Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to share practice on how two approaches to work-based learning (WBL) are used to develop the knowledge and skills of health care staff with different levels of experience and educational attainment within the Department of Nursing and the Department of Allied Health Professions at a post-1992 university (UCLAN) and to enable two models of WBL to be differentiated, for the purposes of curriculum development. Design/methodology/approach: The two models are mapped and compared using a curriculum framework, in order to illustrate differences in ethos, teaching, learning and assessment strategies between the two approaches. Findings: Implementing two different approaches to WBL can meet health and social care employers' workforce development needs and can support the learning of diverse groups of staff, both those entering the health and social care services and those who are experienced and professionally qualified. Research limitations/implications: WBL can be implemented in many different ways to serve a variety of needs, but curriculum developers need to explore, with employers and potential students, their rationale behind engaging in WBL and ensure that ethos, teaching and learning methods and assessment are aligned as discussed by Biggs. Originality/value: This paper provides information on two approaches to WBL adopted by one university and offers insights to others beginning curriculum development in this field. (Contains 3 figures.)