Health
Pharmacy sales assistant
Six months to run a pharmacy counter with confidence: welcoming, serving, handling payments and keeping the shelves in order.
State diploma · CQIPre-registration open
Free pre-registration, with no commitment. Fees can be paid in instalments.
- Duration
- 6 months
- Two intakes a year
- Entry level
- BEPC or CAP
- Required on entry
- Qualification
- CQI
- Awarded by the State
- Next intake
- 12 October 2026
- Pre-registration open, classes begin in 2 days
The job, day to day
The pharmacy sales assistant welcomes customers, guides them and serves them, under the pharmacist's authority. The assistant knows the over-the-counter products, the health and hygiene items, handles payments, stocks the shelves and keeps the pharmacy well presented. Courtesy and discretion account for much of a pharmacy's reputation.
The course first teaches you the products, what you may advise on, and what must be passed to the pharmacist. You then learn customer service, sales, payments and till management, receiving deliveries, shelving and keeping track of expiry dates.
In six months you are ready to work at the counter. You can join a pharmacy, a health and beauty store or a pharmaceutical depot, and later move on to more technical roles.
What you will be able to do
Welcome and guide customers
Listen to requests and respond with tact and discretion.
Know over-the-counter products
Hygiene items, health products and their limits.
Run the till
Take payments, give change and close the day with no discrepancy.
Stock shelves and track inventory
Deliveries, shelving, expiry dates and low-stock alerts.
Know when to refer
Pass any request that needs the pharmacist on to them.
Where this course can lead
Retail pharmacies
Customer service, sales and payments, under the pharmacist's responsibility.
Health and beauty stores
Advice on hygiene, care and well-being products.
Pharmaceutical depots
Receiving deliveries, shelving and preparing orders.
A State-recognised qualification
The CQI is a State qualification, awarded under the authority of the Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training. It officially certifies your professional skills.
- Qualification
- CQI
- Authority
- MINEFOP
- Completed in
- 6 months
Two intakes a year
- Next intake
12 October 2026
Confirmed date
Pre-registration open, classes begin in 2 days
No closing date. You can still join up to fourteen days after classes begin.
- Following intake
January 2027
Exact day to be confirmed by the centre
Provisional date, pre-registration open
Pre-registering already reserves your place.
Free pre-registration Reserve your place for 12 October 2026
Pre-registration is free and carries no commitment. The registrar will call you back to confirm your place.
- Free
- No commitment
- Nothing to pay online
What happens next
- You start here, then complete your file in a few minutes.
- The registrar calls you back to confirm your place.
- You pay the fees at the registrar's office in Fouda, in instalments if you wish.