Responding to UCAS data published today, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger said:
“As ministers talk up increasing domestic nurse recruitment, today we see applicants fall to a new low. These figures are devastating news for the 10 Year Health Plan and alarm bells should be ringing in government. You simply cannot transform care while a broken education model chokes off growth and puts off the nurses of the future.
“Students can see that nursing is one of the most undervalued professions in the NHS. Those pursuing the career face poverty during study and sky-high debt on graduation, only to endure low pay and a lack of career progression once they start work. This cannot go on.
“The NHS, social care and community services desperately need tens of thousands of extra nurses to plug cavernous gaps in staffing. Ministers should have prioritised boosting domestic nurse numbers, before they slashed overseas recruitment, leaving patients adrift.
“The success of the government's reforms, and the very safety of patients, now rests on ministers delivering a workforce plan worthy of the name, with fully funded measures to supercharge domestic recruitment. To get a grip on the staffing crisis, we need a new deal for nursing students, including loan forgiveness for those who commit to working in the NHS and public services, alongside universal, uplifted maintenance grants, and guaranteed jobs after graduation.”
Ends
Notes to editors
The number of domestic (UK) applicants to nursing courses in England, by 30 June, each year since 2019 are as follows:
- 2019: 30,370
- 2020: 36,130
- 2021: 42,950
- 2022: 39,340
- 2023: 32,830
- 2024: 30,490
- 2025: 30,040
The number of domestic (UK) applicants to nursing courses across the UK, by 30 June, each year since 2019 are as follows:
- 2019: 38,860
- 2020: 45,260
- 2021: 53,280
- 2022: 47,860
- 2023: 39,900
- 2024: 37,530
- 2025: 37,170
This year’s figures are the lowest since 2019 for courses in England and across the UK.
New analysis from the RCN this week showed nurse starting salaries are £8k lower than they should be.
