ADPH London consolidates training and development opportunities across London’s public health system. Opportunities are communicated via our newsletter, thematic networks, shared programmes and below.
Public Health Training and Professional Development
Professional Development
UKPHR Specialist Registration by Portfolio Assessment (SRbPA)
The UKPHR Specialist Registration by Portfolio Assessment (SRbPA) is an alternative route to specialist registration for experienced public health professionals who haven’t followed a formal training programme, allowing them to demonstrate their competence through a retrospective portfolio assessment. More information can be found on the UKPHR SRbPA webpage.
Enhanced regional support programme
The Enhanced Regional Support Programme is specifically designed to assist eligible London-based public health professionals through the UKPHR SRbPA. It offers personalised development plans, tailored workshops, peer mentoring, and access to experienced moderators and placement opportunities to help candidates successfully complete the registration process. Interested? Email Lara.
SRbPA Placement Pilot
The SRbPA Placement Pilot is a new initiative designed to help London’s experienced public health professionals in the process of completing UKPHR SRbPA by offering structured placements in host organisations. Running from April 2025 to March 2026, the pilot supports candidates in bridging key competency gaps through real-world project experience, without requiring contractual change.
SRbPA Network
ADPH UK hosts an online monthly network for those considering pre-application and those progressing through the SRbPA portfolio. Email the registration form to portfoliogroup@adph.org.uk to join.
SRbPA KHub
The SRbPA Knowledge Hub is an online space for those completing the portfolio to share ideas, tools and resources. Join today.
Call for SRbPA Mentors
We are seeking enthusiastic mentors to support individuals on the SRbPA programme. If you have completed the SRbPA or are familiar with it, your experience would be invaluable to our participants.
Commitments:
- Mentoring: Approximately 2 hours dedicated to one mentee over 12 months, starting February 2026.
- Virtual Drop-in Session: Host a 1-hour session in September 2025 to discuss progress and challenges.
- Workshops: Attend 3 online workshops to refresh your understanding and guide your mentoring style:
- 9:30-11.30am 10 July 2025
- 2-4pm 9 October 2025
- 2-4pm 22 January 2026
Make a tangible difference to the development of public health professionals in London. Register your interest by 2 June 2025.
Any questions, contact Lara Hogan.
The UK Public Health Register (UKPHR) Practitioner Scheme supports public health professionals to gain formal registration by building a portfolio of evidence that demonstrates their competence against national standards. The London Practitioner Registration Scheme, funded by NHS England, offers structured support—including workshops, peer sessions, and 121 guidance—over approximately 12 months to help eligible public and third-sector practitioners across London complete this process. Registration enhances credibility, supports career progression, and affirms your expertise through objective assessment. While applications for the 2025 cohort are now closed, the next round will open in early 2026. Learn more on the UKPHR website or their KHub page.
London’s 2026 Cohort information session
Join us for an online information session 11:00-12:30 3 June to learn about the next cohort of public health practitioner apprenticeships starting in January 2026. NHSE has funding for 10 apprentices across London for this 3-year programme. The apprenticeship lead will be available at the information session to answer any questions you may have.
Expressions of interest will be invited after the session, with places awarded in July.
If you would like to attend the information session, email.
Background
The Public Health Practitioner Level 6 (L6 PHP) Apprenticeship is a 36-month integrated degree programme, approved by the Institute of Apprenticeships and Technical Education. The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) London, is supporting the delivery of the Apprenticeship programme; working closely with a wide range of local employers. This is an opportunity for candidates interested in promoting, improving and protecting health to gain a BSc Public Health (Hons) degree and pursue public health practitioner registration with UKPHR.
The practice-focussed nature of the course will empower students to work independently and collaboratively and thrive as part of a team of public health professionals. The programme also instils the importance of maintaining academic and professional ethical standards, expected by employers, academic institutions, and the public health profession.
More information on the apprenticeship can be found here.
Further links and resources
- Implementation Guidance for Employers, Training Providers and Apprentices
- Level 6 PHP apprenticeship toolkit
UKPHR are seeking experienced public health professionals to train as accredited assessors who will evaluate practitioner portfolios and provide constructive feedback.
Assessors play a vital role in upholding the integrity of the registration process by reviewing portfolios against national standards. The role requires a commitment of approximately 5.5 to 7.5 days annually, including a free 2-day training course, portfolio assessments, and ongoing support meetings. Ideal candidates will have at least two years of senior-level public health experience, with an MSc in Public Health and prior mentoring or assessment experience being advantageous but not essential.
Becoming an assessor offers valuable opportunities for networking, professional growth, and contributing to the development of the public health workforce. Interested individuals are encouraged to contact Sam to register for the upcoming training in September 2025.
The UKPHR London practitioner registration scheme is in need of verifiers to support our practitioners to gain registration, once their portfolio is complete. Through independent scrutiny, verifiers perform the vital role of confirming the assessment process has resulted in a portfolio of evidence that meets the standards. Verifiers are responsible for the recommendation of portfolios to the UKPHR Registration Panel for professional registration.
