When nursing and midwifery education transitioned from an apprenticeship model to degree-level education in the late 1990s, it marked a significant shift in how the professions were prepared for practice. Today, a quieter but equally important shift is taking place: the steady rise in postgraduate education. This blog explores why these educational achievements must be made visible, valued, and meaningfully integrated into workforce planning.
The rise and challenges of postgraduate education
Many registered nurses and midwives are choosing to return to university, often in their own time and at their own expense, to complete master’s modules, PhDs, and specialist courses. A growing body of evidence shows that postgraduate education contributes to greater clinical confidence, increased autonomy, and improved patient outcomes. Put simply, every additional skill a nurse or midwife develops not only enhances their own practice but strengthens the wider health system.
NHS England’s Long-Term Workforce Plan recognises this, highlighting the need for staff in new and enhanced roles and explicitly linking this to the importance of ongoing education and development. Yet despite the clear benefits, access to postgraduate education remains challenging. Work-life balance, limited financial support, and a lack of protected study time are common barriers. The result is a growing number of nurses and midwives willing to upskill, but a system that lacks the infrastructure to support them and struggles to identify or deploy their expertise.
Mind the (data) gap
A further, often overlooked issue is the absence of a central system to record or recognise postgraduate education in nursing and midwifery. In medicine, UKMED provides a national database that links medical students’ and doctors’ education and training to career progression. It helps researchers and workforce planners explore key questions, such as which characteristics influence career choices, or how best to support underrepresented groups in accessing education. No such system exists for nurses and midwives. Without national oversight of who holds specialist training, the NHS faces several challenges:
• Matching expertise to need: There is often inconsistency around which qualifications are required for specialist, advanced, and consultant-level roles. Without a clear picture of who holds what qualifications, it's difficult to align the right people with the right posts.
• Spotting succession gaps: Retirements can leave services short of essential skills. Early data could help plan ahead.
• Recognising achievement: Educational achievements often go unnoticed. A formal record could help managers identify mentors, champions, and future leaders.
What we are doing, one hospital at a time
To help address this gap, we’ve launched a pilot survey, titled ELEvATe, at a large teaching hospital in central London. So far, we’ve collected data on the educational qualifications of more than 500 nurses and midwives, with plans to reach over 2,000.
The results are already providing valuable insights, highlighting pockets of specialist expertise, identifying individuals able to mentor others, and showing where future investment in education might be most beneficial.
Our next step is to share the ELEvATe methodology with other primary and secondary NHS providers, both to compare findings and to gauge support for a national, opt-in education registry. This could involve developing a new resource or building on existing systems, such as the NMC register. Capturing and understanding the education journeys of nurses and midwives can help unlock hidden talent, support workforce planning, and ultimately improve care for patients. Watch this space!
Authors:
Dr Caitlin Medlock
Lecturer, Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care, King’s College London
John Smith
Lead Research Nurse, ACERT Research Team, King’s College Hospital
The rise and challenges of postgraduate education
Many registered nurses and midwives are choosing to return to university, often in their own time and at their own expense, to complete master’s modules, PhDs, and specialist courses. A growing body of evidence shows that postgraduate education contributes to greater clinical confidence, increased autonomy, and improved patient outcomes. Put simply, every additional skill a nurse or midwife develops not only enhances their own practice but strengthens the wider health system.
NHS England’s Long-Term Workforce Plan recognises this, highlighting the need for staff in new and enhanced roles and explicitly linking this to the importance of ongoing education and development. Yet despite the clear benefits, access to postgraduate education remains challenging. Work-life balance, limited financial support, and a lack of protected study time are common barriers. The result is a growing number of nurses and midwives willing to upskill, but a system that lacks the infrastructure to support them and struggles to identify or deploy their expertise.
Mind the (data) gap
A further, often overlooked issue is the absence of a central system to record or recognise postgraduate education in nursing and midwifery. In medicine, UKMED provides a national database that links medical students’ and doctors’ education and training to career progression. It helps researchers and workforce planners explore key questions, such as which characteristics influence career choices, or how best to support underrepresented groups in accessing education. No such system exists for nurses and midwives. Without national oversight of who holds specialist training, the NHS faces several challenges:
• Matching expertise to need: There is often inconsistency around which qualifications are required for specialist, advanced, and consultant-level roles. Without a clear picture of who holds what qualifications, it's difficult to align the right people with the right posts.
• Spotting succession gaps: Retirements can leave services short of essential skills. Early data could help plan ahead.
• Recognising achievement: Educational achievements often go unnoticed. A formal record could help managers identify mentors, champions, and future leaders.
What we are doing, one hospital at a time
To help address this gap, we’ve launched a pilot survey, titled ELEvATe, at a large teaching hospital in central London. So far, we’ve collected data on the educational qualifications of more than 500 nurses and midwives, with plans to reach over 2,000.
The results are already providing valuable insights, highlighting pockets of specialist expertise, identifying individuals able to mentor others, and showing where future investment in education might be most beneficial.
Our next step is to share the ELEvATe methodology with other primary and secondary NHS providers, both to compare findings and to gauge support for a national, opt-in education registry. This could involve developing a new resource or building on existing systems, such as the NMC register. Capturing and understanding the education journeys of nurses and midwives can help unlock hidden talent, support workforce planning, and ultimately improve care for patients. Watch this space!
Authors:
Dr Caitlin Medlock
Lecturer, Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care, King’s College London
John Smith
Lead Research Nurse, ACERT Research Team, King’s College Hospital
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