Glasgow Caledonian University Tests of Change
Driving sustainable change for nurses and midwives across Scotland.
Explore Glasgow Caledonian University's Tests of Change - innovative projects designed to trial new approaches in nursing and midwifery education and workforce development.
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University for the Common Good
2025 / 2026 Tests of Change
A Hybrid Pre-Registration Education Programme to Support Remote and Rural Recruitment to Learning Disabilities
Challenges recruiting to target for Learning Disabilities Nursing are acknowledged nationally, and challenges in recruiting newly qualified practitioners to remote and rural locations stem from this. A hybrid ‘earn as you learn’ pathway for learning disability nursing has been developed as a Test of Change to address these challenges. Students access the same classes as the “on-campus” students, but from their own home (online). Placements will be in the students own Health Board and there will be some consolidated blocks of skills teaching on campus across each of the three academic years.
Photo Credit: Image sourced from the Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) website.
The programme was approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council in January 2025 and students were recruited in September 2025. Those undertaking the programme will retain their current employment and associated employment terms and conditions and will avoid the costs of university accommodation and leaving caring responsibilities. This also retains the healthcare support worker workforce in difficult to recruit to areas, meaning areas can “grow their own” workforce.
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