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pre-registration midwifery programmes employ them. Midwifery pro- grammes usually exist within University Faculties or Departments encompassing Health, Social Care, or Medicine and Allied Health. The number of midwifery lecturers within each university was traditionally determined by student numbers and worked on a ratio of 1:10; however this is variable across the country and does impact on the quality of the teaching resource. Mid- wifery lecturers are all practising midwives; they must maintain their competence and confi- dence as a midwife, notify their intention to practise annually and remain up-to-date with mandatory training and education. Midwifery lecturers, in addition to teacher training, should hold or be working towards a higher degree or doctorate. In meeting these requirements, mid- wifery lecturers are able to apply contemporary practice to the classroom. This is to address the theory/practice divide which can occur if practice taught away from the clinical area is not consistent with practice that is taught/observed within the clinical area.The students’ theory elements are assessed generally in the university by the midwifery lec- turers employed by that university. Midwives in the clinical areas who are employed by the local Trusts assess midwifery practice. Assessment of practice must be graded and must contribute to the award of the degree as per the Standards (NMC 2009). Therefore, as it is the university who awards the degree, it is exceptional if university staff are not solely responsible for the assessment of that award. This has and does cause difficulties when seeking university approval, which must be granted by the university to offer and support pre-registration midwifery pro- grammes. To address this anomaly, the university seeks reassurance that equity and parity of all assessments are assured.Midwives who assess student midwives must be sign-off mentors. The role of the sign-off mentor is to make judgments about whether a student has achieved the required standards of proficiency for safe and effective practice for entry to the NMC register. The LME confirms to the approved education institution assessment board that both the theoretical and practice elements have been achieved on completion of the programme (NMC 2008b).The midwife with whom the student will be working mainly provides placement support. The NMC stipulate that a minimum of 40% of the time is spent working with a sign-off midwiferymentor, who is an experienced midwife and has undergone additional training to be able to12 assess the students’ practice. Additional support is available by a Supervisor of Midwives who is available 24 hours every day, and a Practice Learning Facilitator (PLF). A PLF is a person whois generally jointly employed by the Trust and the university where students undertake their programme. The PLFs are visible within the clinical areas, and are a point of contact should issues arise; they work alongside a link lecturer. The link lecturer is usually a member of the midwifery teaching team at the university; along with the PLFs they provide ongoing education and training to clinical staff on curriculum issues and student assessment.A minimum of 50% of the programme must be spent in the clinical area: clinical systems of care will vary between Trusts and some students find that they prefer one system to another. The advantage of the team approach is consistency of mentor and continuity of carer for those accessing that service. The advantage of the non-integrated approach is working with different mentors and adjusting to different placement areas. All midwives, despite the same common goal and mission as depicted in the Midwives Rules and Standards (NMC 2012) work slightly differently. This is the autonomous element of the midwives’ role. All students have different learning styles and all educators and mentors have different teaching styles. Therefore some students and mentors/teachers work better