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The Royal College of Nursing is calling for an emergency package of measures to support nurse recruitment after UCAS revealed a significant drop in the number of nursing applicants in England.
The University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) says there has been a 26% reduction in the number of applicants to study nursing in England in just two years.
In total, there were just 24,680 nursing applicants this year compared to 27,370 applicants in 2023 and 33,410 in 2022.
The number of mature students applying for nursing degrees has also fallen substantially, from 18,980 in 2021 to 11,190 in 2024.
Royal College of Nursing calls for immediate intervention
The RCN has expressed “deep concern” over the figures and says failure to address these “critical issues” will make the ambitions set out in the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan “unattainable”.
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Pat Cullen said: “These latest figures expose a widening gap between the aspirations of the plan and the level of political effort required to make them a reality. This needs immediate intervention and corrective action to protect patients now and in the future.
“A decline in applicants risks causing a cascading effect, with fewer students accepted onto nursing courses leading to diminished course cohorts and eventually lower numbers graduating and becoming registered nurses.”
The nursing body is now calling on the government to implement an array of measures designed to boost nursing recruitment. This includes:
- Funding nurses’ student tuition fees
- Implementing a loan forgiveness scheme for NHS nurses
- Reintroducing universal living maintenance grants.
Ms Cullen says that the consistent decline in the number of nursing students is impacting patient safety, and she has urged the government to develop a “comprehensive” plan that addresses the nursing recruitment crisis.
Government “cannot afford to be complacent”
The NHS Confederation says the new data from UCAS is “concerning”, particularly given that one of the top priorities of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan is to increase the number of adult nurse training places to almost 28,000 over the next five years.
Caroline Waterfield, director of development and employment at NHS Employers, part of the NHS Confederation said: “The UK has a very competitive labour market. Careers in health and care have a lot to offer – and it’s important that national campaign activity showcases this over the coming months as people decide to apply to university before the June deadline, and then through clearing processes.
“We know that many people, particularly those over 18, apply for healthcare courses between now and the September intake. We cannot afford to be complacent.”
Ms Waterfield says the government must now ensure that all routes into nursing are “fully functioning” so that more people are able to access nursing training programmes.
“It is absolutely vital that successive governments commit to fully funding and delivering the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan so that we can build the NHS the workforce it needs to provide safe, modern and accessible care to patients now and in the future,” she added.