How the NMC quality standards assure nursing and nursing associate education

After a long period of consultation, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) published its new standards framework for nursing and midwifery education in May 2018. The new standards came into force at the end of January 2019 and, over the coming months, all new approvals will be made against these new standards. After 1 September 2020, only programmes approved against these new standards will be able to accept new students and meet the NMC requirements for award and registration. What this means is that students can start a programme leading to nurse registration against either the old standards or the new standards until the end of August 2020. After that, all new students can only join programmes leading to a degree award in approved accredited educational institutions (AEIs) against the new standards. Many nurses who supervise students will be involved in the NMC approvals across the UK over the next 12 months (NMC, 2019).