It’s important we understand the experiences of those undertaking education and training programmes, so we can ensure good quality education in line with our public protection remit. We’re also interested in new registrant experience of their first year in practice, so we can contribute to conversations about support.
One of the ways we’re doing this is via our Year in Registration survey. We asked questions of those who completed UK programmes in 2021, and including where improvements could be made.
It was difficult to determine strong conclusions from the data, the respondents were self-selecting and response rates were low in some professions. However, we were able to gain some key insights:
- For the second year running, the most used words to describe programmes were ‘supportive’ and ‘challenging’. This is positive – nobody would expect a professional programme to be easy, and the support mechanisms put in place by providers are recognised by respondents
- Most respondents agreed their programme prepared them for practice (78%)
- Generally, interprofessional education (IPE) was meaningful for respondents with around two thirds of respondents agreeing that it was. However, about 1 in 5 respondents disagreed or noted they did not undertake IPE
- For the second year running, service user engagement and involvement in learning was not always well understood by respondents
- Most respondents would recommend their programme to others, but more respondents disagreed with that statement compared to last year (18% compared to 12%)
- About one third of respondents noted they did not have a structured period of learning on starting employment, and about a quarter reported this period to be less than 3 months
- Longer periods linked to respondents feeling better supported to transition to practice
- About 4 in 5 respondents would like to provide preceptorship support to future graduates
You can read the full report below.
What next?
We have used these findings in our performance review process, asking providers to reflect on specific areas. We will run another survey for registrants who completed UK programmes in 2022, and report and embed findings the in the same way we did this year.
