Abstract
In 2023, a milestone was reached, marking 21 years of education, training and development of the assistant practitioner (AP) role at the University of Bolton. This is the first of two articles looking at the development of the assistant practitioner (AP) role in the north-west of England and the involvement of the University of Bolton in it over the past 21 years. It looks at the history and background of the programme at Bolton, from the first cohort in 2002 to the present apprenticeship programme for assistant practitioners in health.