Day in the Life of a Learning and Skills Coach

Written by Samantha Garside, 08/07/2026

About me

Name:	Samantha Garside
Current role:	Learning and Skills Coach
Work setting:	Nottingham College – Further Education

I am a Learning and Skills Coach supporting Level 2 and Level 3 pharmacy apprentices throughout their learning journey. I work closely with learners and employers to help apprentices develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours they need to succeed in their roles and achieve their qualifications.

One of the most rewarding aspects of my role is helping learners build confidence, overcome challenges and realise their potential within the pharmacy profession.

Outside of work, I am a proud mum of two and enjoy spending time with my family. I have a real passion for running and am both a Run Leader and Running Coach for my local running club. Supporting runners of all abilities to achieve their goals mirrors what I enjoy most in my professional life, encouraging others, building confidence and helping people reach their full potential. Whether I'm coaching apprentices or runners, I love seeing people grow, develop and achieve things they didn't think were possible.

When I'm not working or running, you'll often find me in the garden or taking on a new DIY project. I've really enjoyed redeveloping and improving our home, and I'm never afraid to give something new a go. Whether it's coaching, gardening or tackling home improvements, I enjoy learning new skills, solving problems and seeing the results of hard work come together.

My career journey

My career has taken me through a wide range of pharmacy settings, giving me a broad understanding of the profession and the many opportunities it offers.

I began my career in secondary care (hospital pharmacy), gaining experience in the dispensary, ward-based services and pharmacy stores before specialising in sterile production. This gave me valuable technical skills and an appreciation of the importance of accuracy, teamwork and patient safety.

I then moved into industry, working within a stem cell bank, where I developed experience in highly specialised manufacturing and quality processes.

After this, I returned to pharmacy through community pharmacy, starting as a relief team member before progressing to become the Branch Manager of two pharmacies. This role strengthened my leadership, communication and operational management skills while allowing me to support both patients and pharmacy teams.

Wanting to broaden my experience further, I moved back into secondary care (hospital pharmacy) at a different NHS trust before progressing into primary care. In this role, I continued to develop my clinical knowledge by undertaking additional training and expanding my scope of practice. I worked closely with GP practices to design and deliver tailored specialist clinics that met the needs of individual practices and the local population. This enabled me to provide more personalised care, improve patient outcomes and enhance the services available within primary care. It was a role that challenged me to continually learn, adapt and develop while making a meaningful difference to patients and supporting multidisciplinary teams.

Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to contribute to projects and initiatives that have helped shape pharmacy practice beyond my day-to-day roles. I have supported the implementation of trust-wide processes to improve the safe administration of medicines, collaborated with community pharmacy colleagues to develop health promotion resources for local running groups on the safe use of medicines in sport, and participated in the Health & Social Care Committee's pharmacy inquiry at the House of Commons.

I have also enjoyed sharing knowledge and best practice with the wider profession by presenting a poster at the Clinical Pharmacy Congress, writing a professional article, and being invited to speak at the Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK (APTUK) Annual Conference. I served as a member of the Primary Care Pharmacy Association (PCPA) Committee, contributing to the development of the pharmacy technician profession and support improvements across primary care pharmacy.

One of the highlights of my career has been receiving the Primary Care Pharmacy Association (PCPA) Pharmacy Technician of the Year Award. It was an honour to have my work recognised by my peers and reflects my passion for continually improving pharmacy services, supporting patients and contributing to the ongoing development of the profession.

Through these varied experiences, I discovered a real passion for supporting and developing others. This inspired me to move into my current role as a Learning and Skills Coach, where I can combine my extensive pharmacy experience with my enthusiasm for education, coaching and workforce development.

Looking back, I didn't follow one traditional career pathway. Instead, each role gave me new experiences, skills and opportunities that helped shape the professional I am today. My journey has shown me that pharmacy offers a wide range of career paths, and being open to new opportunities, embracing change and continuing to learn can lead to a rewarding and fulfilling career.

How I got into this role

I actually started my career as an apprentice after speaking with my sister, who was also working in a pharmacy at the time. Visiting the pharmacy and hearing about her experiences sparked my interest in the profession, and I decided to take the apprenticeship route. Looking back, it was one of the best decisions I could have made, as it gave me the opportunity to earn while I learned and gain practical experience from the very beginning.

From there, I built my career through hands-on experience across a variety of pharmacy settings rather than following a single, traditional route. Working in hospital pharmacy, industry, community pharmacy and primary care allowed me to develop a broad range of technical, clinical, leadership and communication skills.

Along the way, I embraced every opportunity to learn, develop and take on new responsibilities. Whether it was specialising in sterile production, managing community pharmacies, developing clinical skills in primary care or leading specialist clinics, each role helped me grow both personally and professionally.

As my career progressed, I found myself increasingly passionate about supporting colleagues, sharing knowledge and helping others develop their confidence and skills. That passion naturally led me into education and coaching. Becoming a Learning and Skills Coach has allowed me to combine my extensive pharmacy experience with my enthusiasm for developing others and supporting the next generation of pharmacy professionals.

