Standards for student supervision and assessment

Practice supervisor role

A practice supervisor is a registered nurse, nursing associate, midwife, or registered health or social care professional who is responsible for:

• supporting and guiding the student through their learning experience in line with their scope of practice
• facilitating student learning opportunities to ensure maximum benefit from the placement
• serving as a model for safe and effective practice
• recording regular feedback on the student's progress, including conduct, proficiency and achievement of the required standards
• Engaging with the practice assessor on student progress

The practice supervisor must be appropriately prepared and must not be the student’s practice assessor. In many practice areas the student will be supported by a number of practice supervisors using the KUDOS team-based approach. 

• Practice supervisor and practice assessor preparation

Practice assessor role

A practice assessor is a registered nurse or midwife who is responsible for:

• conducting assessments, informed by feedback from practice supervisors
• making and recording objective decisions, drawing on records, observations, student reflection and other resources
• periodically observing the student
• gathering and coordinating feedback from practice supervisors and other relevant people
• organising communication with the academic assessors and link tutors

• Practice supervisor and practice assessor preparation

Academic assessor role

An academic assessor is a registered nurse or midwife who is responsible for:

• collating and confirming the student's achievement of standards and programme outcomes
• making recommendations for progression within the student’s programme
• working in partnership with the practice assessor to evaluate and recommend the student for progression for each part of the programme
• understanding the student’s learning and achievement in practice
• enabling communication and collaboration between academic and practice assessors

Academic assessors are nominated for each part of the educational programme. The same academic assessor cannot contribute to the student assessment in consecutive parts/years of the student’s programme.