Considering changes to education

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is legally required to set standards of proficiency, education and training for nursing and midwifery professionals seeking to join the register. Article 15(1) of the Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001 requires the NMC to establish standards for education and training necessary to achieve the standards of proficiency for admission to the register, as required by Article 5(2) of the Order.

The NMC standards for pre-registration midwifery programmes follow the student journey from selection, through curriculum, practice learning, supervision, and assessment through to qualification. The current standards for pre-registration nursing programmes (NMC, 2018) have been in effect since 28 January 2019. These are now under review, with the earliest expected date to introduce any changes to programmes being September 2023. One of the drivers for the review relates to the previous content requirements being underpinned by EU law as the UK's departure from the EU has presented an opportunity to review these.