Cambridge and Emversity launch English training program for India’s nursing workforce

India's leading industry-skilling network, Emversity, has launched a new collaboration with Cambridge University Press & Assessment to deliver specialized English language training for nursing students through the Cambridge English for Healthcare Professionals program.

The training will be offered across Emversity’s skill-development centers and through its partner universities, adding structured, internationally benchmarked communication learning to existing academic programs.

The initiative aims to address a major employability challenge in India’s healthcare workforce, where communication gaps continue to hinder placements both domestically and abroad.

India currently has only 17.2 nurses for every 10,000 people, contributing to an estimated workforce shortfall of about 5.8 million.

Employers have repeatedly pointed out that limited communication abilities worsen this crisis.

The program, aligned with CEFR levels A1 to B1, focuses on practical language skills used in patient interaction, documentation, teamwork communication, and emergency response.

It also supports learners preparing for the Occupational English Test.

"The world faces a critical shortage of skilled healthcare talent, and India is uniquely positioned to fill this gap. Communication skills are a significant part of this talent deficit,” said Vivek, Founder and CEO of Emversity.

“By 2030, we aim to equip over one lakh nursing professionals with essential workplace communication competencies. Our collaboration with Cambridge University Press & Assessment is critical to building the structured pathway India's healthcare workforce needs,” Sinha added.

“When we speak with hospitals and diagnostic labs, they uniformly highlight three key gaps in most healthcare and paramedical graduates: communication skills, computing skills, and critical thinking,” said Manish Kumar, Chief Technology Officer at Emversity.

“Our partnership with Cambridge directly addresses the communication component. Through this purpose-built healthcare communication training, we equip our learners with the confidence and clarity to excel in Indian healthcare and to pursue opportunities abroad,” Kumar added.

“The specialized content from Cambridge includes both learning and assessment wrapped in a healthcare environment,” said TK Arunachalam, Regional Director – English, South Asia, Cambridge University Press & Assessment.

“This comprehensive approach provides learners with a complete solution that not only delivers focused learning but also benchmarks them against an internationally accepted CEFR scale,” Arunachalam added.

The partnership is expected to strengthen healthcare skill outcomes by integrating global communication standards into India’s allied health training ecosystem and supporting the international ambitions of young healthcare professionals.