I hope my journey demonstrates that there isn't just one pathway into pharmacy. Apprenticeships, work-based learning and a willingness to embrace new opportunities can open doors to an incredibly varied and rewarding career.

What my role involves

With my current job role as a Learning and Skills Coach, I have the privilege of supporting Level 2 and Level 3 pharmacy apprentices throughout their learning journey. My role is all about helping learners develop the confidence, knowledge and practical skills they need to become competent, compassionate pharmacy professionals. I work closely with apprentices, employers and colleagues to ensure every learner receives the support they need to achieve their qualification and reach their full potential.

My day-to-day responsibilities include:

Coaching Level 2 and Level 3 pharmacy learners.

Delivering one-to-one coaching sessions, progress reviews and personalised support.

Setting meaningful learning activities and appropriate work that supports learners to develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours required for their apprenticeship standard.

Reviewing completed work and providing constructive, supportive and developmental feedback to help learners continuously improve and achieve their goals.

Working closely with employers to support learner development within the workplace.

Monitoring learner progress and preparing apprentices for assessments and their End Point Assessment (EPA).

Providing encouragement, guidance and wellbeing support whenever needed.

Motivating learners to build confidence, overcome challenges and achieve their career goals.

Every learner is different, so no two days are ever the same. One of the things I enjoy most is adapting my coaching approach to suit each individual, celebrating their successes and watching them grow into confident pharmacy professionals.

What I enjoy most

The most rewarding part of my role is seeing learners grow in confidence and develop into capable pharmacy professionals.

I enjoy helping people recognise their strengths, overcome challenges and achieve goals they may not have believed were possible. Watching learners successfully complete their apprenticeship and progress in their careers is incredibly rewarding.

What makes me especially proud is seeing the positive impact my learners go on to have within their own workplaces. Knowing that they are delivering safe, person-centred care, supporting patients with compassion and professionalism, and making a real difference to people's health and wellbeing is incredibly fulfilling. Seeing their confidence grow alongside their ability to provide high-quality care reminds me that by investing in learners today, we are helping to shape the future of patient care.

I also enjoy giving back to the profession beyond my day-to-day role. Whether that's contributing to national committees, speaking at conferences, sharing best practice through publications or supporting new initiatives, I believe that continually learning and helping others to learn is an important part of being a pharmacy professional. Being able to influence the profession in this way, while supporting the next generation of pharmacy professionals, is something I am incredibly passionate about.

Knowing that I am helping to develop the future pharmacy workforce and ultimately contributing to safer, higher-quality care for patients makes my role both meaningful and fulfilling.

Challenges

Supporting learners means recognising that everyone learns differently. Some apprentices may need additional encouragement, confidence-building or support to balance work, study and personal commitments.

Pharmacy is also a fast-paced and demanding environment, where service delivery and patient care will always be the priority. One of the key challenges is working closely with employers to ensure learners can access their designated off-the-job training time. Protecting this time is essential, as it enables apprentices to complete their learning, reflect on their practice and develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours required for their apprenticeship while continuing to provide safe, high-quality patient care.

The role also requires keeping up to date with changes in pharmacy practice, apprenticeship standards and education requirements to ensure learners receive the most relevant and current support throughout their programme.

Although these challenges can be demanding, they are balanced by the satisfaction of seeing learners succeed and knowing the support provided has made a positive difference. Working collaboratively with learners and employers to overcome barriers and seeing apprentices thrive makes the role incredibly rewarding.

Skills you need

Skills for my current role as a Learning and Skills Coach:

Excellent communication skills

Active listening

Coaching and mentoring skills

Organisation and time management

Compassion and empathy

Patience

Problem-solving

Leadership

Adaptability

A passion for learning and developing others

Strong knowledge of pharmacy practice

The ability to motivate and inspire learners

Providing constructive, supportive and developmental feedback

Building positive relationships with learners, employers and colleagues

No matter where you work in pharmacy, there are some core skills that every Pharmacy Technician should develop:

A commitment to patient-centred care

Accuracy and attention to detail

Professionalism and integrity

Good communication with patients and colleagues

Teamwork and collaboration

Organisation and prioritisation

Compassion and empathy

Problem-solving and critical thinking

Adaptability in a fast-paced healthcare environment

A willingness to learn and continually develop

Understanding of medicines and safe medicines optimisation

Commitment to patient safety and quality improvement

Digital literacy and confidence using pharmacy systems and technology

Resilience and the ability to remain calm under pressure

My advice

If you're thinking about a career in health or pharmacy, remember that there isn't one "right" route to success.

Take opportunities to learn in different settings, ask questions and don't be afraid to step outside your comfort zone. Every role teaches you something valuable, even if it isn't where you expect to stay long term.

The best way to learn is through experience, curiosity and a willingness to keep developing. Be open to new opportunities, you never know where your career might take you.