Work as a pharmacist in Ireland: PSI TCQR exam (2026)

• A pharmacist qualification from a non-EU/EEA country, with the full education and training needed to practise there.
• Written confirmation from the competent authority where you qualified that you are eligible to practise pharmacy there.
• A QQI NARIC Ireland statement of comparability for your primary and any postgraduate qualifications.
• Transcript, syllabus and internship certificate sent to the PSI directly by your university or competent authority.
• Certificates of current professional status from every competent authority where you have qualified or practised, valid for three months, and a TCQR4 regulatory data form completed by the authority where you qualified.
• A TCQR2 statutory declaration witnessed in Ireland or at an Irish embassy or consulate, and a TCQR3 certificate of identity.
• At registration: IELTS Academic 7 overall (7 in speaking, reading and listening, 6.5 in writing), OET Pharmacy at grade B (300 in writing), TOEFL iBT 95 or Cambridge C1 180, unless you meet one of the PSI's other language criteria.
• For an employment permit: a job offer of at least two years for a Critical Skills Employment Permit, paid at least the threshold DETE sets.

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• PSIPharmaceutical Society of Ireland

  Pharmacists

  How to register with the PSI

1. 1

   1. Read the TCQR guide and request third-party documents

   Download the TCQR forms and the PSI's information guide. Ask your university to send your transcript, syllabus and internship certificate, and your regulators to send certificates of professional status and the TCQR4 form, directly to [email protected]. Documents that arrive before your application are held for six months only.
2. 2

   2. Get a QQI NARIC statement and sign your declaration

   Get a NARIC statement of comparability for each pharmacy qualification. Sign the TCQR2 statutory declaration before a solicitor, peace commissioner or commissioner for oaths in Ireland, or a consular official at an Irish embassy or consulate. A declaration witnessed any other way is invalid.
3. 3

   3. Submit your TCQR application

   Email your scanned documents to [email protected] and pay the €500 Stage 1 fee using the link the PSI sends. Include evidence of postgraduate study, work experience and CPD now, because the holistic assessment relies only on what you submit. You have six months to complete your file.
4. 4

   4. Holistic assessment

   After the PSI confirms your file is complete, pay the €1,000 Stage 2 fee. External assessors compare your training and your country's regulatory system with the Irish standard, then look at your experience if they find gaps. You can appeal the result for €300.
5. 5

   5. Sit the TCQR exam if required

   If deficits are found, you sit the MCQ (calculations and applied practice), the OSCE, or both, delivered by RCSI in Dublin. Each part must be passed on its own. Prepare with the PSI Core Competency Framework and the RCSI candidate portal, and expect limited places at each sitting.
6. 6

   6. Meet the English requirement

   Take IELTS Academic, OET Pharmacy, TOEFL iBT or Cambridge C1 at a test centre; home-based tests are not accepted. Results are valid for two years from the test date, so time the test close to your registration application. One-skill retakes are not accepted.
7. 7

   7. Apply for registration

   Once your qualification is certified as appropriate for practice, apply for first registration on the PSI portal and pay €698 (from 1 May 2026). You then pay the continued registration fee each year, €491 from 1 May 2026.
8. 8

   8. Find a post and get your permit

   Apply to community pharmacies, HSE and voluntary hospitals or industry. With a two-year offer, you or your employer apply for a Critical Skills Employment Permit (€1,000, 90% refundable if refused), then a D visa if you are visa-required. Register with immigration within 90 days of arrival.

• TCQR MCQ

  Part A tests pharmaceutical calculations and Part B tests applied pharmacy practice; each must be passed independently. Delivered in person in Dublin by RCSI. Fee €2,250 if you sit only the MCQ.

• TCQR OSCE

  A series of structured, practice-based scenarios assessing clinical and professional skills, delivered in person in Dublin by RCSI. Fee €2,750 if you sit only the OSCE, or €3,000 for the MCQ and OSCE together.

• Exam dates

  The PSI lists sittings on 29 and 30 July 2026, 18 and 19 September 2026 and 16 and 17 February 2027, with July and September 2027 dates to be confirmed. Results take about four to six weeks.

• English language tests

  IELTS Academic (7 overall; 7 speaking, reading and listening; 6.5 writing), OET Pharmacy (grade B, 350, in listening, reading and speaking; 300 in writing), TOEFL iBT (95 total) or Cambridge C1 Advanced (180).

