It is important that you continue to develop your knowledge and skill in practice supervision and practice assessment. A National Framework for Practice Supervisors, Practice Assessors and Academic Assessors in Scotland (NES, 2019) offers suggestions on where you could develop in each role and resources that are available. Also, consider revisiting TURAS Self-Assessment and the NES CPD pathway to access useful resources for your ongoing continuing professional development (CPD).
The NHSGGC Practice Education Team can also support your continuing professional development in the PS and PA roles. Not only do we offer different topics as listed below, but also we offer them in a variety of different teaching and learning styles to meet your needs. In addition, your local PEF/CHEF can provide bespoke updates in your area so please get in touch with them. Also, remember that effective practice learning should be a focus of discussion within your annual appraisal and revalidation and that reflection on the supervisory or assessor role, feedback from students and CPD hours focusing on the PS or PA role may form part of the evidence for your NMC revalidation.
Continuing Professional Development Topics
- Pre-Registration Nursing Programme Proficiencies, Skills and Procedures
- Reasonable Adjustments
- Practice Assessment Document
- Addressing Student Competency Requirements
Pre-Registration Nursing Programme Proficiencies, Skills and Procedures
As a practice supervisor or practice assessor you are required by the NMC to have an understanding of proficiencies and programme outcomes you are supporting students to achieve or the student you are assessing is aiming to achieve. Use our resources below to support your continuing professional development.
Online Awareness Session
During this session we aim to increase your awareness of the theory student nurses learn at university and the skills and procedures they must demonstrate to enter the NMC register. In addition, this session will provide an outline of governance processes and resources available to guide Practice Supervisor / Practice Assessor in their role of supporting students to demonstrate specific skills and procedures. This session will provide you with one hour of continuing professional development participatory time for NMC revalidation requirements.
Monday, 27th October 2025, 2pm – 3pm via MS Team
Download the Pre-Registration Nursing Proficiencies, Skills and Procedures slide set
Audio Podcast
**coming soon**
Listen at a time and place convenient to you, our audio podcast featuring your PEF colleagues discussing the role of the practice supervisor and practice assessor in supporting nursing students to demonstrate the proficiencies, skills and procedures required to enter the NMC register.
Staff guide to new NMC Skills and Procedures for student nurses undertaking pre-registration 2020 programmes
The NMC (2018) Future Nurse Standards contain some nursing skills and procedures that were not previously taught or assessed in practice. The Staff Guide to the new NMC skills and procedures (NHSGGC, 2023) will assist you when supporting these students and give you detail of when and how students will be provided with the theoretical underpinning to the skills and procedures and when they are able to undertake them in practice and/or simulation.
Reasonable Adjustments
Having an awareness of how you can support students with a disability to achieve proficiency is important in your role as their practice supervisor or assessor. Use our resources below to support your continuing professional development.
Online Session
During this session we aim to increase your awareness of reasonable adjustments. We will provide examples of situations that may require reasonable adjustments, the impact these may have on students, and how you as their practice supervisor or assessor can support them within the practice learning environment.
Furthermore, the session also provides you with opportunity to discuss what constitutes a reasonable adjustment, learning development support plans, interim feedback meetings and additional supports available and will provide you with one hour of continuing professional development participatory time for NMC revalidation requirements.
Please note this is a generic session and if you required information on specific topics such as anxiety, dyslexia or religion and culture, please contact your PEF or CHEF.
Wednesday, 5th November 2025, 1.30pm – 3pm
Download the Practice Supervisor Practice Assessor Reasonable Adjustments slide set
Audio Podcast
Listen to our audio podcast on reasonable adjustment and supporting student with dyslexia in the practice learning environment.
Reasonable Adjustments in the Practice Setting – NHS Education for Scotland Learning Resource
The aim of this three part, NHS Education for Scotland learning resource is to guide you in your role as PS or PA when you are, or will be, working with a student where reasonable adjustments should be considered to allow the student to safely perform during their practice placement or learning experience with you.
Reasonable Adjustments – Frequently Asked Questions
Download your own copy of our Reasonable Adjustments FAQ or see the list below.
Download your own copy of our Reasonable Adjustments FAQ or see the list below.
What are reasonable adjustments?
Reasonable adjustments are changes that organisations and people providing services must make if someone’s physical or mental disability puts them at a disadvantage compared with others who aren’t disabled (GOV.UK)
How do reasonable adjustments relate to students?
At the application stage of the programme for the student, the HEI will determine if a student is able to meet the requirements of the programme. That is, will they be able to satisfactorily achieve all NMC proficiencies, skills and procedures taking into account their disability and what, if any, reasonable adjustments can be put in place.
However it is important to note that students may only disclose or be aware that they require a reasonable adjustments once they have already started their training.
Students represent our diverse society and therefore equality and diversity needs for all students must be considered.
What are examples of reasonable adjustments?
- Changing the recruitment process so a candidate can be considered for a job
- Doing things another way, such as allowing someone with social anxiety disorder to have their own desk instead of hot desking.
- Making physical changes to the workplace, like installing a ramp for a wheelchair user or audio-visual fire alarm for a deaf person.
- Letting a disabled person work somewhere else, such as on the ground floor for a wheelchair user.
- Changing their equipment, for instance providing a special keyboard if they have arthritis.
(Above examples provided by GOV.UK)
What are the legal requirements of reasonable adjustments?
Equality Act 2010: Duty on employers to make reasonable adjustments for their staff
The general definition of disability for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010 is “a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to day activities”. The Act defines long-term in this context as having lasted, or being likely to last for at least 12 months or the rest of the person’s life. Substantial is defined as more than minor or trivial.
