Postgraduate Pre-registration Nursing Market Testing

The Government's commitment to delivering sustainable growth in the nursing workforce is vital to delivering the ambitions of the Long-term Plan. Encouraging graduates to undertake postgraduate study to achieve a Registered Nurse Degree is one way in which we may affect growth. The postgraduate route enables NMC registration within two years so therefore providing an accelerated and cost-effective route to achieve a Registered Nurse when compared to undergraduate study or an apprenticeship programme.

Postgraduate programmes are attractive to those who are looking to change career direction or those who are completing a degree programme but may want to step directly onto a nursing programme. They will have a proven academic ability, may be more resilient and independent and therefore, more likely to commit to and progress in the nursing profession.

Within the UK there is currently limited data regarding postgraduate entry into nursing. In Australia evidence suggests that graduate entry attracts more mature students with a higher proportion of males and international students (Everette, Salmonson, Trajkovikski, 2013) that a tradition nursing programme. Further evidence in Australia based on a cohort survey (McKeena, Brooks, Vanderheide, 2017) found that 38% of post graduate entrants came from a science background, 56% were aged between 21-30 years and nearly half 46.9% had only 0-5 years of work experience. Further research and market testing is needed to understand the demographics and motivations behind graduate entry.

The overall aim of the research is to provide qualitative insights that support the development of future marketing and engagement strategy to encourage applications to these courses.