One of the reasons for establishing the MPA was to encourage pharmaceutical education in the Manchester to meet the requirements of the 1868 Pharmacy Act. With new pharmacists requiring to pass examinations to practise, educational colleges grew up to meet this need. The most significant of these was the Manchester School of Pharmacy, which the Association sponsored until the 1880s and maintained close links with after this. The University of Manchester, as Owens College, had long experience of teaching pharmacology and materia medica to medical students, and in 1884 established its own Pharmaceutical Department. In time, the increasing demands of pharmaceutical education meant that the University of Manchester was better placed to educate pharmacists. In 1928, the College of Pharmacy amalgamated with the University department.
It is assumed that these records, which include student registers, syllabi and course programmes came into the Association's possession because it helped regulate the education of pharmacists.