The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has talked about the need to fix nursing’s leaky pipeline. It’s a useful way to describe the loss of people during training and throughout their careers, but it prompts another question. How can FE and college-based HE help turn the tap on fully? For some aspiring nurses, the usual higher education route works well. Others need a different way in because they can’t relocate, have caring responsibilities or can’t absorb the costs of travelling long distances to study and attend placements. For some learners, successful progression depends on access to more intensive support and the benefits of smaller class sizes. Some don’t even think university is a place for them, and this is where FE and college-based HE can make a real difference. Colleges can also start those conversations earlier. Our nurse lecturers work with students on access to higher education programmes and at levels 2 and 3. Seeing a nurse academic on their own campus can help learners picture a future that had previously felt beyond their reach. South Devon College was given foundation degree awarding powers in 2019, we design, validate and award our own foundation degrees. In 2021, we became the first FE college to gain direct approval from the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) for our nursing associate programme. Our awarding powers became indefinite in 2025, yet we remain the only FE college delivering an NMC approved programme in this way. That achievement reflects the expertise and commitment found within the college, but it also raises a wider question about why the model has not spread. We regularly discuss the nursing workforce that the country needs, yet the nurse academics working in colleges are largely absent from that conversation. We don’t know how many there are across FE, college-based higher education, satellite campuses and partner provision. These educators bring valuable industry experience into the classroom while remaining clinically credible as registered nurses. Their professional responsibilities need proper recognition, particularly when they work in small teams outside research-intensive universities and have less straightforward access to research communities, supervision and scholarly development.. The recent Higher Education Commission report, Trained for Tomorrow, describes educator capacity as a critical and under-recognised constraint on healthcare training. It calls for clearer routes into healthcare education, protected time for teaching and research, and a review of the way educators are rewarded and recognised. Those recommendations are welcome, but the work that follows must take account of nurse academics wherever they are based. My own experience has convinced me that we need to start by finding one another. I have recently joined the Nurse Academics UK leadership team, where my role includes leading the nursing associate profile nationally. As part of that work, I am establishing a special interest group for nursing education across FE and college-based higher education. Our first task is to create a clear picture of who is doing what, where and with whom, then we can begin to understand the contribution this provision makes to widening participation and local workforce development, using real evidence drawn from the people delivering it. Members will be able to find research collaborators and receive peer support from colleagues who understand their professional context. I also want the group to offer practical opportunities for scholarly development, whether that means finding a critical friend, sharing methodological expertise or working together on publications. Over time, the evidence gathered through the network should give FE and college-based higher education a stronger voice in discussions about nursing education and workforce planning. Decisions about future provision will be better informed when the full range of educators and delivery settings is visible. So if you teach nursing in FE or college-based higher education, or work at a satellite campus, with a partner provider or in another setting that is easily overlooked, I would like to hear from you on ellareynolds@southdevon.ac.uk The people opening routes into nursing should not have to work in isolation, finding and connecting them is a necessary step toward helping FE and college-based HE increase the flow of future nurses.
Matthew Fitzpatrick 28 October 2026 I think the issue is there is a shortage of permanent nursing vacancies when undergraduate students qualify. We have monthly intakes into our Access to HE (Nursing) cohorts, but I do worry about the job prospects for these learners when they eventually qualify.