As well as subject knowledge and practical and technical research skills, pharmacology graduates will have developed a range of skills that are valued by employers. These include an ability to understand and work with complex scientific data, as well as written and oral communication skills, numeracy, analytical, problem-solving and IT skills.

Data obtained from

• Pharmacology (BSc)
• Pharmacology with Study in Industry (MSci)
• Graduates from the UK 

Responses were received from 19 UK graduates from 2019/20; this is a response rate of 67.9%

Destinations

Most important activity	Percentage of graduates
Paid work for an employer	63.2%
Self-employment/freelancing	0%
Running my own business	0%
Developing a creative, artistic or professional portfolio	0%
Voluntary/unpaid work for an employer	0%
Engaged in a course of study, training or research	26.3%
Taking time out to travel	0%
Caring for someone	0%
Retired	0%
Unemployed and looking for work	5.3%
Doing something else	5.3%

Sector information

Pharmacology graduates are well qualified for employment in the health, hospital, pharmaceutical and bio-technology fields in scientific, managerial and commercial roles. Around 70% of careers are open to graduates from any discipline, so alternative opportunities exist in areas such as finance, law, IT and other commercial or public sector careers, where the analytical and scientific skills developed through the course are useful to employers.

Employment sector	Number of graduates
Dispensing chemist in specialised stores	2
Manufacture of pharmaceutical preparations	2
Research and experimental development on biotechnology	2
Other sectors (4 sectors)	5

Employers and occupations

Examples of employers

• Clyde & Co
• Covnce Laboratories Ltd
• GlaxoSmithKline plc

Examples of occupations

• Business Analyst
• HR Assistant
• Medical Laboratory Assistant
• Paralegal
• Pharmacy Dispenser

Further study

Many Pharmacology graduates go on to further study, and some directly enter employment in the pharmaceutical industry to pursue research or related careers.

Qualification type	Percentage of graduates
Higher degree, mainly by research (e.g. PhD, DPhil, MPhil, MRes)	33.3%
Higher degree, mainly by taught course (e.g. MA, MSc, MBA)	66.7%
Postgraduate diploma or certificate (including PGCE/PGDE)	0%
Professional qualification	0%
Undergraduate degree (including integrated master’s degrees) (e.g. BA, BSc, MBChB, MEng)	0%
Other undergraduate diploma or certificate not specified above	0%
Other qualification	0%
Not aiming for a formal qualification	0%