Pre-Registration Pharmacist Scheme (PRPS) 2015/16
Pharmacy
Training Provider Guidance:
Identifying Preferred Candidates and the Matching Process
Pre-registration Pharmacist Scheme (PRPS) 2016/17
CONTENTS

Introduction
Page 2

Preference List ** ONLINE PROCESS **
Page 2

Identifying Preferred Candidates
Page 3

Avoiding Discrimination
Page 4

Immigration Guidance
Page 5

Definitions
Page 6

Tier 2 and the PRPS Recruitment Process
Page 7

Support for Training Providers
Page 7

Matching and Clearing ROUND 1 & 2
Page 8

Appendix A: Flowchart of the Trainee Recruitment Process 2015
Page 9

Appendix B: Pre-Registration Pharmacist Trainee Person Specification
Page 10
Training Provider Guidance: Identifying Preferred Candidates and the Matching Process
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Pre-Registration Pharmacist Scheme (PRPS) 2016/17
Introduction
Recruitment of pre-registration pharmacist trainees for the 2016/17 PRPS training year will open
on 1 May 2015 with a closing date for applications of Monday 1 June 2015. The centralised
assessment event for places in the scheme will take place on Tuesday 1, Wednesday 2 and
Thursday 3 September 2015.
As in previous years, there are two elements to an applicant being selected for a place in the
scheme. These are:


Eligibility - determined by total score in the application process (i.e. the score obtained
from their application form, multiple choice question (MCQ) test and written & verbal
assessments)
and
Success - eligible applicants being matched to training providers (via stated
preferences).
This document provides training providers with further details of the matching exercise that will be
undertaken this year and also gives training providers information on identifying preferred
candidates.
The matching exercise is aimed at ensuring that it is the training providers who make the final
decision as to the trainee(s) that are recruited and is based on training providers’ and applicants’
stated preferences.
For further information about the matching process, including detailed Matching scenario examples
and information about matching from a candidate perspective, please also refer to the Information
Booklet for Pharmacy Training Providers, available here:
http://www.nes.scot.nhs.uk/media/2617637/prps_training_provider_guide_2015.pdf
Preference List
For the 2015 recruitment process, ALL training providers will be required to submit their Preference
List via the online SMT system. You will use the same account used for submitting the Training
Provider Information Statement, with the preference list being activated in July 2015.
Each training provider must complete the form and submit it by the deadline of Monday 24 August
2015 @ 5pm. The system will close at this time, at which point it will no longer be possible to
submit a Preference List.
When completing the Preference List, training providers will be required to enter the candidate’s
application reference number in order to generate the candidate’s name on their list. Each
candidate will receive notification of their reference number upon submitting their application
and will be issued guidance advising that training providers will be asking them for this number.
NB: Where a candidate reference number contains a character which could either be a number
(e.g.’1’) or letter (e.g. ‘I’), the default is ALWAYS the number format.
Training Provider Guidance: Identifying Preferred Candidates and the Matching Process
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Pre-Registration Pharmacist Scheme (PRPS) 2016/17
Training Providers will also be asked to indicate whether or not they have, or would be willing to
apply for, a Home Office Certificate of Sponsorship, which is required for employing a trainee who
requires sponsorship under Tier 2 of the Home Office Points Based System. For further information
regarding this, please refer to the Tier 2 & the PRPS Recruitment Process section, below.
In previous years, training providers have been given the option of being directly allocated a
trainee without including their name on the Preference List; please note that the allocation option
has been removed for the 2015 recruitment process.
Training providers who do not provide a list of names cannot be matched in Round One, and must
wait until Round Two. The number of funded places remaining to be filled in Round Two will be
determined by the success of Round One and may, therefore, be limited. In the previous four
years, there has not been a requirement to run a Round Two event.
Further guidance specifically detailing how to complete the online Preference List will be circulated
when the form is activated in July 2015.
Identifying Preferred Candidates
The training provider’s list of preferred candidates will have arisen from summer placement
programmes, part-time working or work experience, interviews or, indeed, any contact between
applicant and training provider.
Some training providers recruit from their summer placements and, in previous years, a number of
training providers have conducted their own interviews prior to the NES event in September in
order to identify the applicants they are interested in recruiting. NES strongly urges training
providers to consider identification of their preferred candidates in this way.
It is important to treat all candidates interested in undertaking pre-registration training with you in
the same way, including those on summer placements/work experience, i.e. all potential
candidates should have the same criteria applied to them and should be asked the same
questions.
It is important to keep copies of all relevant documentation used during the process of
identifying preferred candidates. You may need to refer back to the documentation to answer
questions relating to ‘non-preferenced’ candidates.
You must be aware that if you preference a candidate that requires Tier 2 sponsorship you will be
required to obtain a sponsor license (if you do not possess this already) in order to sponsor the
migrant. As a training provider, it is your responsibility to be aware of the requirements of
sponsoring a candidate that requires Tier 2 sponsorship. Training Providers will also be asked to
indicate on their Preference List whether or not they would be able to sponsor a Tier 2 trainee,
should this be required.
Current Home Office policy will be applicable to the recruitment process. For further information
regarding immigration, please refer to the Tier 2 & the PRPS Recruitment Process section,
below.
When completing your preference list you should include only your preferred candidates. You
MUST NOT include any candidate on your list that you would not be willing to employ.
Training Provider Guidance: Identifying Preferred Candidates and the Matching Process
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Pre-Registration Pharmacist Scheme (PRPS) 2016/17
Please note, ALL applicants recruited into the PRPS MUST have applied to join the scheme via
the national recruitment exercise.
It is your responsibility to select and preference the candidates you wish to work with. Prior to
placing a candidate on your Preference List, you are advised to conduct your own identification
process which is adequately documented. You must satisfy yourself that candidates on your
preference list will meet the criteria outlined in the Person Specification, including pre-employment
checks e.g. PVG membership via Disclosure Scotland, right to work in the UK etc.
Please be clear, also, that the purpose of the NES Assessment Centre in September is to identify a
“pool” of candidates for selection into the scheme. The panel members taking part in the
assessments are not selecting candidates for their own organisation.
Avoiding Discrimination
Candidates are advised to make contact with all of their preferred training providers prior to the
selection process to discuss opportunities for vocational and part-time employment, work
experience or, at least, to arrange to visit the pharmacy to discuss pre-registration training
opportunities.
All applicants should be treated the same and you should be consistent in your questioning
and assessment of candidates. It is only natural to hold attitudes/prejudices/make assumptions –
but you need to be aware that these may influence your choices and ensure that any recruitment
decisions that you make are based on objective assessments of information.
Selection decisions should be made against the NES PRPS selection criteria and not including any
irrelevant or discriminatory information or assumptions. Please refer to the PRPS Trainee Person
Specification (Appendix B) for further details of the selection criteria.
Sources of further employment law information:
ACAS
http://www.acas.org.uk
Helpline: 0300 123 1100
Citizens Advice Bureau
http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/
Training Provider Guidance: Identifying Preferred Candidates and the Matching Process
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Pre-Registration Pharmacist Scheme (PRPS) 2016/17
Immigration Guidance
Overseas applicants will be required to demonstrate that they hold a visa that allows them to
undertake employment within the UK, by the start of the training period on 1 August 2016. It is the
responsibility of the employer to check and ensure that employees have the right to work
within the UK. Any employer found to be employing someone illegally will be subject to
severe financial penalty imposed by the Home Office.
A candidate’s immigration status should not be used as part of the selection criteria. Training
Providers may wish to ask for evidence of a candidate’s immigration status during the visitation
period; this should be asked of all candidates consistently and only for the purposes of supporting
any candidates that may be required to switch visas before the employment period commences.
DEFINITIONS:
What is a Resident Worker?
A resident worker is a person who is a national of the European Economic Area (EEA) or is legally
settled in the United Kingdom with permission to work here.
What is the Resident Labour Market/ the Settled Workforce?
The pool of workers who qualify as resident workers. This may include, for example, a person who
holds an Indefinite Leave to Remain visa.
What is the Resident Labour Market Test?
An employer may want to recruit a migrant from outside the settled workforce for a skilled job that
is not on the list of shortage occupations. The employer can only do this if a resident labour market
test is completed and it can be demonstrated that there is no suitable settled worker who can do
the job. The resident labour market test is a set of criteria determined by the Home Office and
includes advertising requirements, skill level, appropriate rates of pay and time from advert to
issuing a certificate of sponsorship.
For further details of how the NES recruitment process meets the above criteria, please refer to the
Tier 2 & the PRPS Recruitment Process section below.
What is the Shortage Occupation List?
Specific types of work that have been officially listed as occupations for which there are not enough
resident workers to fill available jobs. In November 2011, Pharmacy was removed from the
Shortage Occupation List and the PRPS is therefore no longer eligible for the RLMT exemptions
that the List carried.
What is a Milk-round?
Milk-round is a type of recruitment process which, if approved by the Home Office, allows the
employer certain exemptions around advertising requirements.
Training Provider Guidance: Identifying Preferred Candidates and the Matching Process
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Pre-Registration Pharmacist Scheme (PRPS) 2016/17
