University Alliance has responded to the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s consultation on proposals to reform nursing and midwifery practice learning standards.
Representing the professional and technical universities that educate 35% of the UK’s nurses and midwives, UA supports a number of the proposed changes but argues they should be delivered alongside a wider review of professional standards.
Key recommendations
For ease of reference, UA’s recommendations to the NMC are:
- Commit now to a full review of the standards of proficiency and the SSSA,
sequenced with the practice learning changes so that hours, outcomes, learning
environments, supervision and assessment are reformed as one coherent programme. - Proceed with the reduction of minimum nursing programme hours to 3,600,
piloting and evaluating the change for its impact on students and patients, revisiting the
standards of proficiency so quality and outcomes are the explicit test, and reviewing
whether the fixed 50:50 theory–practice split remains necessary. - Work with governments and NHS bodies to protect education and training tariff
funding as hours reduce, explore an enhanced tariff linked to the quality of learning,
prioritise a tariff for community placements, and protect and extend the funding streams
that sustain high-quality simulation. - Publish a clear definition of simulated practice learning, the standards it must
meet and how it will be quality assured, alongside any revised standards for both
nursing and midwifery. - Set the nursing associate minimum at 2,300 hours and review the nursing
associate pathway in the round, including recognition of prior learning and an easier
top-up route to registered nurse status. - Frame the community practice learning requirement around learning outcomes
rather than prescribed settings, and work with ICSs/ICBs and national bodies to
build community placement infrastructure before compliance is required. - Do not extend midwifery programmes to four years ahead of a review of the
proficiencies and the future scope of midwifery practice; instead, develop a
structured, funded preceptorship — potentially through the apprenticeship levy —
alongside clearer post-registration career progression. - Apply the same outcomes-led test to shortened midwifery programmes for
registered adult nurses, with programme length determined by recognition of prior
learning rather than an automatic proportional extension. - Frame the final midwifery placement as a consolidation outcome, with flexibility
over precise length and structure, designed as one pathway with reformed
preceptorship. - Embed the anti-racism principles within the Code, establish a shared
understanding of anti-racism across education and practice, and match
strengthened education standards with accountability for change in practice
settings. - Provide clear support on what is and is not a “reasonable” adjustment, including
its interaction with patient safety, delivered through shared decision-making between
universities, practice partners and the NHS. - Model tariff and apprenticeship funding impacts transparently with employers
and providers before final decisions — particularly for a four-year midwifery
programme — and feed the equality evidence in this response directly into the ongoing
EQIA. - Simplify the NMC’s programme review and approval processes, and support the
transition period of at least two years with clear guidance, especially on simulation
and community placements.
University Alliance has also offered to support the NMC through piloting reforms, sharing evidence, and convening universities, students and practice partners to help shape the next phase of development.
