NHS reforms are under 'direct threat' from a broken nurse education model, as new universities admissions figures show just 130 extra students started nursing courses this year compared with 2023.
Today’s figures from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) show that acceptances onto nursing courses increased just 0.6% between 2023 and 2024, with numbers significantly down (-19%) on 2021.
When comparing the 2023 and 2024 nursing cohorts, the 0.6% (130 students) growth from year to year is equivalent to less than one additional new nurse for every single one of the 215 NHS Trusts in England.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan for England aims to grow the nursing workforce from around 350,000 nurses to around 550,000 in 2036/37, an additional 200,000 in just over a decade.
The Royal College of Nursing says ministers need to urgently make nursing a more attractive career to meet growth targets, including by introducing a loan forgiveness model for those who commit to working in public services and improving financial support for those in education. It must come alongside fundamental reform to raise pay to attract more nursing staff into the profession.
There are over 31k nurse vacancies in the NHS in England, whilst the pay for a typical nurse has fallen by 23% since 2020/21.
Responding to the latest UCAS figures, Executive Director of RCN England, Patricia Marquis, said:
“Today’s figures should ring alarm bells in government. As demand for services rises, and targets say we need hundreds of thousands of new nurses, ministers are struggling to recruit even an additional one hundred. Nurse education is not just totally broken, but a direct threat to NHS reforms.
“Huge debt and inadequate financial support are pushing people away from nursing, whilst worsening pay prospects make a bad situation worse. This week’s announcement on pay from government will have done little to make nursing a more attractive career to those considering it. Ministers need to understand their decisions on pay have consequences that reach far beyond the wage packets of staff.
“It’s simple, if the government wants to transform care, it has to transform nursing. That means removing financial barriers by introducing loan forgiveness and improving financial support for those in education. That must come alongside fundamental reform to raise pay, attracting more brilliant people into the profession.”
Ends
Notes to editors
There are currently over 31,000 unfilled nursing posts NHS England, including midwives and health visitors. The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan for England aims to grow the nursing workforce from around 350,000 nurses to around 550,000 in 2036/37. RCN analysis shows there are just 1,000 extra people a year currently forecast to start nursing courses in England by 2029 compared with a decade earlier.
The latest figures from UCAS show the number of acceptances onto nursing degrees saw a marginal increase of 0.6%, from 20,790 in 2023 to 20,920 in 2024 (just 130 additional accepted students). This is 5.8% higher than the 2019 figure (19,770). However, it is a 19% drop from 2021, when acceptances peaked (25,815), and an 18% drop from 2020 (25,510).
There are 215 NHS Trusts in England [Ref: NHS: Key Facts And Figures | The King's Fund]. 130 additional nursing students divided by 215 NHS Trusts is 0.6 (less than one additional nursing student per Trust).
