Practice learning consultation FAQS

We are the independent regulator of more than 860,000 nurses and midwives in the UK and nursing associates in England. Our role is to protect the public and maintain confidence in the nursing and midwifery professions. We do this by setting and upholding standards of proficiency. 

Our role and remit are set out in the Nursing and Midwifery Order: The Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001. This is the legislation that governs our work. 

Yes – Nurses, midwives and nursing associates are regulated professionals. You cannot legally practise as a nursing or midwifery professional without being on the NMC Register. 

Nursing and midwifery programmes are delivered through a combination of theory learning (50%) and practice learning (50%). Theory learning allows students to learn the necessary evidence-based knowledge, skills and behaviours in a classroom setting. Practice learning gives them the opportunity to demonstrate this in real life health and care environments, by putting them in direct contact with people who use services while under supervision.

We are consulting on several possible changes to our education standards with a focus on practice learning for our approved pre-registration nursing and midwifery programmes, the standards framework for nursing and midwifery education, and the standards for student supervision and assessment.

The proposals outlined in this consultation have not been pre-confirmed or finalised. They are presented as options for consideration and the purpose of the consultation is to gather feedback, views, and evidence before we make any final recommendations and decisions.

These proposed changes are based on engagement with our partners and stakeholders about what they want to see in the updated education and training standards.

It follows research and engagement throughout 2024 and 2025 with students, professionals, approved education institutions (AEIs), practice learning partners (PLP), the public and stakeholders.

This research found that while many students benefit from positive placements, the quality of experiences can vary.

In 2025, alone, we held 25 engagement events, including roundtables and webinars, which were attended by 1,250 people from across the UK, including students and professionals working in practice and higher education.

The proposed changes are influenced by issues emerging in the practice learning landscape, such as the mixed experience of nursing students on practice learning placements and the concerns raised by some student midwives about gaining the confidence and competency they need for practice.

And they include the thought-provoking proposals – based on feedback from our stakeholders – to reduce the number of learning hours in nursing programmes, and to extend the length of midwifery programmes.

For nursing programmes, the proposal is to reduce the minimum number of programme hours from 4,600 to 3,600 – to place a greater emphasis on the quality of practice learning experiences rather than the achievement of a set number of practice learning hours.

Globally, there is significant variation in the number of learning hours required to become a registered nurse. The current requirement of 4,600 hours stems back to EU legislation which no longer applies to the UK.

Outside of the EU, there is significant variation in the number of nursing programme hours and within this, the number of practice hours. They are generally lower than the hours mandated by the EU directive – 4,600 in total, of which 2,300 are practice learning.

For example in the USA, students are required to complete around 700 hours of practice learning, 800 hours in Australia and 1,100 hours in New Zealand.

Reducing the minimum requirement for practice learning hours would give approved education institutions (AEIs) the opportunity to design more innovative and creative programmes – with a lower minimum to meet, the emphasis could shift more clearly towards the quality of learning rather than the quantity of hours.

The midwifery proposal is to extend programmes from three to four years – against the backdrop of high-profile inquiries into maternity care across the four nations of the UK, which have investigated concerns about the safety, quality and culture of maternity and neonatal services.

There is also growing evidence that maternity outcomes and experiences vary greatly for women and mothers. Figures released by MBRRACE-UK show that Black women are three times more likely, and Asian women are 1.3 times more likely, to die during pregnancy or postnatally than White women. The figures also show that Black babies are over twice as likely to be stillborn as White babies – with Asian babies 50% more likely to be stillborn.

Since introducing our Standards for pre-registration midwifery programmes in 2019, we have heard feedback about the challenges students can face in meeting all requirements within a three-year programme.

This includes concerns about whether students have sufficient time to gain exposure to a wide range of practice scenarios – including caring for women and mothers from diverse backgrounds.

Our engagement with stakeholders has highlighted that, for many students, the current length of midwifery programmes results in task-oriented learning – rather than enabling students to have quality practice learning placements which prioritise holistic care for a diverse range of women, newborn infants and their families.

Extending midwifery programmes would therefore allow more time for students to achieve the proficiencies set out in the NMC’s standards.

The consultation is open for 12-weeks from Thursday 30 April until 23 July.

After the consultation has closed, we will publish an analysis of the responses in the summer.

Our governing Council will consider all the feedback before we make a decision on the next steps.

We welcome all responses via our anonymous survey. You can find the survey on our consultation webpage

You can respond as an individual or on behalf of an organisation or a group. We encourage everyone to share their thoughts.

Taking part in the consultation survey is optional. You can skip any section of the survey not relevant to you. The exception is the 'About you' questions where we use this information to ensure we have heard from a diverse and broad range of people. This includes an option for people to prefer not to say.

If you want to answer one part of the survey, it will take around 20 minutes to complete. If you want to complete the survey in full, it will take about 40 minutes to complete.

If you have any questions or need the survey in a different format, please email consultations@nmc-uk.org

The consultation is open to everyone including nursing, midwifery and nursing associate students, nursing and midwifery professionals, educators, approved education institutions, practice learning partners, stakeholders and the public.

Individual responses are anonymous (we don't ask for your name or email) but we might report which organisations responded to the consultation.

For nursing programmes, the proposal is to reduce the minimum number of programme hours from 4,600 to 3,600 – to place a greater emphasis on the quality of practice learning experiences rather than the achievement of a set number of practice learning hours.

