Union reveals that the worst-affected region, the North-east, recorded a significant decline of 40% in acceptances of pre-registration courses.
According to an analysis by the largest nursing union, the number of nursing students has declined significantly across England, with some regions recording a 40% fall in successful applications.
The most recent financial reports from the university admission service, Ucas, revealed that the number of people accepted into nursing programs dropped across all parts of England between 2020 and 2023.
According to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), the North-east region recorded a 40% decline in acceptances on pre-registration courses, marking it the hardest-hit region.
The report revealed that London recorded 14% decline, the West Midlands 14%, East Midlands 15%, the north-west 18%, the south-east 19%, eastern England 22%, and Humberside and south-west England and Yorkshire each recorded 25% declines.
Prof Nicola Ranger, The RCN’s chief executive and general secretary, stated: “The prospect of huge debt and lack of financial support is putting off the nurses of the future, threatening to leave patients without the highly trained nursing professionals they desperately need. Nursing is an incredible career, but the government must fix a broken nurse education model to fix a fractured NHS.
“Across the NHS alone, there are tens of thousands of vacancies, and demand for services continues to rise. We desperately need more people to join the profession, but nursing numbers are going in the wrong direction.
“Ministers are right to want to modernise the NHS and shift care into the community, but to do that you must make nursing an attractive career once again. That means forgiving the tuition fee loans of those who commit to working in the health service and funding their living costs. Investment in nursing is always money well spent.”
The number of people accepted onto nursing programs has declined for the last two years in succession, the Labour Party described as “incredibly concerning” while in opposition. In 2023, the numbers fell by 13%.
The report was released a week following the government’s launching of a consultation on its 10-year plan to transform NHS, which includes a long-term task force to propose to increase the number of nurses from 350,000 to 550,000 in 2036-37.
Per the RCN’s analysis, only 1000 extra people a year are forecast to start nursing courses in 2029 compared with the previous decade, while there are over 31,000 nursing posts in the English health service.
The RCN stated that nursing students needed specific funding commitment to encourage domestic recruitment and reflect their unique circumstances.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care stated: “The NHS has faced chronic workforce shortages for years, with staff being burnt out and demoralised.
“This government will build a health service fit for the future with the workforce it needs to get patients seen on time.
“Bringing in the necessary staff will take time, but we are committed to delivering the biggest expansion of NHS staff in history with more midwives, nurses, doctors, and allied health professionals.”
