Our year in registration survey, now in its fifth year, aims to gather insight about how education and training prepares learners for professional practice.
It’s important we understand the experiences of those undertaking education and training programmes to become a health and care professional, so we can ensure good quality education in line with our public protection remit. We’re also interested in the experience of new registrants during 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 those who completed UK programmes in 2024 a series of questions and for feedback where improvements could be made.
Some key insights we gathered from the data are:
- There was positive sentiment expressed by respondents, with words most frequently associated with programmes being ‘supportive’, ‘challenging’ and ‘rewarding’. The findings show consistent emphasis on supportive learning environments while recognising the preparation for professional practice is a challenging but rewarding experience.
- Although 79% of respondents acknowledged its importance, response from 18% of respondents suggest that there were opportunities for improvement in interprofessional education. This is an area the HCPC will continue to strengthen and address, as it is a core requirement for the delivery of approved programmes.
- Respondents continued to report positive experiences of service user involvement, with strong agreement that it enhanced both their learning and professional practice. This suggests the actions implemented by HCPC to enhance service user involvement continues to have a beneficial impact.
- 85% of respondents reported positive experiences of practice-based learning (PBL), with most agreeing that it supported their transition into professional practice and enabled them to apply their knowledge effectively. The findings also showed that access to a wide range of learning environments and consistency of supervision can vary, highlighting opportunities to improve equity and consistency in PBL experiences.
- There are opportunities to further strengthen and enhance preceptorship support, as findings show that respondents continue to have mixed experiences, suggesting that while support is generally in place, it is not yet uniformly applied across all settings.
- Most respondents reported feeling unprepared to use artificial intelligence (AI) in practice, with only a small proportion indicating their education and training had equipped them adequately. High levels of disagreement and neutrality suggest limited exposure to AI and a lack of confidence in using these tools during early professional practice.
We note that there are some limitations to interpreting the results, given the unstructured, non‑random sampling approach. Therefore, year‑on‑year changes in response rates are sensitive to small variations in engagement and the findings should therefore be interpreted as indicative rather than representative
You can read the full report below
What next?
We have used these findings in our performance review process, where we ask providers to reflect on specific areas. We will also work with professional bodies, employers, and internally within the HCPC to address the report recommendations.
We will continue to seek feedback from those who have completed HCPC-approved programmes, to inform the focus of our quality assurance work in education.