Nurse (Level 6)
Nurses in general practice undertake a wide range of roles and are involved in almost every aspect of a patient’s care, assessing, screening and treating people of all ages. In addition to providing traditional aspects of nursing care such as wound care, immunisations and administration of medicines, general practice nurses run health checks and clinics for those with long term conditions including asthma, heart disease and diabetes.
No two days are the same when you’re a nurse. As your career progresses, you could specialise in areas, or you could undertake further postgraduate studies to become a more senior nurse, such as an advanced clinical practitioner. You could also move into management, clinical research or teaching. Whatever you choose, you’re guaranteed to make a real difference to people’s lives, every single day.
Registered nurses are a statutorily regulated profession and the standards for proficiency are set by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and successful completion of this apprenticeship will meet the education requirements to see registration with the NMC.
**Currently The OU’s Full Nursing Apprenticeship is NOT available for Primary Care and PIVOs to apply to. Therefore this page detail relates only to the Top-Up Apprenticeship for Nursing Associates and Assistant Practitioners **
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Employer Feedback
Feedback from Managers on the benefits the Nursing apprenticeship has brought to the organisation:
”Apprentice has improved in self-confidence, time management and enhanced patient care.”
”The apprentice’s knowledge in areas has improved massively along with their confidence. Key areas like learning disabilities and palliative care will be very beneficial to the practice and patients.”
”It has allowed the practice to grow our own Nursing workforce and allowed succession planning.”
”Enabled us to fill a recruitment gap for a practice nurse vacancy. Improved learner confidence and competence and maintained patient satisfaction through consistency of workforce.”
”A valuable member of staff has enhanced the skills that they are able to offer the practice and our patients, we have the opportunity to offer the staff member a career that they would not have been able to undertake and I believe they will make a long term career in the NHS.”
”Holistic patient care, enhancing the nursing team offer and saving GP appointments.”
”Helped individual to grow and develop. Has also allowed us to look at the way we do things slightly differently based on perspectives from other parts of the health system and research.”
Duration
20-24 month top-up
Most Suitable For
Nursing Associates and Assistant Practitioners (dependent on prior learning and experience)
Award
Level 6 Registered Nurse Degree Apprenticeship Award and a BSc Hons Nursing degree (in your field of study; Adult, MH, C&YP or LD). On successful completion, learners are able to register with the NMC.
Programme Cost
TBC dependant on the joining point (£26,000 pro-rata for top-up applications)
The apprenticeship tuition fee is paid using employer levy. Levy Paying Employers and Non-Levy Paying Employers, please read the DAS and Tuition steps within our Apprenticeships Process – Employer Guide for more information and instructions.
Additional Funding
- If apprentice is under the age of 25, Employer may not have to pay Class 1 Employer National Insurance. Full details and criteria are found here.
- For apprenticeships starting between 1 August 2024 - 31 July 2026, employer may be eligible for £1,000 if apprentice is aged 16 - 18 years old (or 15 years of age if the apprentice’s 16th birthday is between the last Friday of June and 31 August); or aged between 19 and 24 years old and has either an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan provided by their local authority and / or has been, or are, in the care of their local authority. Full details and criteria are found within the relevant DfE Funding Rules.
- Some Councils are providing incentive payments to local small employers who recruit and employ young apprentices. To find out more, including eligibility and how to apply for an incentive, please visit Lancashire Skills and Employment Hub (details within the GRANT presentation)
- Lancashire County Council incentive is £3,000 for 100 Lancashire employers
- Chorley Council incentive is £1,500 for Chorley employers
- Fylde Borough Council incentive is £5,000 for Fylde employers recruiting a new apprentice who is a Fylde resident.
For Primary Care Employers:
• ARRS Funding: Includes reimbursing training time for Nursing Associates to become Registered Nurses (via a ‘top-up’ Nursing apprenticeship). For more information, please read the
Skills For Health webpage and contact your PCN for personalised advice and how to apply. Use the
Training Hub ARRS webpage if you require further assistance.
• Nursing Top-Up Funding for April 2025 – March 2026 apprenticeship intakes: Please see
Nursing Training Grants 2025-26 for full details and training grant application instructions. Employers must apply for the training grant no later than midday Friday 30th May 2025.
Start Date
October and February
Teaching Delivery
Online
Key Learning Requirements
Learning must cover pre-conception to death, across all four nursing fields (Adult, Child, MH and LD) and home, close to home and hospital settings. For The Open University’s Full Nursing Apprenticeship, their NMC validation requirements are minimum 2,300 hours of Theory and 2,300 hours of Practical learning over the duration of the course. This will be pro-rata for top-up routes/candidates able to join later in the programme.
