GPhC Registration Guidance - General Pharmaceutical Council

Pre-RegistrationGPhC129 Lambeth RoadLondonSE1 7BTinfo@pharmacyregulation.orgTel: 0203 365 3400

Contents1. The Registration process2. Important information regarding registration (registration dates are explained in section 2.2)3. What will delay my registration?4. What is a Statutory Declaration?5. Joining the RegisterThis registration guidance together with the notes in your Trainee Manual provides you with all the information youneed about how to register. Please read this carefully before contacting the General Pharmaceutical Council(GPhC).All registration applications should be sent at least three weeks before you wish to register to the address on thefront of the guidance notes.1. The Registration ProcessIn order to apply to register as a pharmacist you will need to provide the GPhC Pre-Registration Team with thefollowing completed documentation:1.1. Completed Application for Registration Form1.2. Certified copy of your Degree / OSPAP Certificate1.3. Certified copy of your Birth Certificate1.4. Certified copy of your Marriage / Civil Partnership Certificate (if applicable)1.5. Certified copy of your Proof of Identity1.6. Final Declaration1.7. Letter of Good Standing (OSPAP graduates)1.8. Payment Form1.9. A Certified PhotographYou must read and adhere to the following guidance notes carefully as they outline the specific GPhC requirementsfor each of the above documents. Failure to follow these guidelines will delay your registration.If you have applied for registration previously you should submit all the required documents again, as the GPhCdoes not always retain previous registration applications.

Important information on certification of registration documents:All documents (except for the photo) must be certified as a true copy by either a solicitor (registered, and ingood standing, with the Law Society of England and Wales or Scotland, and who is practising in one of thosejurisdictions) or by a notary based in the UK (registered, and in good standing, with the Notaries Society).The certification must read:“I certify that I have seen the original document and that this is a true copy”.It must also be signed, dated and the solicitor / notary registration number must also be added to the copy.The certifying signatory should also clearly write their full name next to the certification.We will not accept documents certified by anybody apart from people registered with the aboveorganisations. Therefore you should NOT get your documents certified by a Pharmacist, a Legal Executive, aCommissioner of Oaths, your GP or a Barrister. Your documents will be returned if you do and this will delayyour registration.We do not provide details of solicitors or notaries.You should independently check the registration of the person certifying your documents with the relevantorganisation.1.1. Application for Registration FormYou must complete all relevant sections of the application form. Your name on this form must be identical to thename on your Degree Certificate, Birth Certificate and Proof of Identity document(s) - word for word, letter forletter. If not, you will need to provide documentation to support this change. Examples of such documentationinclude:Statutory Declaration (a copy of which can be found on the Pre-Registration part of the website:www.pharmacyregulation.org )Marriage Certificate or Certificate of Civil PartnershipDeed Poll Certificate.Registration with other bodies (Section 3 of the registration application form): If you have previously beenregistered with any health regulatory body in the UK or overseas you will need to request a Letter of GoodStanding from them and submit this with your application.

Fitness to Practise (Section 4 of the registration application form): If you have answered ‘Yes’ to any question insection 4 you are required to submit a Something to Declare Form. The Something to Declare Form is availableon the Pre-Registration page of the GPhC’s website: www.pharmacyregulation.org.At the end of the application form there is a checklist for you to complete to make sure you have include thecorrect documents.1.2. Certified Degree / OSPAP CertificatePlease send a certified true photocopy of your Degree / OSPAP Certificate:Your name on your Degree / OSPAP Certificate must be identical to the name on your Birth Certificate,Application for Registration Form and proof of identity document - word for word, letter for letter. If not, youwill need to see a solicitor to complete Part C of a Statutory Declaration.If you do not have a Degree / OSPAP Certificate, an original letter must be obtained from the Registry at youruniversity confirming your full name, degree classification and the date your degree was obtained.1.3. Certified Birth CertificateYou must produce evidence of your date of birth and identity before you can be entered onto the Register. Pleasesend a certified true photocopy of your Birth Certificate, not the original. This must:Be certified as a true copy by either a notary or a solicitor (in exactly the same manner as the degreecertificate.)Where your Birth Certificate states the date on which your birth was registered, please note that this datemust not be later than one year after your actual birth. If your birth was registered after this time then youwill need to complete part A of a Statutory Declaration and send this with your Birth Certificate.If you do not have a copy of your Birth Certificate then you must see a solicitor to complete part A of aStatutory Declaration.If your Birth Certificate is not written in English, you must see a solicitor to complete part A of a StatutoryDeclaration.If you are applying in a name other than what appears on your Birth Certificate then you must see a solicitorto complete part B of a Statutory Declaration unless you have other evidence noting this change e.g. amarriage certificate (see Section 1.4) or deed poll certificate.PLEASE NOTE: A Passport does NOT replace this requirement.

