HCPC registration

In the UK, biomedical scientists are legally required to be registered with the HCPC to practice in healthcare laboratories.

Anyone who wants to become a biomedical scientist must first pass either an IBMS Accredited biomedical science degree course, an HCPC approved honours degree or undertake supplementary education/top-up modules to meet HCPC standards of proficiency.

How you can register

To register as a biomedical scientist with the HCPC, you will need to demonstrate that you meet their standards of proficiency through a combination of academic qualifications and clinical laboratory training:

Your undergraduate degree must meet all the necessary academic criteria set out in the HCPC standards of education and training.
During your clinical laboratory training, you will need to complete a Registration Training Portfolio - an IBMS portfolio based qualification designed to demonstrate that you meet HCPC standards of proficiency.
When successfully completed, and verified by an IBMS verifier, you will be awarded an IBMS Certificate of Competence that demonstrates you have met HCPC standards of proficiency. You can now apply to be registered as a biomedical scientist.

Further information

Does your degree meet HCPC standards?

You will meet HCPC standards of proficiency for registration as a biomedical scientist if you are studying or have completed:

an IBMS Accredited or
an HCPC approved honours degree in biomedical science.

The IBMS also accredit and the HCPC approve a small number of healthcare science honours degrees that meet HCPC standards for registration as a biomedical scientist.

If your IBMS Accredited degree was awarded before 2002 visit our FAQ page to find out how you can become HCPC registered.

How to have your degree assessed

For non-accredited IBMS degree courses

The IBMS assesses non-accredited qualifications against HCPC education standards to determine whether a candidate needs to undertake supplementary education/top-up modules that are required to meet HCPC standards of proficiency to become a biomedical scientist.

If your degree is not IBMS Accredited, you will need to contact registration@ibms.org to request a degree assessment.

You can contact the HCPC to apply for registration once you have completed:

any recommended top-up modules
an IBMS Registration Training Portfolio
and have been awarded an IBMS Certificate of Competence

HCPC training standards for registration

To demonstrate that you meet HCPC standards of proficiency, you will need to complete an IBMS Registration Training Portfolio in a laboratory which holds current IBMS pre-registration training approval.

You can begin your portfolio while you study any recommended top-up modules from your degree assessment.

IBMS routes to HCPC registration

The IBMS offers two routes to HCPC registration:

Equivalence route

If you are working at the level of a HCPC registered biomedical scientist, but are not HCPC registered, you can apply to complete an IBMS Certificate of Competence by Equivalence.

Experiential route

The IBMS Clinical Scientist Certificate of Attainment is available if you are working in the UK in healthcare science with an MSc degree, or equivalent-level qualification, and can demonstrate through a combination of your education, training and professional experience that you meet the minimum level of practice required for registration as a clinical scientist with the HCPC.