Queues out of the door and over 200 online applications in the space of four days; nursing apprenticeships in Hull really are the hottest ticket in town right now!

Across the course of a two-hour event last week, more than 150 people attended the nurse apprenticeship open evening held at Castle Hill Hospital.

From school leaver enquiries through to existing staff looking at further study, the team – which included representatives from the University of Hull, Hull College, North Lindsey College and Hull Training and Adult Education as well as Hull Hospitals – was ‘overwhelmed’ by the volume of interest they received.

Anne Burdis, Widening Participation Manager for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said:

“We have seen a growing appetite for health service apprenticeships in recent months and years, so we thought last week’s event would be a good one but we didn’t expect anything like the level of response we received on the day! At one point, people were queuing out of the doors and into the hospital grounds to be able to speak with us about apprenticeship opportunities.

“In total, we had more than 150 people visit us in the space of just two hours, and that was to talk about everything from entry level qualifications to progression in current roles and the types of nursing which people can choose to specialise in.

“We’d really like to thank people for their interest, their patience and their support; we were really blown away by just how popular the session was.”

Since opening for applications last Monday 5 February, more than 500 applications have been received for the Trust’s nursing apprenticeship vacancies overall, which include apprentice healthcare support worker, apprentice healthcare assistant, trainee nursing associate, and degree-level nurse apprentice.

People interested in nursing apprenticeships with Hull Hospitals can continue to apply via the Join Hull Hospitals website until the closing date of 22 February 2024.

Lucy Vere, Group Director of Learning and Organisational Development, says:

“Nursing apprenticeships offer a great alternative way into the profession, especially for people who have the right personal qualities and the caring approach needed to become a nurse, but who maybe just aren’t suited to traditional, university-type study.

“To shore up our services for years to come, we know we need to recruit more nurses, so apprenticeships are also a great way for us to offer employment opportunities to local people and to grow our own workforce for the future. The level of interest we saw in nursing apprenticeships last week just goes to show that there is a real appetite for this type of study and indeed, in nursing careers more generally, which is really encouraging not just for our hospitals but for our community as a whole.”