1.4 Certified Marriage / Civil Partnership CertificateThis will apply to you if you wish to be registered in your married or civil partnership name. If this is the case, pleasesend a photocopy of your certificate. This must be certified as a true copy by either a notary or a solicitor (in exactlythe same manner as the Degree and Birth Certificate)1.5 Proof of IdentityPlease send a certified true photocopy of your Passport (photo page and any other relevant pages). Your Passportmust be valid and the copy certified as a true copy by either a notary or a solicitor (in exactly the same manner asthe Degree and Birth Certificate).If you are a trainee registering and do not have a Passport, then the GPhC will accept alternate documentationconsidered acceptable by the Registrar as proof of your identity. An example of this is:A certified true copy of your photocard Driving Licence (full or provisional) together with the papercounterpart licence with either:o a certified true copy of your National Insurance Card (UK) oro a certified true copy of your NHS Card (UK).These must all be in date and certified in exactly the same manner as the Degree and Birth Certificate.Your name on your Proof of Identity Document(s) must be identical to the name on your Birth Certificate, DegreeCertificate and Application for Registration Form - word for word, letter for letter. If not, you will need to see asolicitor to complete part C of a Statutory Declaration.1.6 Final DeclarationThis confirms to the GPHC that your tutor has signed off all of your Performance Standards, judges you to becompetent to practise, and a fit and proper person to be registered.Only your current Pre-Registration tutor (i.e. the most recent one we have recorded in your file and who hassigned a learning contract for you) should sign this declaration. If you tutor is unavailable to sign your finaldeclaration you should contact the Pre-Registration Team to discuss your options.If your tutor does not feel able to sign the declaration because you need further development, they will need todiscuss your case with the Pre-Registration Team.

If you have attended a Cross Sector placement you must complete the relevant section on the declaration form. Ifyou have not attended a placement, your tutor must sign the statement on the reverse of the final declaration toconfirm that they are confident you have met all the relevant Performance Standards (they must also sign thefront of final declaration as well).If you are a Bradford Sandwich student, please make sure your final declaration covers the whole period of trainingi.e. 52 weeks.Final declarations by tutors for trainees who have undertaken a joint training programme within industry:It is a requirement of the GPhC that trainees who have undertaken six months training in industry are jointlysigned onto the Register by both their industry tutor and their community/hospital tutor.You must submit the joint final declaration form signed by both of your tutors (please see page 69 & 70 of yourTrainee Manual)This will apply to you only if you have undertaken a joint programme and have not already submitted this form.1.7 Letter of Good Standing - (OSPAP Graduates)Please provide an up to date Certificate of Good Standing issued by the appropriate authority of the country orstate in which you originally qualified. The certificate should be issued no more than six months before the datethat you expect to register. Please send the certificate of good standing separately to your registration pack to ourInternational Team.If you have practised within the last five years in countries or states other than that in which you qualified you arealso required to provide a Certificate of Good Standing issued by each appropriate authority of every such countryor state.If you have not maintained your overseas registration, then you are required to obtain a certificate from all of therelevant authorities confirming the following:That you are no longer registered with that authority, ANDThat if you wanted to re-register in the future, then there are no matters of a disciplinary or criminal natureexisting, and no pending disciplinary or criminal investigations, which would prevent the authority from reregisteringyou and permitting you to resume practice as a pharmacist within their jurisdiction.1.8 Payment Form