Apprenticeships require learners to achieve specific new knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs). For this programme, in order to achieve the NMC requirements and KSBs, a minimum of 80% of the learner’s normal working hours (if working 37.5 hours per week) must be dedicated to the apprenticeship. This is achieved by;
1) Programme Teaching; Online, usually 1 day a week. The days mapped for teaching are fixed (example planners are available).
2) Independent study; such as assignment/project research and write up.
3) Learning in the workplace; shadowing colleagues, completing programme assigned work based projects, day-to-day development within your current role duties/work activities, reflections with assessor, relevant training sessions.
4) External Placements; required for this programme. For the AP or NA Top-Up there is usually 2 external placement blocks (plus 1 ‘own place of work’ placement block) in total (varying from 240- 270 hours per block). Support with arrangements of these will be carried out by the Open University’s Practice Based Learning Team and your Training Hub Locality’s General Practice Education Facilitator (GPEF).
Modules
The programme is tailored to your chosen field of nursing; Adult, MH, C&YP or LD. Please note intake options are dependent on demand. Please visit the course webpage/materials for modules per nursing route.
Placements
Placements are required.
Assessments
Assessed throughout the programme by assignments, observations, evaluations and End Point Assessment.
Key Candidate Entry Requirements
• Employed 37.5 hours or more per week for the duration of the apprenticeship (if employed less than 37.5 hours but no lower than 30 hours, you are still able to apply, however as this will reduce the remaining working hours for undertaking working duties a meeting will be arranged to discuss suitability).
• English and Maths at GCSE grade C/4/Functional Skills Level 2/Equivalent or above are required at application stage due to the nature and level of the programme. An initial diagnostic assessment will also be completed by the Training Provider at application stage. If the candidate does not have the required certificates for either Maths and/or English, please contact the Training Hub Apprenticeship Team for options.
• Nursing Associate/Assistant Practitioner Certificate and Transcript are required. NA/AP applications will complete a Record of Prior Learning (RPEL) process to determine map their prior learning to the suitable joining point/starting part in the programme.
• Recent Enhanced DBS and OH clearances (Employer’s responsibility).
Full requirements and details are found on the university course webpage.
Key Employer Entry Requirements
• Ensure Learner has the support and opportunities to achieve the requirements of the apprenticeship.
• 2 Registered Nurses available, one of which must be the named Practice Assessor. There must be contingency in place should the GPN Practice Assessor be unable to continue supporting the learner at any point (i.e. that another nurse can step in/up to take on the role of Practice Assessor).
• An educational audit (ULE) for Nursing students and a partnership agreement with the HEI and NMC. Practices will be supported through these if not already in place.
Full requirements and details are found on the university course webpage.
Listed as an Approved Provider under an NHS Procurement
Yes
Application Timescale
- It takes on average 4 – 5 months to complete all application stages for this programme.
- If recruiting to this position, additional time will be required for recruitment and advertising stages.
Education Provider Deadlines Include:
• For October intakes applications need to have started before March.
• For February intakes applications need to have started before October.
Additional Training Hub Support
Primary Care employees have access to:
- All resources provided by the Training Hub such as Digital training, Health and Wellbeing support and events.
- Clinical CPD opportunities: via Locality Training Hub. Visit our GPN webpage for more information on Nursing in Primary Care; plus training, support and resources for qualified
- Audit (ULE) and Assessor Support via Local GPEFs.
- Placement Support: via Local GPEFs. Once on programme the GPEF will provide more details and is able to assist with queries.
Pathway
On successful completion of this apprenticeship, examples of further apprenticeship options include; Enhanced Clinical Practitioner, Community Specialist Practitioner, Advanced Clinical Practitioner, Coaching Professional, Chartered Manager, Senior Leader. On successful completion of this apprenticeship, examples of further apprenticeship options include; Nursing Top-Up. The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) has an interactive
occupational maps tool which shows the variety of progression pathways using apprenticeships.
Career progression does not have to be linear. Entry criteria may differ per provider and even more varied routes may be available depending on the individuals prior learning and experience.
Information Last Updated
15/05/2025
Programme Resources
If you would like to know anything further about the programme itself, please contact: Barb Cochee, Senior Partnership Development Manager (Health and Care) on [email protected] or [email protected]
How to Apply
If you would like to apply for an apprenticeship (either for yourself, a member of staff or a vacancy position), please complete the Primary Care Expression of Interest Form. This is for Primary Care Employers within Lancashire and South Cumbria only. By completing the expression of interest form, the Training Hub Apprenticeships team will be able to complete basic pre-checks, provide you with personalised guidance, and start the programme application process for you. If you would like to discuss anything first, please email [email protected] or call Olivia, Apprenticeships Manager, on 07735161775. You can find out more about the stages of applying for an apprenticeship within our Apprenticeships Process - Employer Guide.
Social Care Employers within Lancashire and South Cumbria, please contact Dawn on [email protected]
