FOI 26-155 Tech to Para Pathways
Freedom of Information Request
- Reference
- FOI 26-155 Tech to Para Pathways
- Request Date
- 18 Mar 2026
- Response Date
- 15 Apr 2026
- Information Requested
Please provide the following information covering the most recent 10 financial years available (or the longest available period if 10 years cannot be provided).
- Internal Progression to Paramedic Registration
- The number of Scottish Ambulance Service employees who were working in Technician (or equivalent) roles and subsequently qualified as HCPC-registered Paramedics while employed by the Service.
- Where recorded, the training routes used by these individuals (for example: university sponsorship, secondment, apprenticeship-style routes, or self-funded study undertaken while employed).
- Retention Following Qualification For staff identified in Question 1:
The number remaining employed by the Scottish Ambulance Service:
12 months after qualifying as a Paramedic
24 months after qualifying
36 months after qualifying
The number who left the organisation or left frontline clinical duties within:
12 months of qualification
24 months of qualification
- months of qualification
- Comparison With Direct External Recruits For Paramedics recruited directly into the Service (i.e., not previously employed by SAS):
The number recruited in each of the same years.
Retention rates at:
12 months
24 months
36 months
How many of these employees are no longer frontline clinical members of staff?
- Technician Workforce Retention and Progression Annual turnover rates for Ambulance Technicians (or equivalent roles).
Where recorded, the number of Technicians leaving employment citing:
Career progression
Training opportunities
Lack of progression opportunities (or equivalent exit interview categories).
Copies of any aggregated exit interview summaries or workforce reports referring to career progression opportunities for Technicians.
- Recruitment and Training Costs (Workforce Planning) Where held, please provide:
Estimated average cost to recruit and onboard a newly qualified Paramedic from external recruitment.
Including how much in monetary value the Scottish Ambulance Service contributes towards the training cost of the average university student paramedic via providing uniform (that is leased) paying for accommodation for student placements and paying travelling or other allowances.
Estimated average cost of training or supporting an existing employee to qualify as a Paramedic today.
Confirmed (best estimate, if more appropriate) cost of training a technician to become a paramedic via the previous model.
Any internal workforce planning documents, reports, or business cases produced since 2016 which discuss:
- Internal paramedic training pathways
- Grow-your-own workforce models
- Earn-while-you-learn or apprenticeship-style programmes.
- Internal degree programmes
- Workforce Planning and Education Strategy Please provide copies of: Current or recent workforce strategies referencing Paramedic supply, recruitment, or internal career development pathways.
Any documented consideration of internal progression routes from Technician to Paramedic
- Response
Q1 – Please see the table below detailing the total number of employed Scottish Ambulance Service technicians that have progressed to Paramedic for the last 10 years:
FY
DipHE Completed
2016/17
136
2017/18
106
2018/19
128
2019/20
134
2020/21
149
No figures are held from 2022 onwards due to the end of the pathway.
Q2 & Q3 - The Scottish Ambulance Service does not hold this information in a recorded format. Producing this would require the creation of new information through complex analysis involving matching qualification dates, employment status, role changes, and leaver data over time. The Service is not required under FOISA to create new information or undertake complex analysis to answer a request.
Q4 – Where recorded, the number of Ambulance Technicians leaving employment who cited career progression, lack of progression opportunities, or training opportunities as a reason for leaving in the last ten financial years is shown below:
2025/26: 1 (Training opportunities)
2024/25: 1 (Training opportunities)
2023/24: 1 (Lack of progression opportunities)
2022/23: 1 (Training opportunities)
From 1st April 2016 – 31st March 2022 there were zero Ambulance Technicians who left employment citing any of the reasons requested.
While exit interviews may capture free-text comments, the Scottish Ambulance Service does not hold aggregated data categorised by the reasons specified. It is for this reason we have applied section 17 of the Freedom of Information Scotland Act 2002, as information not held.
Q5 - The Scottish Ambulance Service does not hold recorded information providing an estimated average cost of training or onboarding a Paramedic in the manner requested. The Service does not routinely calculate these figures, and FOISA does not require the creation of new information or estimates. It is for this reason; we have applied the exemption Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Scotland Act 2002 as information not held.
Q6 – The Scottish Ambulance Service has considered whether it holds any internal workforce planning documents, reports, or business cases produced since 2016 which discuss internal paramedic training pathways, including “grow‑your‑own” models, earn‑while‑you‑learn or apprenticeship‑style programmes, internal degree programmes, or progression routes from Technician to Paramedic, within the scope of this request.
While the Service has, at various points, developed draft proposals and exploratory options relating to internal progression routes, these materials did not progress beyond the proposal or early consideration stage and do not represent current policy, agreed programmes, or funded pathways.
The Scottish Ambulance Service considers this information to be exempt from disclosure under section 30(b)(ii) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, as disclosure would be likely to inhibit substantially the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation. These documents contain candid internal discussions, options appraisal, and early-stage thinking to inform workforce planning decision‑making.
