Overview
Health Education England (HEE) has merged with NHS England (now NHS England Workforce Training and Education Directorate).
This means that NHS England has assumed responsibility for all activities previously undertaken by Health Education England. This includes planning, recruiting, educating and training the health workforce, ensuring that the healthcare workforce has the right numbers, skills, values and behaviours in place to support the delivery of excellent healthcare and health improvement to patients and the public.
This follows the merger of NHS Digital with NHS England on the 1 February 2023. The systems and services, functions, processes and structures of Health Education England will continue to operate as normal, and contracts will automatically transfer to NHS England, with terms and conditions unchanged.
Without a skilled workforce there is no NHS. There are few careers that are as rewarding as one in the NHS, or that give you the opportunity to work with such a variety of people. Each and every one can make a difference to patients.
More than 160,000 students are studying to be part of their future workforce. That includes doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, physiotherapists and many more roles - in fact there are over 300 different jobs performed by more than one million people in the NHS.
The vision of NHSE is to provide the right workforce, with the right skills and values, in the right place, at the right time, to better meet the needs and wants of patients - now and in the future.
Any reference to HEE throughout this page is reflective of the organisation title at the time of the item being published.
Aspirant Educator Masterclasses
What is it?
A free, on-line masterclass that will give healthcare professionals an insight into different practice educator/educator roles in clinical practice and university, and feel prepared and supported to apply and thrive in those roles.
The masterclass is developed and facilitated by experienced practice educators and early career educators from nursing, midwifery and allied health professions in clinical practice, Higher Education Institutions and NHSE WT&E across the Southeast.
The programme aims to:
- Enable healthcare practitioners to develop an insight into practice educator/educator roles.
- Enable healthcare practitioners to be prepared to access practice educator/educator roles in a range of settings.
- Support the implementation of the Educator Workforce Strategy and Long- Term Workforce Plan.
Learning Outcomes:
On successful completion of the programme, you will be able to:
- Explain the different pathways into practice educator/educator roles.
- Describe examples of different practice educator/educator roles within clinical practice, university and wider partners.
- Explain how to prepare for and access these different roles.
- Appraise the impact of the masterclass on the next steps of your career journey.
Content of the Masterclasses:
Presentation and discussion:
- Setting the scene: Long Term Workforce Plan & Educator Workforce Strategy
- Pathways into education.
- What does the groundwork look like to build a portfolio in preparation for when ideal job comes up?
- Case studies – lived experience of practice educators and educators
What were the challenges?
What would you do differently?
What are your top tips
Break out rooms:
- Have you always wondered what it’s like to work in a university?
- What is it like to be a practice educator or educator?
Support and mentorship by experienced educators from nursing, midwifery and allied health professions.
Evaluation:
The masterclass will be evaluated to assess the impact of attending the masterclass and support the sustainability of the project.
Who is the target audience?
Any health care professional of any grade who is registered or non-registered, and has been working in a role where education of others is a large part of their work.
NHS VOICES: educating the Healthcare Workforce
A podcast series to support the Aspirant Educator Project, hosted by Mary Jenkins, an NHSE RePAIR fellow.
"Tune in for conversations with nurses, midwives and allied health professionals.
Hear about what hooked them into education roles, how they made that leap, how they navigated the bumps in the road & prepared for when the right job came up."
The Aspirant Educator project review was completed in January 2025, showcasing the impact and reflections from attendees, and the ask for the future.
View the project review below, or click here to download the full review presentation.
The NHS Long-Term Plan
The first comprehensive workforce plan for the NHS, putting staffing on a sustainable footing and improving patient care. It focuses on retaining existing talent and making the best use of new technology alongside the biggest recruitment drive in health service history.
Health Education England has published an infographic to demonstrate to employers and workforce planners, how Allied Health Professionals (AHPs), the third-largest workforce in the NHS, can make a unique contribution to learning disability services. The information was co-designed with the AHP Mental Health and Learning Disability Observatory.
Useful Links & Resources
Health Careers
Do you have what it takes to work in Health & Social care? Find out more about different job roles and career pathways below:
The NHS belongs to the people and is founded on a common set of principles and values that bind together the communities and people it serves - patients and public - and the staff who work for it.
This is called The NHS Constitution for England.
This Constitution establishes the principles and values of the NHS in England.
It sets out rights to which patients, public and staff are entitled, and pledges that which the NHS is committed to achieve, together with responsibilities, which the public, patients and staff owe to one another to ensure that the NHS operates fairly and effectively.
NHS values
Patients, public and staff have helped develop this expression of values that inspire passion in the NHS and that should underpin everything it does. Individual organisations will develop and build upon these values, tailoring them to their local needs. The NHS values provide common ground for co-operation to achieve shared aspirations, at all levels of the NHS.
Working Together for Patients
Compassion
Respect & Dignity
Improving Lives
Commitment to Quality of Care
Everyone Counts
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