Nurses would stay in their jobs for up to 10 years longer if their student loans were forgiven, an RCN report has revealed.
We're calling for the government to take ownership of nurses' student debt and introduce a loan-forgiveness model for nursing staff, in return for working in the NHS and wider public services for a set period of time, following the completion of their degree.
The policy, if implemented, could keep an extra 14,000 nurses working in the NHS over the next decade – enough to fill over half of the current vacancies in England. This would provide a major boost to the standard of patient care.
There's been a huge rise in nursing staff quitting the profession since the pandemic. Between 2021 and 2024, there was a 67% increase in the number leaving the NMC register after just 5 years. The number walking away within 10 years increased by 43% during the same period.
Our report found that if current trends continue, by the end of the next parliament 11,000 nurses will have quit after spending less than a decade in the profession.
Turning around the staffing crisis is critical for patient safety. We outlined this in a series of recommendations to the government ahead of NHS workforce and 10-year plans and the upcoming Comprehensive Spending Review.
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger said: "Last week, ministers announced they wanted to take direct control of the health service. They must now apply the same logic by undoing failed nurse education reforms and investing in the future supply of the highly skilled nursing professionals our services desperately need. Nursing is an incredible career but we cannot afford to watch thousands walk away from the profession and for student numbers to collapse further."
Our report, with independent analysis by London Economics, found health services are not only being hit by the failure to retain staff, but also by collapsing student recruitment and high numbers leaving nursing courses.
Figures in our report show a 35% drop in applications to nursing courses in England since 2021. Of those who do start their courses, 21% will drop out before graduating each year. Nearly three-quarters of nursing students considering quitting gave financial difficulties as their reason.
Based on a survey of more than 5,000 nurses in England, the report measured the effect that different scenarios, including student loan forgiveness, could have on retention. Nurses told the researchers they would be willing to commit to 7 to 10 more years in roles that offered student loan forgiveness.
Nicola Ranger added: "Nursing and patients are being failed by a broken education system. The prospect of huge debt continues to put off the nurses of the future, while those that do enter the profession are given little reason to stay in their jobs. This results in too few nurses in our services and falling standards of care for patients, with the most vulnerable suffering the most."
Read the RCN's full report.