What types of reasonable adjustments considerations could we have to manage in practice?
- Student with dyslexia. One example could be a student that requires some extra time to complete documentation.
- Student with religious or cultural needs. One example could be a Muslim student who requests use of a private area to pray.
- Student with carer commitments. On example could be a student that has an elderly parent and has carer duties.
- Student with anxiety. One example could be a student that suffers from anxiety and finds delivering handovers particularly challenging.
- Student who requests flexible working due to childcare commitments. One example could be a single parent who struggles to work nightshift.
Please note that for such examples there are no hard and fast rules. Each request needs to be carefully considered at an individual level and impact on students learning or the areas ability to accommodate have to be carefully considered.
Who can support staff with students requiring reasonable adjustments?
In the first instance your local PEF can support. If you are unsure of who your local PEF is, please check via the NHS GGC Practice Education website.
Link Academic Assessor for your area can also assist.
When would I be made aware that a student has a reasonable adjustment in place?
Students may have a RAP in place before starting their placement. This may have been part of their induction university or put in place during their course. Occasionally a pre placement meeting is required to discuss the student and their reasonable adjustments request.
There is also an opportunity to discuss at the Initial meeting with your student. This should take place within the first 48 hours of starting placement.
Please see the students Practice Education Document.
What if I think my student may require a reasonable adjustment, for example, dyslexia and they are not disclosing?
It is the student’s decision to disclose, however the NMC does recommend that students disclose.
If a student has not disclosed an individual learning requirement/disability and you have a concern about their knowledge or practice, you would follow the same process outlined in the Practice Learning Support Protocol to ensure a fair support and assessment to your students.
The advice would be to have a chat with your local PEF or CHEF.
What can I do to support my student with a reasonable adjustment?
This would be dependent on what the reasonable adjustment was. It is a good idea to have a learning development support plan in place and review throughout the placement.
What resources are available?
Multi Faith Resource (TURAS log-in required)
How can the university help?
The students can link in with their personal tutor to access support services offered by their university.
What about assessing students with a reasonable adjustment in place?
Reasonable adjustments can allow a student with an individual requirement to achieve a competency or meet a standard. However professional standards and competencies must be maintained (NMC, 2019)
It is the students decision and responsibility to disclose they have a specific learning need.
The student can still fail even if they have reasonable adjustments in place if they don’t meet the required standard. There remains a duty to safeguard and protect the public.
What if my student requests flexible working?
- Employers must deal with requests in a ‘reasonable manner’
- Examples of handling requests in a reasonable manner include:
- Assessing the advantages and disadvantages of the application
- discussing possible alternatives to the request
- Offering an appeal process
- GOV.UK – Flexible Working
What are the key messages?
- Discuss with all students if they have any individual requirements
- Always seek advice from the University and or PEF if you are unsure how to best support a student
- Never lower the standard of competence required when implementing reasonable adjustments
- Seek regular feedback on whether reasonable adjustments are meeting the needs of the student and record within student documentation
- Complete a fair assessment
Other Learning Resources Related to Reasonable Adjustments
Practice Assessment Document (PAD)
Online Session
During this session we aim to provide a general overview of the PAD. In addition to discussing the role of the Practice Supervisor and Practice Assessor, this session will provide information and encourage discussion on the topics of student assessment, grading and the proficiencies, skills and procedures that students must achieve, as well as the principles of learning development support planning.
This session will provide you with one hour of continuing professional development participatory time for NMC revalidation requirements.
PAD Resources
Designed by the Practice Education Team, this interactive PAD resource will provide you with information and guidance on how to complete the different sections of the Practice Assessment Document. From recommended timelines for each stage of the student journey, who completes the different sections, to clear and simple examples of evidence needed for each platform.
You might find it useful to access the relevant university/field specific Practice Assessment Document to review a particular section or if you require additional PAD pages these can be printed from the relevant Practice Assessment Document (Please note that NHS Scotland log-in required).
Our grading rubric calculator with worked example demonstrates how to use Glasgow Caledonian University’s grading rubric (Please note that Desktop MS Excel App required).
If you’re unsure about the terms used in the PAD when it comes to student assessment, we’ve created a helpful guide just for you. the PAD Terminology for Practice Supervisors and Practice Assessors explains key terms (called level outcomes) and gives examples to help you understand what’s expected of your student by the end of their placement.
Addressing Student Competency Requirements
Learning Development Support Planning
Learning Development Support Plans are used to support students to meet specific objectives, particularly if they face challenges in achieving level of knowledge and/or skills required by their educational programme or if there are concerns regarding their professional practice. We have compiled a number of sample plans that you can use to help you to write an effective Learning Development Support Plan to support your students to progress in their practice learning environment.
**Coming Soon** Our Learning Development Planning Resource will give you useful information on how to write a LDSP, whose responsibility it is and how to implement them. Use this in conjunction with our PAD Terminology for Practice Supervisors and Practice Assessors which explains key terms (called level outcomes) and gives examples to help you understand what’s expected of your student by the end of their placement.
Supporting a student with additional competency requirements
This 10 minute narrated presentation on Strengthening Student Nurse and Midwife Practice will give you an insight and awareness in ways you can support student nurses and midwives with additional competency requirements and provide robust assessment (NHS Scotland log in required).
Audio Podcast
** Coming soon**
Listen to our podcast featuring a practice assessor sharing their experience of supporting a student with additional competency requirements.
