About us

The NHS belongs to the people.

If you’re thinking about joining our Scheme, it’s important to consider the principles and values that will become core to your role as a trainee and as a future leader.  The NHS Constitution for England sets out the principles that bind together the communities and people the NHS serves – patients and public – and the staff who work for it.

“As NHS managers we’re not just in the business of performance; as NHS leaders we’re in the business of change”

Simon Stevens, former Chief Executive of NHS England and NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme alumnus

The NHS was created in 1948, to care for patients and communities across the nation.  Its Graduate Management Training Scheme has been around almost as long, with the first trainees recruited in 1956.  Three years later, this pioneering cohort of 13 trainees graduated.  This year, we will be recruiting 250 trainees to join NHS organisations across England in September 2023.  

Over the years, many high-profile NHS leaders have started their leadership journeys as trainees on the Scheme, including current Chief Executive, Amanda Prichard.  Joining the Scheme is only the start of your career journey.  After graduating, you’ll join our alumni network and enjoy many years of support, events and opportunities.  Just like thousands of ex-trainees who are already succeeding on their leadership career paths.  

The NHS is proud of its highly diverse workforce. We provide healthcare to people from a variety of backgrounds, communities and cultures, and it’s crucial to this service delivery that NHS employees are equally diverse. For this reason, the Scheme, and indeed all NHS jobs, are open to people from all backgrounds.

“There’s no one type of person the NHS looks for. Being on the scheme helps you to shape what the new generation of managers looks like.” Lucie

“We are often told [on the Scheme] that we are the future leaders of the NHS and can only really uphold this statement if there is diversity between us. Working in a diverse environment makes us compassionate, inclusive, creative and collaborative human beings, which in turn breeds great leaders who deliver better health outcomes.” Vida

The Trainee Engagement Steering Group (TESG) is made of representatives from each of the Scheme cohorts.  Their role is to help inform and shape the continuing strategic and operational development of the scheme for existing and new trainees, along with the wider NHS. Facilitated and led by trainees, the group act as an interface between all trainees on the scheme and the NHS Leadership Academy – providing a meaningful trainee voice that directly impacts how the scheme continues to support future health and social care leaders. The NHS Leadership Academy is committed to having a meaningful, diverse and inclusive trainee voice and TESG is a cornerstone in ensuring that voice is heard, listened to and actioned from.  

Joining our Scheme is just the start of your leadership learning journey within the NHS.  The NHS Leadership Academy will continue to support your development at every stage of your career.  

The Academy is part of the NHS People Directorate within NHS England and NHS Improvement. The NHS Leadership Academy aims to help everyone in the NHS discover their full leadership potential and achieve the highest standards in health and care.

The Academy’s national and regional teams work with individuals, teams, organisations and systems to support  leadership and talent development. They offer a range of tools, models, programmes and expertise to help organisations and local partners to develop leaders, celebrating and sharing where outstanding leadership makes a real difference.

The NHS Leadership Academy has worked with underrepresented groups across all levels of leadership to identify, design and develop specific programmes and interventions that support all our colleagues to find and develop their potential in safe and inclusive learning spaces and programmes. To date 150,000 individuals have benefited from The Academy’s programmes.

The pandemic has seen new programmes, webinars, networks and support interventions and more recently a focus on reset and recovery. For more information, visit Leadership Academy.