Students as partners in practice - embedding NMC requirements through co-creation across nursing and midwifery programmes

Students as co-creators are a fundamental expectation within Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Standards for Education and Training, requiring approved education institutions to demonstrate student involvement in programme design, delivery, evaluation and enhancement. This presentation explores how Students as Partners has been operationalised across Nursing and Midwifery programmes following recent major programme modifications.
Presented collectively by Directors of Programmes, the session demonstrates how regulatory requirements have been enacted through authentic partnership rather than consultation. Students have worked collaboratively with staff as curriculum partners, contributing to assessment redesign, inclusivity review, practice learning preparation, and evaluation processes during programme modification and approval. Student input directly influenced decision-making, resulting in tangible changes to curriculum structure, learning experiences and assessment approaches.
Student-authored artefacts and recorded reflections will be embedded within the session to ensure student perspectives remain visible beyond term time. We will also critically reflect on challenges encountered when balancing regulatory compliance, professional accountability and meaningful power-sharing.
By reframing regulatory expectation as pedagogical opportunity, this session illustrates how Students as Partners can move beyond compliance towards reciprocal, transparent and sustainable partnership embedded across professional education programmes.