The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the learning experiences of students undertaking health and social care programmes across the globe. In the UK, the Nursing and Midwifery Council introduced emergency standards for undergraduate programmes in 2020, making significant short-term changes to programme delivery. However, the mandate for all students to undertake interprofessional education remained. Interprofessional education is key to preparing students on health and social care programmes, as it enables students to work as effective members of multi-agency/multi-professional teams on qualification. It is an important element of training, as it has a direct impact on quality of care and service user experience. This series of articles will explore the experiences of ‘lockdown learning’ from the perspective of academics, students and service users from a global perspective in relation to the delivery of interprofessional education during the pandemic, which necessitated a wholesale move from face-to-face, blended and online learning to include emergency remote teaching. The series was written by members of the Centre for the Advancement of Interprofessional Education Research Subgroup (Interprofessional Education Experiences) and aims to identify barriers and facilitators to successful shared learning and provide suggestions for how lessons learned can be taken forward to further enhance this important element of pre-registration education. The perceptions and attitudes of academics and students on such comprehensive changes are a unique and rich data source to explore and inform future provision.

This is the third in a series of articles exploring experiences of engaging with interprofessional education during the COVID-19 pandemic. This article focuses on experiences of emergency remote teaching from the student perspective, considering the enablers and barriers to effective learning and taking into account the logistical, technological and theoretical considerations for facilitating an authentic learning experience in line with professional standards. A global perspective of interprofessional education during lockdown is provided through case studies, providing an opportunity to benchmark against examples of best practice to ensure online interprofessional education is successful in preparing students to work within a multiprofessional, multi-agency team to provide high-quality care through effective team working.

This is the fourth article in a series exploring experiences of engaging with interprofessional education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Alongside students and practitioners, academics have had significant learning opportunities during the pandemic through reflecting on experiences of developing and delivering interprofessional education using emergency remote teaching. This article presents reflective accounts from academics across the UK, revealing their authentic experiences of maintaining interprofessional education within health and social care programmes during the pandemic. Personal reflective accounts provide case studies that lead to shared learning and suggestions for future interprofessional education provision.

Vikki Park, Programme Lead/Senior Lecturer, University of Sunderland, formerly IPE Lead, Northumbria University, and CAIPE National Board Member ( contactme@drvikkipark.com )

During the COVID-19 outbreak, most face-to-face teaching and practice-based learning placements were suspended. Universities provided ongoing health and social care education, including interprofessional education, using online technology. Focusing on changes in the delivery of interprofessional education, this second article in a series on interprofessional education provides an international perspective through facilitators' case reports. It considers the key factors that enabled a rapid shift from face-to-face to online interprofessional education, and the key aspects that had to change. The significant changes reported from literature and case reports reflect on remote and online learning, the duration of education sessions, individual and team learning aspects and facilitation skills.