- Supervisors
- Handbook for Educators, Supervisors and Managers
- Training Programme Management and Quality Monitoring
- Your Training Responsibilities
- Staff Development, Supervision and Appraisal
- Education, Skills and Competence Frameworks
- Equivalence Routes and Support
- Leadership and Trainer resources
- Equity in Healthcare Science Training
What Is Equivalence?
Applicants for equivalence recognition may have a number of years of relevant experience within their disciplines, or have completed a training scheme which does not lead directly to registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).
Equivalence is when the outcomes of two processes are directly comparable even though the paths to achieving them are different. When equivalence is shown to exist between a new qualification and the qualification or experience an individual already has, repeated education or training becomes unnecessary.
This page gives guidance to the routes available for recognition of prior learning and experience in preparation for higher roles and/or to registration in Healthcare Science.
Candidates considering equivalence, irrespective of funding, are encouraged to engage with NES quality monitoring by first liaising with your departmental training supervisors and acquiring a National Training Number (click HERE for more information).
Equivalence Routes
There are various routes to equivalence supported by professional bodies towards registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) or the Academy for Healthcare Science (AHCS).
The three levels of equivalence are;
- Higher Specialist Scientist, Equivalence (Consultant Scientist)
- Scientist Training Programme, Equivalence (Clinical Scientist Training)
- Practitioner Equivalence
Various professional bodies support equivalence routes such as;
- the Academy for Healthcare Science (AHCS) with the Higher Specialist Scientist (HSS) Equivalence, Scientist Training Programme (STP) Equivalence, and Practitioner Training Programme (PTP) Equivalence routes.
- the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS) with the Certificate of Competence by Equivalence or Degree Assessment for further accredited top-up university modules routes.
- the British Academy of Audiology (BAA) with the Pilot of HTS equivalence in Paediatric Assessment.
- and the Association of Clinical Scientists (ACS) with the Certificate of Attainment.
Documents and related links
Last updated: August 21, 2025