To register with the GPhC you have to pay £369 (£102 Application & £267 first entry fee valid for one year). If youpay your fee by credit card there is a 2% surcharge that will be charged on any transaction.If you do not progress to the register for whatever reason (assessment failure or a fitness to practice issue) youwill be charged the application fee only (plus 2% credit surcharge if applicable). Please take this intoconsideration before you apply.Please note as part of standard office procedures your fee may be taken prior to the assessment of yourapplication. Consequently this does not mean you are registered. You are not registered until you appear on thecouncils register, you must check before you practise.1.9 PhotographYou should submit a passport photograph which has been certified on the back and attached to section 8 of yourRegistration Application Form.Your photograph must be certified, signed and dated by one of the people who are listed as acceptablecountersignatures by the Home Office Passport Service:www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Passports/Applicationinformation/DG_174151The countersignatory must have known you for the last two years and be resident in the UK.The certification on the back of the photograph should read:“I certify that this is a true likeness of [Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms followed by the trainee full name]”The photograph must be signed and dated by the countersignatory under the certification.The person certifying the photograph must also complete section 8 of the application form.The photograph must be stapled to the top right corner of section 8 of the application form.2. Important Information about your registration2.1 Receipt of Registration ApplicationsPlease remember that the only way to find out if we have received your registration documents is to enclose astamped, self-addressed envelope (SAE) or postcard, which we will date stamp and return to you on receipt ofyour registration application and documents. Alternatively if you choose to send your application by Royal Mailspecial delivery you will be able to track the delivery status on the Royal Mail website.

You should only call us if you submitted a stamped SAE / postcard with your documents and have not received itback within 15 working days. Due to the large volume of registration documents received by the Pre-RegistrationTeam, we are not able to answer telephone enquiries about receipt of documents if an acknowledgement cardhas not been submitted.2.2 Registration DateFor trainees sitting the Summer 2012 registration assessment the earliest registration date is 1 st August 2012. Afterthis date trainees can register on 1 st and 15 th of each month thereafter. You need to submit your application at leastthree weeks before 1 st August 2012 if you wish to be registered on this date. If your application comes in less thanthree weeks before 1 st August 2012 your registration will be processed for the next available registration date (15 thAugust 2012).3. What will delay my registration?You submit documents that are incomplete or incorrectly completed and they need to be returned to you foromissions/mistakes to be rectified.You do not submit all the required documents.The information required is not on the documents submitted (e.g. no registration date on the birthcertificate).Your documents have not been certified by an appropriate person.You submit your application less than three weeks before the date you wish to register.You send in documents separately in the hope that mailings will be ‘married up’ by the Pre-Registration Team.You have a fitness to practice issue which needs to be assessed.We cannot take payment using the payment details provided.All of these factors will delay your application4. What is a statutory declaration?When submitting your registration documents, please bear in mind that the names on your Birth Certificate,Degree Certificate, Proof of Identity Document(s) and Application for registration must be identical in every way.That includes any middle names or initials you may have and any changes in spelling or order. If the names onthese documents are not identical, you must see a solicitor and complete the relevant sections of the StatutoryDeclaration. Failure to do this will delay your registration.If any of the following apply, you will need to see a solicitor to complete a Statutory Declaration:

You do not have a Birth Certificate or your Birth Certificate is not written in English. COMPLETE DECLARATION‘A’You want to register in a name other than that on your Birth Certificate, e.g. additional/dropped names orletters. [The name you put on the Statutory Declaration should be identical to that which you put on yourApplication for Registration Form.] COMPLETE DECLARATION ‘B’Names on your Degree Certificate or Proof of Identity Document(s) are not identical in every way to those onyour Birth Certificate and Application for Registration Form. [All names must be identical: word for word,letter for letter and in the same order. Initials are not acceptable.] COMPLETE DECLARATION ‘C’The registration date on the Birth Certificate is not within one year of the date of birth. COMPLETEDECLARTION ‘A’5. Joining the Register The GPhC aims to process all applications for registration within three weeks of receipt. The earliest date you can join the Register is 1st August 2012, providing you have successfully completed yourPre-Registration training (the evidence of which is your completed Final Declaration) and you have passed theRegistration Assessment. Trainees should note that training is deemed as completed after a full 52 weeks tothe day e.g. if you started on a Monday then you finish on Sunday. Please note you will not be able to work until this date and until you have a registration number (this issubject to you meeting the above requirements.) You will not have access to your registration number until the date that you are due to register (as of 12.01a.m. on that day). You can obtain your registration number from the GPhC website by doing a registrantsearch and entering your name. A few days after you have been registered, a letter will arrive confirming your registration. This will confirmthe part of the Register in which you have been registered, your name as it appears on the Register, yourregistration number, the date of entry on the Register and the period that your entry is valid. The GPhC does not issue certificates. Your registration number is proof of registration with for the GPhC. Ifyou wish to discuss this further please contact us.NOTE: You must not work as a Pharmacist until your name appearson the GPhC register and you have been given a GPhC registrationnumber. It is a criminal offence to claim you are a registeredpharmacist when you are not.