Your First Month as a Foundation Trainee: A Start-of-Year Guide

What to do in your first month as a foundation trainee pharmacist: check your GPhC trainee status, meet your DS and DPP, complete your LNA and learning agreement, find your way round the e-portfolio and start a revision habit.

By Umar Majid · 9 Nov 2026

In England, NHS England expects you to complete a learning agreement and a learning needs analysis (LNA) with your designated supervisor (DS) in your first two weeks as a foundation trainee pharmacist. Your training plan should go on the e-portfolio as soon as possible, and your first observed clinical activities should start early so you can hit the week 13 target.

Get the first month right and the rest of the year is much calmer.

Before day one: are the basics in place?

You can't start training until a few things are sorted, so check them with your training site. Your MPharm must be complete, meaning you've completed your degree satisfactorily. Your GPhC foundation trainee status application must have gone in through myGPhC. That isn't registration as a pharmacist, but you need it to start. Your DS must be registered with NHS England for your start date. And your employment contract should be signed, with your training plan in place.

If any of these is still missing in your first week, raise it with your DS straight away.

What to do in your first month

When	What to do	With whom
Week 1	Site induction. Log in to the NHS England e-portfolio. Watch the NHS England induction webinars.	DS, site team
Weeks 1 to 2	Complete your learning agreement in the e-portfolio.	DS
Weeks 1 to 2	Complete your learning needs analysis and personal development plan. Upload to the e-portfolio.	You, then discuss with DS
As soon as possible	Make sure your training plan is uploaded to the e-portfolio.	DS (and DPP where relevant)
First month	Meet your designated prescribing practitioner (DPP). Check their details are in the e-portfolio.	DPP
Weeks 2 to 4	Plan and start your first observed clinical activities.	DS, practice supervisors
First month	Set up a weekly revision routine for the GPhC exam.	You

Week 1: induction and the e-portfolio

Most of your first week is about learning the site: standard operating procedures, systems, the team and how the working day runs. Ask plenty of questions. Nobody expects you to know the systems yet.

That same week, log in to the NHS England e-portfolio and click through every section, so you know where the learning agreement, LNA, progress reviews and assessment activities live. NHS England runs induction webinars for trainees and supervisors, and your regional team will share the links. If you're locked out or can't get into the e-portfolio, use the support contact in your regional guidance straight away, not in week 10.

Weeks 1 to 2: learning agreement and LNA

The learning agreement

This sets out how you and your DS will work together: how often you meet, how feedback is given and what each of you is responsible for. NHS England's assessment strategy says to complete it during the first two weeks of training, using the tool in the e-portfolio.

The learning needs analysis

The LNA is an honest self-assessment against the activities in the assessment strategy, and you build a personal development plan (PDP) from it. It's also due in the first two weeks.

Be specific. "I need to improve my clinical knowledge" doesn't help anyone. "I am not confident counselling on inhalers or checking anticoagulant doses" gives you and your DS something to plan around.

You'll repeat the LNA before your 26-week review, so keep a copy of your first version to compare against.

Meeting your DS and DPP

Your designated supervisor

Book a proper first meeting, not a quick chat between prescriptions. Things worth agreeing:

When and how often you'll meet
Your rota and rotations for the year
Your protected learning time
How you'll plan observed clinical activities each month
What your DS needs from you before each progress review

Your designated prescribing practitioner

If you're on the full learning outcomes, you'll also have a DPP who oversees at least 90 hours of prescribing-related learning. In your first month, meet them and confirm how supervision will work, and check their details are recorded in the e-portfolio. Start talking about your nominated prescribing area too. It needs to be an area your DPP can supervise and where you can see patients.

You complete your prescribing learning agreement and prescribing LNA with your DPP at the start of your prescribing practice time. Our guide to independent prescribing in the foundation year has the full picture.

Which assessment activities should you start in month one?

Observed clinical activities

Each observed clinical activity has to be assessed at least three times using supervised learning events, spread over time. The targets are:

Pathway	By week 13	By week 26
Interim learning outcomes	at least 3	at least 6
Full learning outcomes (prescribing)	at least 5	at least 10

Five by week 13 sounds manageable, but the weeks go quickly once you're busy. Try to get your first one or two done in your first month.

Early mandatory activities

In the first 13 weeks, the assessment strategy also asks for reflective accounts, with certificates, covering:

First aid or basic life support
Safeguarding
Health and safety
The digital systems you use

These are easy wins. Book any training early and write the reflections while it's fresh.

Start a revision habit now

The GPhC registration assessment comes at the end of your training year, and our GPhC exam dates page shows when your sitting is. It feels a long way off in July, which is exactly why a small habit now pays off.

Start with calculations, 15 minutes three to five times a week. Link revision to work: if you dispensed a DOAC today, read the monograph tonight. Keep an error log from the start, for calculations and clinical questions. And keep revision time and portfolio time separate, so neither one disappears.

Mistakes trainees often make in the first month

Leaving the LNA and learning agreement until week 4. They're due in the first two weeks.
Writing a vague LNA. Be specific about what you don't know yet.
Not meeting the DPP early. DPP access is one of the biggest challenges, so confirm arrangements now.
Waiting to be told when to do observed activities. Suggest them yourself.
Not checking the training plan is uploaded. It's required, and it shapes everything else.

Common questions

What do I need to complete in my first two weeks? Your learning agreement and your learning needs analysis with personal development plan, both with your DS and recorded in the e-portfolio.

Do I need to register with the GPhC before starting? You need to apply for foundation trainee status through myGPhC before you start. That's not the same as registering as a pharmacist.

How many observed clinical activities do I need by week 13? At least 5 on the full learning outcomes, or at least 3 on the interim learning outcomes.

When should I meet my DPP? As early as you can, ideally in your first month, so prescribing time can be planned into your year.

Should I start GPhC revision in my first month? A light, regular habit, yes. Heavy revision can wait, but doing calculations practice from the start makes a real difference.

Starting the year with a plan

Our Foundation Pharmacist Training Programme is built around the training year. It includes a 1:1 planning session where we help you build a year plan around your rota, with e-portfolio activity ideas and write-up guidance, plus an approved training plan you can upload to your e-portfolio. You also get full GPhC revision for Part 1 and Part 2, live webinars, a question bank and a mock paper.

See what's included or create a free account to try the first lesson of every chapter.

When you're ready for the next stage, read our checklist for the 26-week review.