• IELTS Academic: overall 7, with 7 in speaking, reading and listening and 6.5 in writing.
• OET Pharmacy: 350 (grade B) in listening, reading and speaking, and 300 in writing.
• TOEFL iBT: 95 total, with speaking 25, writing 21, reading 24 and listening 22. Cambridge C1 Advanced: 180 overall and in each component.
• All components in one sitting, unless you use the PSI's super-scoring allowance for two sittings of the same test within six months. One-skill retakes and home-based tests are not accepted.
• Results are valid for two years from the date of the test.
• Exempt: training in, or three of the last five years' whole-time registered practice in, a country where English or Irish is the native and first language. An official language is not enough.

Estimate your total cost

• Stage 1 (application check): about four to six months, according to the PSI's July 2026 guide.
• Stage 2 (holistic assessment): about six months.
• Stage 3B (exam): up to twelve months, with limited places and results four to six weeks after each sitting.
• Six months to complete your TCQR file, or it is closed.
• English test results are valid for two years; certificates of professional status for three months.

Basic annual salaries for pharmacists in the public health service from the HSE consolidated salary scales effective 1 June 2026. Figures are first and last scale points. Community pharmacy and industry pay is set by each employer, and there is no national scale for those roles.

• Pharmacist (HSE)

  €50,485 to €80,758

  Ten-point scale plus long service increment.

• Senior pharmacist

  €77,045 to €89,345

• Advanced specialist pharmacist

  €83,584 to €98,983

• Chief pharmacist II / pharmacist manager

  €85,300 to €107,662

• Chief pharmacist I

  €97,032 to €111,519

• Community pharmacy and industry: Set by employer

• Community pharmacies, from independent shops to chains, employ most pharmacists in Ireland. Each pharmacy needs a superintendent and a supervising pharmacist registered with the PSI.
• Hospital pharmacy departments in HSE and voluntary (Section 38) hospitals, paid on the HSE consolidated scales. Posts are advertised on the HSE job search and hospital websites.
• The pharmaceutical industry, a large sector in Ireland, employs pharmacists in regulatory affairs, quality and manufacturing. The Critical Skills Occupations List also includes industrial pharmacists.
• Most employers ask for PSI registration before you start. Some will interview during your TCQR process, but you cannot practise as a pharmacist until you are on the register.

• Pharmacists and industrial pharmacists are on the Critical Skills Occupations List. A Critical Skills Employment Permit needs a job offer of at least two years and a minimum salary of €40,904 (€36,848 if you qualified in the last 12 months). For public sector roles under a pay agreement, the threshold is the agreed pay rate.
• No labour market needs test is needed for a Critical Skills permit. The fee is €1,000, with 90% refunded if refused.
• DETE's Critical Skills criteria include a rule that at least 50% of the employer's staff must be EEA nationals, which can matter for small community pharmacies.
• Visa-required nationals apply for a long stay D visa after the permit is granted, then register with immigration within 90 days of arrival.
• Critical Skills holders can bring immediate family, and can apply for Stamp 4 when the permit period ends.

1. 1

   Certificates of professional status: request them from each Gulf regulator you have practised under, such as DHA, DOH Abu Dhabi, MOHAP, SCFHS, QCHP or the regulators in Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain, sent directly to the PSI. They are valid for only three months.

2. 2

   The TCQR4 regulatory data form goes to the competent authority in the country where you qualified, not necessarily where you work now. If you qualified in India or Egypt and work in the Gulf, the form comes from your home regulator.

3. 3

   Gulf experience counts as evidence: the holistic assessment looks at post-qualification work experience and CPD if it finds gaps in your training, so documented Gulf hospital or community practice can reduce what you must sit. Submit it with your application, not later.

4. 4

   English: no GCC country has English as its native and first language, so Gulf practice does not meet the PSI's three-in-five-years criterion. Plan on IELTS Academic, OET Pharmacy, TOEFL iBT or Cambridge C1 at a test centre.

5. 5

   The statutory declaration must be witnessed by an Irish consular official if you sign it outside Ireland. Check which Irish embassy covers your Gulf country before you book.

• Application plan with every step, fee and deadline

• Document checklist tailored to you, and a review of each document before upload

• Timeline built around the regulator's closure windows and document validity periods

• Help completing the application forms accurately and consistently

• Support with profession-specific evidence, such as the HCPC standards of proficiency mapping

• Guidance on certificates of good standing, references and certified translations

• Preparation for identity checks and declarations on health and character

• Tracking your application and help responding to regulator requests

• Next steps after the decision: exams, adaptation, PIN or licence and your first job

Regulators make all registration decisions and set all fees. Our fee is separate from the regulator's fees, exam fees and translation costs.

What our registration and licensing support includesPackages and fees