UCAS figures published today show that universities in Wales have been unable to fill the Welsh government commissioned places on nursing courses and attract the number of nursing students needed.
Despite Wales being the only country UK-wide to see an increase in applications for 2024 to 4,095, the acceptance figure was only 1270, falling alarmingly short of the 2400 Welsh government commissioned university places.
Helen Whyley, Executive Director, RCN Wales said:
“We previously welcomed the 16% rise in UCAS applications to study nursing in Wales for 2024. However, the conversion to actual nursing students has stagnated over the last three years, which means there still isn’t a sustainable domestic supply for the future.
“At present, poor domestic student recruitment and retention of the existing workforce are being offset by international recruitment, both for student and internationally educated nurses. We celebrate the importance of a diverse workforce in Wales; however, we must work to strengthen our domestic pipeline to meet the needs of future health and social care services across Wales.
“Our intelligence shows that the level of financial support to students is so low that it detracts many from commencing their courses. We believe there is an urgent need for the Welsh government to increase levels of funding for students studying nursing in Wales.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Overall applications to study nursing in Wales over the last 3 years have declined and we are not seeing the translation of this recent increase in applications to accepted places.
There has also been an ongoing decline in the number of acceptances since 2021 with an overall decline of 24.9%.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is the voice of nursing across the UK and is the largest professional union of nursing staff in the world with over half a million members in the UK, including around 30,500 members in Wales. The RCN promotes the interests of nurses and patients on a wide range of issues and helps shape healthcare policy by working closely with the UK government and other national and international institutions, trade unions, professional bodies, and voluntary organisations.
For more information, contact the RCN Wales communications and media team on 02920 680 769 or mediawales@rcn.org.uk
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