- Date published:
- May 2026
- Organisation:
- IFS
- Authors:
- Olly Harvey-Rich, Elaine Kelly, and Isabel Stockton
- Sectors:
- Health and social care
More than 1.5 million staff work for the NHS in England, across a wide range of occupations. Progression within these occupations – for example, from nurse to senior staff nurse – has long been a focus of workforce policy in the NHS.
In this report, data from the Electronic Staff Record (ESR), the monthly payroll of the NHS, is used to set out which staff transition between which occupations, and how this has changed over time. A particular focus is placed on transitions from clinical support occupations – such as healthcare assistants and nursing auxiliaries – to registered clinical occupations, such as nurses, midwives and physiotherapists.