Digital badge no longer mandatory for advanced practice nurses under ARRS

An NHS accreditation scheme that has been criticised as a barrier to employment for advanced practice nurses in general practice will no longer be a mandatory requirement for recruitment under the additional roles reimbursement scheme (ARRS).

The new Network Contract DES for 2026/27 has changed the criteria for employing advanced nurse practitioners (ANPs) through the ARRS – a scheme that is used by primary care networks (PCNs) to hire roles to work across GP practices.

The contract, published on Thursday, has been tweaked so that PCNs are now asked to make a judgement on the suitability of a nurse to work in an ARRS-funded advanced nurse practitioner (ANP) role.

The wording states that for ANP roles only, PCNs must take best practice guidance into consideration and ensure that ‘advanced practitioners are able to show recognised preparation for advanced practice in line with NHS England’s standards’.

It said this ‘usually includes’ experienced nurses working towards attaining an advanced practice ‘digital badge’ – either through an accredited master’s programme or via an ePortfolio route – to be eligible for a reimbursed role within general practice.

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This is a change from last year when the 2025/26 DES had said ANPs ‘must’ have either graduated from a programme that led to a digital badge or be working towards one. In the years prior to that, only those nurses who had already attained the digital badge were eligible for the ARRS.

The move comes after lobbying from the Queen’s Institute of Community Nursing (QICN) and others following concerns that the digital badge scheme was ‘discriminatory’, ‘deeply flawed’ and a blocker to employment for ANPs under the ARRS.

In recent years, Nursing in Practice has been reporting the struggles of ANPs in trying to access the digital badge, including lengthy waits to enrol onto the ePortfolio route.

Concerns have also been raised that for the master’s route, it is largely courses post-2017 that are accredited, meaning ANPs who have done their education before then have to undergo the extensive ePortfolio option if they want to obtain the badge.

Research from the QICN into the issue in 2024 warned GP practices risked losing ‘many’ experienced nurses because of the digital badge scheme and that it was both ‘discriminatory’ and causing unnecessary stress among the profession.

The digital badge scheme was launched by NHS England through its Centre for Advancing practice in 2022 as a way of evidencing the ‘accredited education and training’ of ANPs in all settings. It can be obtained via two routes: from doing an accredited master’s programme or via an ePortfolio which includes a 5,000-word essay.

While it was previously a requirement for ANPs under ARRS, it has been voluntary for all other ANPs.

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Professor Alison Leary, director of the International Community Nursing Observatory at the QICN, said: ‘The QICN welcomes the recent changes to the PCN DES, which clarify that the digital badge is not mandatory.

‘This is an important and necessary step in reducing unnecessary barriers and uncertainty for experienced advanced practice nurses.’

She added: ‘The QICN has been working on this issue for some time, bringing forward evidence from across the nursing workforce which highlighted significant concerns about the implementation of the digital badge, particularly its complexity, accessibility, and unintended impact on workforce retention. It is encouraging to see these concerns now reflected in national policy.’

However Professor Leary said it ‘it remains essential that advanced practice nurses, regardless of setting, are appointed and supported in line with the RCN Levels of Practice (Advanced Practice)’.

Sandra Dyer, who qualified as a nurse in 1990 and completed her advanced practice Masters in 2015, was told in 2023 that her ARRS ANP role could no longer be funded as she did not have the digital badge.

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After this, she tried to access the badge via the ePortfolio route, but then waited between 12 to 18 months until she was offered a place.

Ms Dyer told Nursing in Practice that she also welcomed the updated criteria, and said she hoped this would enable ‘equity in employment opportunities for experienced ANPs who have completed older master’s or other education pathways’.

‘Unfortunately, some of those nurses have had to accept lower pay work, moved to other clinical settings or stopped clinical work entirely as a consequence of the implementation of the digital badge scheme and its alignment to the PCN DES,’ she said.