Turkish pharmacists: GPhC registration documents

What we verified and what we did not

Our research verified the translation rules published by the GMC and the NMC. We did not verify the General Pharmaceutical Council’s wording on translated documents, and this page does not claim to quote it. The sequence below is the GPhC’s publicly described route for pharmacists qualified outside the UK at the time of writing; the document list and any translation requirements are those on the GPhC’s own site, pharmacyregulation.org, which you should read before applying. Our GPhC page shows the certified-translation format we use.

The route for a Turkish pharmacist

Pharmacists whose qualification is from outside the UK and the EEA do not register on the strength of the foreign degree alone. The GPhC first assesses eligibility for the Overseas Pharmacists’ Assessment Programme (OSPAP), a one-year postgraduate diploma at a GPhC-accredited UK university; on completion, the pharmacist undertakes foundation training (a period of supervised practice in a UK pharmacy), passes the GPhC registration assessment, and then applies for registration, meeting English, character and health requirements. The eligibility application for OSPAP is where the Turkish documents are submitted and where the GPhC checks that the eczacılık degree is a pharmacy degree of the length and content it expects. Each stage carries its own fees and application windows, all set by the GPhC and its accredited universities, and none of this guarantees a place or a registration.

Turkish documents at the eligibility stage

The translation format we supply

We translate every page directly from the Turkish and certify each page with a statement that it is a true and accurate translation of the original document, the date, the signatory’s name and signature, our stamp, and the company’s contact details and Ankara registry number. That is the format GOV.UK describes and the one the GMC and NMC describe in their own words. If the GPhC’s current application guidance asks for a specific declaration or for the translator to hold a particular status, send us the text and we will tell you plainly whether we can meet it; we do not claim to be on any regulator’s list. Pharmacy transcripts list laboratory and placement hours separately; we keep that structure, because the GPhC’s comparison of the Turkish programme with a UK pharmacy degree depends on it, and we retain the Turkish module titles in brackets so the faculty can confirm them if the GPhC writes.

Timing and costs

OSPAP courses start once a year at a small number of universities, with application deadlines months ahead; the GPhC’s eligibility decision has to be in hand before the university will offer a place, and the university’s own fees apply. Foundation training lasts about a year, and the registration assessment has fixed sittings. English test results have validity periods. Budget for the GPhC eligibility fee, the OSPAP tuition, the assessment fee and the registration fee, all on the GPhC’s and universities’ sites, plus a Student visa for the OSPAP year (our Student visa guide applies) and later a Skilled Worker visa for foundation training if the employer sponsors it. Translations for the eligibility file, a diploma, transcript, good-standing letter and practice evidence, are about £60–120 with us in one to two working days, no UK VAT.

Avoidable delays

• A transcript without the internship placements, leaving the GPhC unsure the practical element was completed.
• Applying to a university before the GPhC eligibility decision exists.
• An expired good-standing letter at the point of decision.
• Degree title translated from a university English version and differing from the Turkish.
• Confusing an ENIC statement with GPhC eligibility; ENIC compares academic level and does not replace the GPhC’s assessment.

Eligibility for OSPAP, the university’s admission decision and the outcome of the assessment are the GPhC’s and the universities’ to decide. We supply the translations and say clearly what we have not verified.