Northampton nursing apprentice scheme earns glowing report from watchdog

A University of Northampton scheme to grown healthcare assistants into registered nurses has been praised by the education watchdog.

Ofsted inspectors have given the university's nursing associate programme a warm review for holding "very high aspirations" for its students and qualifying them for professional healthcare.

The two-year scheme launched in June 2018 and trains healthcare assistants to bridge the gap to become registered nurses while working at sites like Northampton General Hospital.

The report - which was published on May 4 and was based on a visit on February 25 before the lockdown - reads: "The programme represents a significant stepping stone towards a career in nursing for mature entrants to the profession. Most of these have not participated in formal education since they left school.

"Lecturers have high expectations of apprentices, most of whom were previously employed as healthcare assistants with few opportunities for career progression.

"They use this information effectively to plan training so that apprentices make good progress in developing new knowledge, skills and behaviours."

However, the course is yet to receive a formal rating by Ofsted, as the inspection in February only counts as an interim 'monitoring visit'.

For more information on the university's level 5 programme, visit their website.