision making: fitness to practise hearings and outcomes guidance (March 2024). If the committee finds that fitness to practise is impaired, the available outcomes include a warning, undertakings, conditions, suspension and removal from the register. The GPhC also publishes an undertakings bank with guidance, last updated in February 2026.
Committees ask whether the conduct can be remedied, whether it has been, and whether it is likely to be repeated. They look for genuine insight into what went wrong. They also consider the wider public interest, including confidence in the profession. As with other regulators, dishonesty and attitudinal concerns are harder to remedy through training alone.
The remediation readiness check helps you see which of these areas your evidence covers. It is a self-assessment and does not predict any outcome.
- InsightUnderstanding what went wrong, why, and its effect on others and on trust.
- RemediationPractical steps that address the concern, such as targeted learning and supervised practice.
- ReflectionShowing what you learned and how your practice has changed.
Why a course on its own is not enough
A certificate is good evidence for a CPD record. In a fitness to practise case it is one strand among several. The GPhC will want to see:
- learning matched to the concern, for example dispensing accuracy, prescribing or professional boundaries;
- reflection in your own words on the impact on patients and on trust in pharmacy;
- evidence that practice has changed, such as revised standard operating procedures, audit results or supervisor reports;
- testimonials from colleagues who know about the concern;
- a plan for preventing recurrence.
The remediation pathway organises these steps. Your professional indemnity provider, union or a solicitor should review your bundle before you send it.
Healthcare Practise UK is an independent education provider. We are not affiliated with, approved or endorsed by the GMC, NMC, HCPC, GDC, GPhC, GOC, GOsC, GCC, Social Work England, MPTS or the PSA. Completing our courses or tools does not decide any regulatory outcome. Regulators decide each case on its own facts, so please take advice from your defence organisation, union or a solicitor before you submit anything to a regulator.
Free tools for GPhC registrants
Remediation pathway
All the tools in one guided flow: readiness check, course bundle, reflection, testimonials, timeline and an evidence portfolio you can save as a PDF.
Remediation readiness check
A self-assessment of your insight, remediation, reflection, testimonials, CPD and risk of repetition, with the gaps to work on.
Reflective statement builder
Regulator-specific prompts that help you structure a reflective statement in your own words.
Testimonial request letter
A clear, honest letter asking a colleague or manager for a testimonial that covers what panels look for.
CPD and revalidation tracker
Log CPD against your regulator's cycle and see what is still to do before renewal or revalidation.
Hearing timeline planner
Work back from a key date to a realistic plan for courses, reflection and testimonials, with a calendar file.
Which course do I need?
Four quick questions that point you to the courses that match your regulator and situation.
Frequently asked questions
How many CPD records do pharmacists need each year?
Four CPD records, at least two of them planned, plus one peer discussion record and one reflective account. The same requirements apply to pharmacy technicians.
Which standards should my 2026 reflective account cover?
For submissions on or after 1 January 2026 the GPhC says you can reflect against any of the nine standards for pharmacy professionals, as long as you reflect against one or more. In 2025 the set standards were 1, 2 and 5.
Can an online course be a planned CPD record?
Yes, if you chose it in advance to meet a learning need you identified. Record the need, what you did and an example of how it benefited people using your services.
Does my peer have to be a pharmacist?
No. Your peer discussion partner should be someone you trust who understands your role. They do not have to be a pharmacy professional. Check the GPhC's revalidation resources for who can act as your peer.
Has the GPhC approved these courses?
No. Healthcare Practise UK is independent and is not approved or endorsed by the GPhC. We map each course to the nine standards so that you can judge its relevance.
I have had a letter from the GPhC. Will a course help?
It can be part of your response, but only part. Get advice from your indemnity provider, union or a solicitor first, then use the remediation pathway to plan learning, reflection and evidence that address the specific concern.
Not sure where to start?
Tell us your regulator and the concern. The pathway shows the courses that fit, helps you write your reflection and puts your evidence in order. It is free and nothing leaves your browser.