Placements and Learning Environments
Empowering primary care organisations to provide outstanding placement and learning experiences
Support the future workforce by becoming a high-quality learning environment
We work with partners across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire to develop, support and grow placement capacity across:
Primary Care
Community Services
Social Care
Whether you are new to placements or already hosting learners, we can support you every step of the way. Start your journey today!
What are learning environments and placements?
A Learning Environment (LE) is any setting where learners gain practical experience as part of their training. This includes:
GP practices
Community teams
Social care providers
Placements are a core part of healthcare education, enabling learners to apply knowledge in real-world settings and develop the skills required for their future roles.
Approved learning environments must meet national quality standards, ensuring:
Patient safety
Learner wellbeing
High-quality supervision and support
In primary care, this includes environments approved by NHS England for different learner groups.
Why offer placements?
NATH would like to encourage all GP Practices in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire to consider offering multi-professional student placements.
We feel the local area offers excellent examples of primary and community care provision. By offering placements:
You help develop the future workforce
You showcase careers in your setting
You improve recruitment and retention locally
Students are more likely to return to work in the area after graduating
High-quality placements are proven to increase the likelihood that learners apply for roles within that organisation or system.
Placements
What is a placement?
A placement is a structured learning experience where students:
Apply academic learning
Develop practical skills
Work within multidisciplinary teams
Placements are essential to building a confident, competent workforce ready for modern healthcare delivery.
Types of placement
Undergraduate (medicine, nursing, AHPs)
Postgraduate training
Apprenticeships
Work experience / T Levels
Planning a placement
We support you to:
Identify capacity
Design meaningful learning experiences
Balance service delivery and learning
Provide inclusive opportunities
Our offer: Supporting you to host learners
We provide a structured offer to support you at every stage. Our goal is to make hosting learners simple, sustainable and rewarding.
Getting started
Guidance on becoming a learning environment
Expression of interest support
Step-by-step onboarding
Tools and resources
Checklists
Templates
Self-assessment tools
Sample policies and SOPs
Ongoing support
Advice on supervision models
Placement planning support
Access to peer learning and case studies
Case studies
Hear from students and local providers who are already hosting learners.
I was able to witness and discuss in depth how someone carries out the PA role in primary care. I saw typical barriers PAs encounter (e.g. lack of prescribing privileges) and how they maneuvered them from a patient and workflow perspective.
It not only consolidated my desire to work as a PA in primary care but prepared me in the best way possible in how the job works on a day-to-day basis.
Student
The variety of clinical exposure was helpful. From minor surgery to regional derm specialist clinics, as well as both GP, Advanced Nurse Practitioner and community mental health led sessions to observe and partake in.
The balance between hands on, shadowing and theory was exactly what I required and gave me a lot of confidence to take forward.
Student
Hosting a 2nd year Physician Associate student was a good experience and she engaged well with the team. She brought an enthusiastic learning environment, asking questions, challenging current practice vs. guidance, and creating reflective learning for the entire team. This benefits our practice by keeping training and the learning environment non-judgemental and enjoyable.
Provider
Quality and standards
Quality in learning environments
All placements must meet national quality standards set by NHS England. These standards:
Apply to all learners and settings
Ensure safe, high-quality education
Promote continuous improvement
How quality is assured
Learner feedback (e.g. surveys)
Local and regional quality teams
Data and intelligence monitoring
Partnership working across systems
Quality teams work collaboratively to address concerns and improve experiences.
Continuous improvement
We support practices to:
Identify areas for improvement
Share best practice
Increase placement capacity
Enhance learner experience