This represents a valuable strategic opportunity to secure fully-funded training places, enabling trusts to build and develop a workforce equipped to meet future service demands and contribute to the ambitions of the NHS 10‑Year Health Plan.
The STP is a 3-year blended academic and workplace training programme. Trainees can either be recruited as new employees (direct entry) or from the existing workforce (in-service entry), and so the STP is a great way to both grow and develop your workforce. Although supernumerary, as part of their training and development, STP trainees will support service delivery, and may contribute to the training of other colleagues within the specialism. This can help to support trained colleagues and improve service delivery for patients. STP trainees are also able to support outreach activities to help promote your specialism, as well as contributing to research, development, leadership, innovation, and quality improvement projects. STP trainees also benefit from a £2,137 training support allowance each year, which can be used to support travel and accommodation costs.
The ETP is a fast-track, blended academic and workplace training programme. Successful trainees will gain a PGCert in Clinical Echocardiography and BSE Transthoracic Echocardiography accreditation. Trainees can either be recruited as new employees (direct entry) or from the existing workforce (in-service entry). On completion of the programme, ETP graduates will gain a Level 2 BSE accreditation in Transthoracic Echo and will be eligible to work as accredited echocardiographers. ETP trainees also benefit from a £2,137 (pro-rata) training support allowance each year, which can be used to support travel and accommodation costs.
The Postgraduate Certificates in Haematology Genomics and Histopathology Genomics are 12-month, Level 7 programmes designed to upskill the existing healthcare science workforce. The Haematology Genomics PgCert is for Biomedical Scientists, Clinical Scientists and Genetic Technologists working across Genomic Laboratory Hubs, Local Genomics Laboratories and non-genomic sections of specialist integrated haematological malignancy diagnostic services. The Histopathology Genomics PgCert is for Biomedical Scientists and Genetic Technologists. It supports workforce development within histopathology laboratories and aims to increase flexibility across Cellular Pathology within organisations and pathology/genomic networks.
NHS England funds places on both programmes by paying tuition fees directly to universities. Employers also receive a one-off training grant for each funded trainee. This grant can contribute towards salary, supervision, infrastructure and other costs associated with successfully completing the programme.
Hosting trainees can help organisations to:
- build workforce capacity in key healthcare science specialties
- support service delivery and future workforce development
- contribute to research, innovation, leadership and quality improvement
- develop existing teams and support the next generation of healthcare scientists
- invest in future talent to support service transformation
Organisations can submit their interest individually or as part of a consortium or network. We strongly encourage trusts and networks to take advantage of this opportunity to help shape the future of healthcare science and ensure services are prepared for the next decade and beyond. The links to each of the commitment to train portals are below.
The portals are open until 23.59 on Friday 30 October 2026.
If you have any questions, reach out to the National School for Healthcare Science at england.nshcs@nhs.net
