The UK Higher Education sector is facing one of its most difficult financial challenges in recent years. The sector has been hit by a perfect storm of rising costs, frozen home tuition fees (until the recent announcement of a rise in 25/26) and a reduction in international student recruitment, leading to 72% of Universities in England predicted by the Office for Students to be in financial deficit in 2025/26. In response to these challenges, many Universities across the UK are seeking to cut staff costs, whether through vacancy freezes, voluntary severance schemes or redundancy. A tracker of cost-cutting measures being implemented by universities - curated by the Queen Mary branch of the University and College Union - lists around 70 institutions that are reducing staffing numbers to cut costs.
Despite the importance of nurse education in supporting the workforce and enhancing care, it is not immune from the wider challenges facing Higher Education. Though the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan committed to increase student nurse ‘training places’ by 80% by 2031/32, application numbers to pre-registration nursing programmes have fallen by 27% over the past three years. Not only does this bring into question the likelihood of meeting the Workforce Plan target, but reduced student numbers might increase the risk of nurse educators - or even some programmes - being the target of cost-cutting measures by universities.
In this context, the RCN carried out a survey of members working in Higher and Further Education institutions. 673 members completed the survey, with just under two-thirds (64%) reporting that their organisations were embarking on some sort of process designed to reduce academic staff numbers. Of these, 72% were seeing a recruitment freeze, 60% voluntary severance or redundancy, and nearly a quarter (23%) reported that compulsory redundancies were taking place in their institutions. The respondents expressed their concerns about the impact these changes may have on nurse education. 8 out of 10 respondents believed that these reductions would have a negative impact on nursing student experience and 75% said that they would impact outcomes. 41% even felt that the impact of the reductions would reduce the numbers of nursing students that could be accepted on programmes.
In these difficult times then, nurse educators need to come together as a strong community of practice. We need to support each other, support our students and support the case for ongoing investment into high-quality nurse education. With over 13,000 members, the RCN Education Forum is here to provide members with opportunities to share concerns with colleagues who are able to feed into policy and practise across the four countries of the UK. We are able to discuss the concerns of members with the wider College, and to lobby for greater support for nurse educators. Crucially, the forum and its members are able to submit resolutions and items for discussion at RCN Congress, bringing nurse education to a national stage. In recent months, the Forum has been involved in a series of listening events to learn more about the challenges being faced, engaging with nurse educators from practice and Higher Education, along with other key stakeholders such as University managers, the NMC and NHS England.
These are challenging times for all of those who work within nurse education. The RCN and the Education Forum are here to support, guide and lobby on your behalf. So, if you are concerned about the state of Higher Education and how this affects you, your students and the profession, get in touch and get involved!
Despite the importance of nurse education in supporting the workforce and enhancing care, it is not immune from the wider challenges facing Higher Education. Though the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan committed to increase student nurse ‘training places’ by 80% by 2031/32, application numbers to pre-registration nursing programmes have fallen by 27% over the past three years. Not only does this bring into question the likelihood of meeting the Workforce Plan target, but reduced student numbers might increase the risk of nurse educators - or even some programmes - being the target of cost-cutting measures by universities.
In this context, the RCN carried out a survey of members working in Higher and Further Education institutions. 673 members completed the survey, with just under two-thirds (64%) reporting that their organisations were embarking on some sort of process designed to reduce academic staff numbers. Of these, 72% were seeing a recruitment freeze, 60% voluntary severance or redundancy, and nearly a quarter (23%) reported that compulsory redundancies were taking place in their institutions. The respondents expressed their concerns about the impact these changes may have on nurse education. 8 out of 10 respondents believed that these reductions would have a negative impact on nursing student experience and 75% said that they would impact outcomes. 41% even felt that the impact of the reductions would reduce the numbers of nursing students that could be accepted on programmes.
In these difficult times then, nurse educators need to come together as a strong community of practice. We need to support each other, support our students and support the case for ongoing investment into high-quality nurse education. With over 13,000 members, the RCN Education Forum is here to provide members with opportunities to share concerns with colleagues who are able to feed into policy and practise across the four countries of the UK. We are able to discuss the concerns of members with the wider College, and to lobby for greater support for nurse educators. Crucially, the forum and its members are able to submit resolutions and items for discussion at RCN Congress, bringing nurse education to a national stage. In recent months, the Forum has been involved in a series of listening events to learn more about the challenges being faced, engaging with nurse educators from practice and Higher Education, along with other key stakeholders such as University managers, the NMC and NHS England.
These are challenging times for all of those who work within nurse education. The RCN and the Education Forum are here to support, guide and lobby on your behalf. So, if you are concerned about the state of Higher Education and how this affects you, your students and the profession, get in touch and get involved!
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