Globally, there is significant variation in the number of learning hours required to become a registered nurse. The current requirement of 4,600 hours stems back to EU legislation which no longer applies to the UK.

Outside of the EU, there is significant variation in the number of nursing programme hours and within this, the number of practice hours. They are generally lower than the hours mandated by the EU directive – 4,600 in total, of which 2,300 are practice learning.

For example in the USA, students are required to complete around 700 hours of practice learning, 800 hours in Australia and 1,100 hours in New Zealand.

Reducing the minimum requirement for practice learning hours would give approved education institutions (AEIs) the opportunity to design more innovative and creative programmes – with a lower minimum to meet, the emphasis could shift more clearly towards the quality of learning rather than the quantity of hours.

The Standards for pre-registration nursing programmes require that the minimum award for a pre-registration nursing programme is a Bachelor’s degree. Given the limited evidence regarding an optimum number of practice learning hours, we have considered the requirements for a Bachelor’s degree programme across the four countries of the UK, see table 1 below.

If this proposed change is approved, some approved education institutions and practice learning partners may decide to deliver programmes that are longer than the new minimum.

Students will still need to achieve the required proficiencies and meet all programme assessments.

Table 1:

More information about the rationale for this proposal is in the consultation document on our consultation webpage.

Nursing programmes would continue to be a minimum award of a Bachelor’s degree and meet the equivalent of a minimum three (academic) years in duration as set out in the Standards for Pre-registration nursing programmes. 

Yes. The programme standards require that students spend half of their time on theory and the other half in practice. This reflects the equal importance of theoretical and practice learning. It does mean that the reduction in practice learning hours would lead to a corresponding reduction in theoretical learning (equating to a minimum each of 1800 practice learning hours and 1800 theory learning hours). Students would still need to meet the required proficiencies and programme assessments.

Students will still need to meet the high standards and expectations for the evidence-based skills, knowledge, and behaviours to join the Register.

Yes. We believe the number of simulated practice learning hours a student may complete should be proportionate to the total number of practice learning hours. We are therefore proposing that simulated practice learning makes up no more than 25% of a student’s total practice learning hours.  
 
The current position is that simulated practice learning can currently makeup to 600 hours which is approximately 26% of a nursing programmes practice learning hours.

Practice learning placements support students to meet the proficiencies including education, leadership, research and quality improvement of care. Practice learning experiences can take place within the NHS, social care and/or independent sector.

Community nursing supports people of all ages and takes place across a wide range of settings. These include schools, care homes, day centres, nurseries, nursing homes, prison wards, occupational workplace environments or working with the armed forces.

Opportunities for community practice learning placements will vary depending on factors such as location, including rural, coastal and inner-city settings.

The midwifery proposal is to extend programmes from three to four years – against the backdrop of high-profile inquiries into maternity care across the four nations of the UK, which have investigated concerns about the safety, quality and culture of maternity and neonatal services.

There is also growing evidence that maternity outcomes and experiences vary greatly for women and mothers. Figures released by MBRRACE-UK show that Black women are three times more likely, and Asian women are 1.3 times more likely, to die during pregnancy or postnatally than White women. The figures also show that Black babies are over twice as likely to be stillborn as White babies – with Asian babies 50% more likely to be stillborn.

Since introducing our Standards for pre-registration midwifery programmes in 2019, we have heard feedback about the challenges students can face in meeting all requirements within a three-year programme.

This includes concerns about whether students have sufficient time to gain exposure to a wide range of practice scenarios – including caring for women and mothers from diverse backgrounds.

Our engagement with stakeholders has highlighted that, for many students, the current length of midwifery programmes results in task-oriented learning – rather than enabling students to have quality practice learning placements which prioritise holistic care for a diverse range of women, newborn infants and their families.

Extending midwifery programmes would therefore allow more time for students to achieve the proficiencies set out in our standards.

More information about the rationale for this proposal is in the consultation document on our consultation webpage.

We are consulting on a proposal to increase the minimum length a direct entry pre-registration midwifery programme from three years to four years. The minimum hours (4,600) and 50% theory and 50% practice learning split would remain.  
 
By extending the programme, students would have more time to achieve the proficiencies, including the requirement to support and care for no less than 40 women in labour and conduct the birth.   

While we are not setting a minimum number of hours, we are consulting on a proposal that would require student midwives to complete one of their practice learning placements during the final part of their pre-registration programme, with this practice learning placement lasting a minimum of eight weeks.  

Approved education institutions and their practice learning partners should discuss reasonable adjustments with students and agree what can be supported in each practice learning setting.  

It is important to recognise that reasonable adjustments made for academic learning may not always be transferable to the practice learning environment. 

This is why we are consulting on strengthening the partnership working between approved education institutions, practice learning partners and students. 

Our Standards for student supervision and assessment already require that approved education institutions and practice learning partners must ensure that practice supervisors receive ongoing support to prepare, reflect and develop for effective supervision and contribution to student learning and assessment (5.1). The standards also require that Practice Assessors are prepared for their role and achieve regular updates (8.1, 8.2).

As part of our current review of the Revalidation process, we are exploring whether to more strongly encourage professionals undertaking Practice Supervisor, Practice Assessor and Academic Assessor roles to embed them in how they meet the revalidation requirements.

More information about our Code and Revalidation Reviews can be found here.  

Midwifery students undertake short placements with SCPHN teams and therefore we are not consulting on standard 6.4 which says that ‘Midwifery students are assigned to practice and academic assessors who are NMC registered midwives’.