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The route into pharmacist

Assembled backwards from the job: the degrees that lead there, the subjects those degrees require, the exams and when they are sat, and what the whole thing costs in years. Print it.

1. Subjects, chosen at fifteen or sixteen

Aggregated across every degree that leads here. Anything marked required closes the door if you skip it.

Saudi curriculum track

مسار الصحة والحياةor مسار علوم الحاسب والهندسة· مسار الصحة والحياة— Health and Life Sciences

A-Level

  • Chemistryrequiredfor Chemistry, Pharmacy
  • Mathematicshelpsfor Chemistry, Pharmacy
  • Physicshelpsfor Chemistry, Pharmacy
  • Biologyhelpsfor Chemistry, Pharmacy

IB Diploma

  • Chemistry HLrequiredfor Chemistry, Pharmacy
  • Biology HLhelpsfor Chemistry, Pharmacy
  • Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches HL or SLhelpsfor Chemistry
  • Physics HLhelpsfor Chemistry
  • Mathematics SL or abovehelpsfor Pharmacy

Advanced Placement

  • AP Chemistryhelpsfor Chemistry, Pharmacy
  • AP Biologyhelpsfor Chemistry, Pharmacy
  • AP Calculus AB or BChelpsfor Chemistry
  • AP Physics 1helpsfor Chemistry
  • AP Calculus ABhelpsfor Pharmacy
  • AP Statisticshelpsfor Pharmacy

2. The degree

More than one route usually exists. They are not equivalent.

  • Chemistry

    Not a direct route, and the chemistry overlap is close enough that people move in both directions via further study.

    Three to four years, with four-year integrated master's routes standard for research-bound students in the UK.

  • Pharmacy

    The licensed destination the degree is built for, in community, hospital or industry settings.

    Four to six years depending on the country, plus a pre-registration or internship year before licensure.

3. Exams, and when to sit them

Registration deadlines fall weeks or months before the exam. That is what people miss, not the exam.

  • ESATOctober

    Cambridge natural sciences and Imperial require it; most universities do not.

    • July to SeptemberUCAT testing window, sat at a test centre.
    • September to JanuaryLNAT testing window for most law courses.
    • OctoberMost Oxford and Cambridge subject tests — TMUA, ESAT, PAT, TSA.
    • JuneSTEP, sat alongside A-Levels as a condition of a Cambridge or Warwick offer rather than for shortlisting.
  • Qudurat and TahsiliGrade 11 and 12

    The Saudi admission composite, with the Tahsili chemistry component directly relevant.

    • Several periods across the yearQudurat (General Aptitude Test), open from Grade 11. Computer-based and paper sittings both run.
    • Final months of the school yearTahsili (Scholastic Achievement Test), sat near the end of Grade 12 once the syllabus is covered.
    • Spring and summer of Grade 12University applications through the unified admission portals and each university's own portal.
  • Tahsili (science)End of Grade 12

    Required for Saudi health-college admission, with chemistry heavily weighted.

    • Several periods across the yearQudurat (General Aptitude Test), open from Grade 11. Computer-based and paper sittings both run.
    • Final months of the school yearTahsili (Scholastic Achievement Test), sat near the end of Grade 12 once the syllabus is covered.
    • Spring and summer of Grade 12University applications through the unified admission portals and each university's own portal.
  • QuduratFrom Grade 11

    Part of the admission composite for every applicant.

    • Several periods across the yearQudurat (General Aptitude Test), open from Grade 11. Computer-based and paper sittings both run.
    • Final months of the school yearTahsili (Scholastic Achievement Test), sat near the end of Grade 12 once the syllabus is covered.
    • Spring and summer of Grade 12University applications through the unified admission portals and each university's own portal.
  • PCAT or programme-specific testsDuring a US bachelor's

    Requirements vary by PharmD programme and several have dropped standardised testing.

4. After the degree

Training, licensing and the years between graduating and practising independently.

Saudi Arabia

  1. schoolSecondary school, science track (علمي)3 yr
  2. undergraduatePharmD or BPharm5–6 yrs
  3. trainingInternship year1 yr
  4. licensingSCFHS registration and classification0–1 yrs
  5. practiceRegistered pharmacist0 yr

LicensingSCFHS registration is mandatory and classification determines both scope and pay grade.

United Kingdom

  1. schoolA-levels including chemistry2 yr
  2. undergraduateMPharm4 yr
  3. trainingFoundation training year in practice1 yr
  4. licensingRegistration with the pharmacy regulator0–1 yrs
  5. practiceRegistered pharmacist0 yr

LicensingProtected title requiring registration. Independent prescribing qualifications are increasingly common on top.

United States

  1. schoolHigh school with chemistry and biology4 yr
  2. undergraduatePre-pharmacy coursework, then PharmD6–8 yrs
  3. licensingLicensure examinations0–1 yrs
  4. practicePharmacist0 yr

LicensingState licensure following national examinations. Residency is optional for community practice and effectively required for clinical hospital roles.

5. What the route costs

Not tuition — time. The years spent training are years not spent earning, and that is the largest cost of a long route by a wide margin.

Saudi Arabia

School-leaving to independent practice: 6–7 years.

The shortest route needing no degree written up on this site is air traffic controller at 4 years. Someone taking that route has been earning for 3 years by the time this one starts. At their entry pay of SAR 140,000–220,000, that is roughly SAR 420,000–660,000 of earnings deferred.

United Kingdom

School-leaving to independent practice: 5 years.

The shortest route needing no degree written up on this site is management consultant at 3 years. Someone taking that route has been earning for 2 years by the time this one starts. At their entry pay of £27,000–35,000, that is roughly £54,000–70,000 of earnings deferred.

United States

School-leaving to independent practice: 6–9 years.

The shortest route needing no degree written up on this site is aircraft maintenance engineer at 4 years. Someone taking that route has been earning for 5 years by the time this one starts. At their entry pay of $48,780–62,630, that is roughly $243,900–313,150 of earnings deferred.

How that figure was reached, and what it leaves out

It is arithmetic on the sourced figures elsewhere on this site — training years multiplied by the shortest route’s entry pay — not a measurement of anything. It ignores what trainees earn while training, which in medicine and several other routes is a real salary. It ignores the pay you reach afterwards, which for long routes is usually higher and can overtake the gap entirely. And it excludes tuition, deliberately: Saudi public universities charge nationals no tuition, and fees abroad vary so widely by country and university that any single figure would be misleading. Treat it as a sense of scale for the years, not as a calculation of whether a career is worth it.

Everything on this page is assembled from the career page, the majors that lead to it and the exams those majors require, so it cannot say something they do not. Entry requirements change every year — confirm on the course page for the year you apply.