The points based system (PBS) was introduced in 2008 and 2009 to help manage immigration in
the UK more effectively. The system comprises 5 tiers. The most relevant immigration categories
for PRPS recruitment are:
Tier 1 General and Post Study Work
The Tier 1 Post Study visa route closed indefinitely for new applications in April 2012 and this route
is therefore no longer an option for Tier 4 General Student visa holders who are required to switch
visa prior to commencing post.
Tier 2 Sponsorship (previously known as ‘Work Permit’)
To employ a worker who requires sponsorship under Tier 2, employers will need to hold a
sponsorship licence and be able to demonstrate that they have met the Resident Labour Market
Test (RLMT) requirements.
Please note, in accordance with current Home Office Policy (as at 06 April 2015) some exemptions
from satisfying the RLMT apply. Please refer to the Tier 2 & the PRPS Recruitment Process
section for further information.
If you do not hold an employer sponsorship licence you cannot legally employ someone who
requires a Tier 2 visa. Workers who require Tier 2 sponsorship cannot undertake employment in
the UK without being sponsored by an employer. As previously mentioned, you must be aware that
if you preference a candidate that requires Tier 2 sponsorship you will be required to obtain a
sponsor license (if you do not possess this already) in order to sponsor the migrant. As an
employer, it is your responsibility to be aware of the requirements of sponsoring a candidate that
requires Tier 2 sponsorship, both prior to appointment and for the duration of the training period.
This visa category has strict requirements which applicants must demonstrate they can meet when
making their application, for example applicants must demonstrate that they have the necessary
qualifications, English language competency and that they can meet the required level of
maintenance funds for a three month period preceding their visa application.
It is the candidate’s responsibility to be aware of the time it takes to apply for a Tier 2 visa to
ensure they can evidence the right to work in the UK by the start of the training period, and the
full requirements of the visa category they wish to apply for.
For further information on becoming a Tier 2 sponsorship licence holder please refer to:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sponsorship-information-for-employers-and-educators
Tier 4 Overseas Students
Tier 4 visa holders have been granted a visa to allow them to complete a course of study within the
UK and must switch to another Tier in order to legally work (for more than 20 hours per week) in
the UK. Tier 4 visa holders may be eligible to apply for a Tier 2 visa if they are sponsored by an
employer with a sponsorship licence. Candidates would be required to switch to a Tier 2 visa and
gain sponsorship by an employer, by the start of the training period i.e. 1 August 2016.
‘Family of a settled person’, ‘Dependent of a PBS visa holder’ or ‘UK Ancestry Visa’
Applicants who fall into the above categories may also have the right to work in the UK and will
require a visa from the Home Office which indicates the conditions of their right to work in the UK.
Training Provider Guidance: Identifying Preferred Candidates and the Matching Process
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Pre-Registration Pharmacist Scheme (PRPS) 2016/17
Tier 2 and the PRPS Recruitment Process
The information below provides details of current Home Office Policy (as at 06 April 2015) and how
this impacts the 2015 PRPS Recruitment Process (2016/17 training year). This information is in
accordance with Tiers 2 and 5 of the PBS – Sponsor Guidance v04/15; page 88.
Unless an exemption applies, a Resident Labour Market Test (RLMT) must be carried out. The
RLMT is there to protect the settled workforce and means that an employer must advertise the
post to be recruited to, in order to give settled workers a chance to apply. An employer can
only recruit a migrant if:
a) a RLMT has been completed
OR
b) the job is exempt from the RLMT
The PRPS Recruitment Process
Candidates switching from another Tier (e.g. Tier 1 or Tier 4) are exempt from this requirement if
they have graduated from a UK university within the last 12 months, and will therefore be included
alongside UK/EEA candidates during matching and releasing offers.
Candidates who require Tier 2 sponsorship but who do not currently hold a visa (e.g. applying from
overseas, visa has expired etc) are not exempt from this requirement. Additionally, candidates
who fall into this category cannot satisfy the RLMT due to a specific requirement to issue the
Certificate of Sponsorship within 6 months of the post first being advertised. Candidates who fall
into this category will therefore be excluded from the process at the long-listing stage.
Support for Training Providers
Did you know that the Home Office provide support for employers to prevent illegal working within
the UK? Through the Employer Checking Service, employers are able to request immigration
information regarding a potential employee.
Information regarding the Employer Checking Service can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/uk-visa-sponsorship-employers
The Home Office also have a Sponsorship and Employers Helpline which you can call for
information on 0300 123 4699.
If you would like further information regarding immigration and the PRPS process please contact a
member of the Pharmacy Recruitment team at [email protected]
Training Provider Guidance: Identifying Preferred Candidates and the Matching Process
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Pre-Registration Pharmacist Scheme (PRPS) 2016/17
The Matching Process
ROUND ONE - Matching
The “preferred candidate” is a pharmacy student (current or graduated) that the training provider
will be happy to recruit as a pre-registration trainee pharmacist in their organisation/pharmacy.
For each applicant to the scheme, NES will list against their name all of the training providers who
have named them as a preferred candidate. Each candidate will also complete an online
Preference List providing NES with their list of preferred training providers.
As stated previously, the applicant scores for each phase (the application form, the MCQ, and the
verbal & written assessments) will be cumulative throughout the process with the applicants’ final
score determining their place in the ranked list of applicants eligible to be recruited into the
scheme.
After the Assessment Centre, NES will have a ranked list of eligible candidates and, for each, we
will have their list of preferred training providers, and the names of the training provider(s) listing
them as a preferred candidate.
The first round of matching can now take place.
Where the training provider’s preference can be matched with the applicant’s preference, this
placement will be offered by NES in writing. The candidate will be asked to confirm their
acceptance or rejection of the offer in writing, within a 48 hour deadline. Candidates who have not
matched to their highest preferenced training provider may also ‘hold’ their offer until 25 September
2015. Please note that NES will not consult further with the training provider prior to making
the offer – the assumption is that if the candidate is on their preferred list then they are happy for
an offer to be made.
The offers are made in the order of the ranked list (i.e. score), and in accordance with the
candidate’s order of preference for training provider. Only offers made by NES will be
considered valid; training providers must not make offers directly to candidates.
Following written acceptance of an offer, NES will provide the training provider with a copy of the
application form and supporting documentation of the successful candidate(s). The training
provider should then commence their own pre-employment checks.
ROUND TWO - Matching and Clearing
Depending on the number of unfilled places remaining NES may organise a Round Two matching
event to be held towards the end of October 2015. However please be aware that there has not
been a requirement to run a round two event for the past four years.
Please note that having a place or places on the Training Provider Information Statement is
not a guarantee that a trainee will be placed with a particular training provider.
Should you have any further questions regarding the 2015 Recruitment and Selection
process, please do not hesitate to contact a member of the Pharmacy Recruitment Team
via: [email protected]
Training Provider Guidance: Identifying Preferred Candidates and the Matching Process
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Pre-Registration Pharmacist Scheme (PRPS) 2016/17
APPENDIX A
Visitation and Placement period begins. Training Providers should be aware of
legislation but, to avoid the risk of perceived discrimination, should check the
immigration status of all candidates who contact them
Applications received by NES for PRPS training posts
Applications are scored. Shortlisted applicants invited to Assessment Centre in
score order
Training Providers submit Preference List by deadline: 24 Aug 2015 @ 5pm
NES Assessment Centre takes place: 1, 2 & 3 Sept 2015. Candidates take part in
assessments. These scores are added to the candidate application score and a
ranked list of candidates is obtained
Candidates submit Preference List by deadline: 4 Sept 2015 @ 12 noon
Round 1 Matching takes place
If training posts remain
following conclusion of
Round 1 – Round 2 event
and matching takes place
Conditional offers are released (qualification and right to work in the UK to be
evidenced to the Training Provider following Handover)
Students graduate. Any candidates who require a Tier 2 visa apply to Home
Office. Training provider is required to have sponsorship licence in place
Does prospective trainee have right to work in UK?
YES
Providing all other pre-employment checks are complete – contracts can be
issued and signed
If training posts remain
following conclusion of
Round 2 – clearing takes
place
NO
If trainee does not obtain
right to work in UK then
cannot commence post
TRAINING POSTS
COMMENCE W/C
1 AUG 2016
Training Provider Guidance: Identifying Preferred Candidates and the Matching Process
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Pre-Registration Pharmacist Scheme (PRPS) 2015/16
APPENDIX B
2015 Recruitment – Person Specification
CRITERIA
FACTOR
The candidate has:

QUALIFICATIONS
EXPERIENCE


KNOWLEDGE





DESIRABLE
DESIRABLE
DESIRABLE
ESSENTIAL
ESSENTIAL
ESSENTIAL
ESSENTIAL


the ability to work well on own initiative
ESSENTIAL

the ability to work well with others and has an
understanding of the benefits of team
working
a person-centred focus
ESSENTIAL
a proven commitment to continuing
professional development
registered with the General Pharmaceutical
Council to undertake pre-registration training
(on appointment)
PVG checks
References
ESSENTIAL



OTHER
PRE-EMPLOYMENT
CHECKS
knowledge of current developments and
policy affecting pharmacy practice in NHS
Scotland
knowledge of the PRPS and the preregistration training year
awareness of medicines use in major
therapeutic areas
a professional attitude and an understanding
of professionalism
numeracy skills
ESSENTIAL
effective verbal and written communication
skills
organisational skills including ability to plan
and prioritise own workload to meet
deadlines
problem-solving skills

ATTITUDES AND
ATTRIBUTES
a Masters degree in pharmacy or equivalent
(This must be achieved on commencement
of appointment)
previous experience of hospital or community
pharmacy practice
ESSENTIAL/
DESIRABLE


ESSENTIAL
ESSENTIAL
ESSENTIAL
ESSENTIAL
ESSENTIAL
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