Recommendation 19

The Department and HEE highlighted the important role that apprenticeships and nursing associates play in widening access to the nursing profession, by enabling people to earn money as they train. In the case of nursing associates, which is a separate role, people can also gain experience as an associate before deciding if they want to train to become a registered nurse.48 However, the Department recognised that it takes longer for nurses to qualify under the apprenticeship route, and the same applies to nursing associates who must study for a further two years to qualify as a nurse.49 HEE told us that it had seen “relatively early gains” with the apprenticeship model but admitted that some provider organisations had found it challenging to offer apprenticeships at scale and make full use of apprenticeship funding.50 HEE had a target to deliver 7,500 nursing associates by 31 March 2020, but the Department told us that this has been “knocked slightly off track” because the March intake was significantly reduced.51 HEE also confirmed it had targets in place for the number of registered nurses coming via the nursing associate route. It told us that it is directly supporting nursing associates in their conversion to becoming a registered nurse, such as through the use of personal development plans.52