Further backgound information is available here and to register your interest, please contact Sam Gentry-Marshall email: Samantha.gentry-marshall@hee.nhs.uk (Project Manager for Public Health Practitioner Development NHS England – London Region).
Public health specialists and consultants are strategists, senior managers or senior scientists in public health. You’ll need skills and knowledge in health protection, health improvement and healthcare public health but, in practice, you may specialise in one area.
Public health specialists come from a wide range of backgrounds, and may or may not hold a medical degree. You could be employed in different sectors, including local government, central government or its executive agencies, the NHS, universities, the defence services, the private sector or the voluntary and social enterprise sector.
To hold professional registration as a public health specialist, you’ll need to go through an approved training route or a portfolio route. To be a consultant in public health, you must also hold a professional registration at public health specialist level with either the General Medical Council (GMC), the General Dental Council (GDC) or the UK Public Health Register (UKPHR) as appropriate.
See the UKPHR and Faculty of Public Health websites for more information on specialist registration.
The NIHR Local Authority Academic Fellowship Programme and Associated Opportunities programme of fellowship schemes and short placement awards supports individuals based within English local authority settings to develop as health and/or social care researchers whilst retaining their existing employment and salary. The following schemes are available:
- Local Authority Short Placement Award for Research Collaboration (LA SPARC) Scheme
- LAAF Programme Pre-Doctoral Local Authority Fellowship (PLAF) Scheme
- LAAF Programme Doctoral Local Authority Fellowship (DLAF) Scheme
- LAAF Programme Advanced Local Authority Fellowship (ALAF) Scheme.
There are a number of development opportunities for DsPH including:
- Mentoring
- Peer groups
- Annual events
More information can be found on this on National ADPH London Website.
The King’s Fund: Building Collaborative Leadership across Health and Care Organisations
This transformative programme combines the newest leadership research with the latest policy analysis to help you step up to the challenge with a clear sense of leadership. You will learn how to apply new leadership skills and unlearn some of the unhelpful biases and blockers to effective collaboration.
2024 Aspiring Directors Programme
The University of Birmingham is now recruiting to the 21st Century Public servant leadership programme for aspiring directors in public services (Cohort 7).
Programme Eligibility and Selection Criteria
This Programme is for individuals who have been working at a senior level in the following areas for at least 2 years:
- Public Health
- Children, Young People and Family Services
- Adult Health and Care Services • Commissioning & Service Development
- Education, Housing & wider Community Services
- Others with significant responsibility for the delivery or planning of public health related services.
This is a national, highly competitive Programme and places are limited. Priority will be given to applications from people who can demonstrate their ambition and readiness to step up to a director level (or regional/national equivalent) role within the next three years. We welcome applications from people who meet the criteria and who can demonstrate the passion and commitment to personal, team, organisational and system development which we need from our future public health leaders
Please ensure you read the applicant information (attached) before submitting your application by email on the attached word document to: bli@contacts.bham.ac.uk by 12pm on Friday 25th October 2024. Please ensure completed applications are sent as a Word document (not a pdf).For informal enquiries please email bli@contacts.bham.ac.uk
Before You Apply
Make sure you have read all the information about the Programme, have checked that you are eligible to apply and can demonstrate how you meet the selection criteria. Please be sure that you can attend ALL of the Programme dates provided in the Applicant Information. Have a conversation with your Programme sponsor and ensure they have the information they need to complete and submit the Sponsor Form.
The decision of the assessment panel will be communicated to applicants during the week commencing 18 November 2024. Any applicant who has not been successful in being offered a place on the Programme may be signposted towards other development opportunities. There will also be an opportunity to receive feedback on your application. If applicants feel that they want to appeal against the panel decision they must submit their appeal within five days of the date of the email advising them of the assessment panel’s decision.
Programme cost
The Programme is funded by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) and is designed as a collaboration between OHID and the University of Birmingham. For those in Public Health working in England, the course is free: this includes accommodation during residential sessions and all materials used on the programme. You will be responsible for travel costs and for overnight accommodation prior to the workshops if required. For those in Public Health Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, or if you are working in any of the other services listed above (except Public Health) in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, there will be a cost of £1500 plus VAT. This represents a significant subsidy on the total cost of the programme.
Public Health Training
ADPH London regularly highlights training opportunities via:
- The ADPHL newsletter. Subscribe here or email to advertise upcoming training.
- The ADPHL Thematic Networks and Shared Programmes. Email to join the distribution list.
Further information on Public Health training can be found at:
- Faculty of Public Health events, exams and training courses
- Royal Society for Public Health events, training and webinars
- UK Health Public Health Network resources
- elfh elearning for healthcare.
- Welcome to the School of Public Health – London webpage | London (hee.nhs.uk)
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