Royal College and GPhC outline shared vision for future collaboration

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has launched a 12‑week consultation on proposals to modernise nursing and midwifery education, aiming to improve the quality and consistency of practice learning across the UK.

The plans follow two years of research and engagement with students, educators, approved education institutions and practice learning partners. The regulator says the changes are designed to reflect the realities of modern health and care, including equity, inclusion, maternity safety findings and the impact of Covid‑19.

The NMC is proposing to reduce minimum hours for nursing programmes from 4,600 to 3,600, shifting the focus from time spent in placement to the quality of learning. The current hours requirement stems from outdated EU legislation, and international comparisons show significantly lower practice‑hour expectations in countries such as the USA, Australia and New Zealand.

For midwifery, the regulator is consulting on extending programmes from three to four years, responding to concerns that the current structure can lead to task‑focused learning and insufficient exposure to diverse practice scenarios. Recent maternity safety inquiries and evidence of unequal outcomes for women and babies have also informed the proposals.

Other areas under review include strengthening anti‑racism and cultural safety within education, setting a minimum of 2,300 hours for nursing associate programmes if nursing hours are reduced, and requiring all nursing students to complete at least one community‑based placement.

The NMC says feedback from 25 engagement events in 2025 highlighted inconsistent placement experiences for nursing students and a lack of time for midwifery students to build confidence and competence. The proposals form part of a wider programme to update the Code, Revalidation and advanced practice frameworks.

Professor Donna O’Boyle MBE, Acting Executive Director for Professional Practice, said the regulator wants to hear from “as many people as possible”, acknowledging that some proposals will be “thought‑provoking” but grounded in extensive evidence.

The consultation is open until 23 July, with responses invited via an online survey.

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