Students accepted onto UK nursing courses down 13%

The number of students accepted onto nursing courses across the UK has fallen by 13% compared to the previous academic year, new data has revealed.

Data published today by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service shows a total of 18,300 students have been accepted onto undergraduate nursing courses in 2023, down from 21,130 the previous year.

This data, released on A-level results day, follows a 16% drop in applications to nursing courses for 2023, as reported last month.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said it represented a “sad story for years to come” and warned that, if the trend continued, the government would miss key targets laid out in the NHS workforce plan.

The UCAS data has shown that all four UK counties have so far seen a fall in the number of acceptances this academic year.

Concerningly, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have all seen figures for student acceptance onto nursing courses plummet below pre-pandemic levels.

Scotland had the biggest decline. Today’s data revealed that 2,850 students were accepted, compared to 3,440 the previous year – a 17% drop. This was also an 8% decrease compared to 2019.

In England, a total of 14,010 students were accepted onto nursing courses – down 13% on 2022. This is, however, a 4% increase on 2019.

Meanwhile, Wales had an 11% decrease for 2023, with a total of 800 students accepted. This means acceptances have dropped by almost a quarter since 2019 (24%).

Northern Ireland also saw a decline in the number of students accepted onto nursing courses, with 640 recorded for 2022 – a 5% decrease.

The UCAS figures are correct as of 17 August 2023 and are being updated every day until 1 September 2023 during the clearing process.

Responding to the data, the RCN deputy director for nursing, Dr Nicola Ashby, said the UK government had “stumbled at the first hurdle of their NHS workforce plan”.

The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, published in June, had pledged to increase students nursing places in England by a third over the next five years.

Dr Ashby said: “These numbers are not just a sad story for today, but a story for years to come of how the ministers baked future nursing shortages into the NHS.

“If the NHS workforce plan is to succeed, the UK government must start providing details on how the plan will begin to deliver the students the NHS needs to see for the future workforce.”

She also called on the government to fund more university places for nursing students and remove “the burden of student debt and tuition fees” from prospective nurses.

Dr Ashby added: “Being a nurse is one of the greatest careers that any prospective students can choose.

“During a cost-of-living crisis, they are being put off by the prospect of debt, low salaries and poor working conditions.”

Meanwhile Helen Whyley, RCN Wales director, said: “The data released today is hugely concerning.

“We know our health and care services are facing huge pressures and we really need more students applying and being accepted onto nursing courses to help with those demands.

“We need to ensure Wales can deliver highly skilled safe patient care, now and in the future.”

Ms Whyley argued that the numbers in Wales had dropped “because nursing is not being seen as an attractive and sustainable career choice”.

“The Welsh Government must act now to ensure this drop in figures is not repeated and that Wales has the staff to fill the substantive registered nurse vacancies in NHS Wales,” she said.

Separately, Colin Poolman, RCN Scotland director, said: “The drop in numbers being accepted on to nursing courses is a real cause for concern amid the stubbornly high registered nurse vacancy rates and ongoing workforce challenges which are compromising patient safety and the well being of staff.

He added: “The prospect of starting a degree course during a cost-of-living crisis is bound to be having an impact.

"The Scottish Government needs to demonstrate that nursing is valued and a career choice worth pursuing.

In addition, RCN Northern Ireland director, Rita Devlin, said it was “very worrying” to see a further fall this year in the number of nursing places that had been accepted at universities in Northern Ireland.

She said: “Nurses in Northern Ireland are currently the lowest paid in the UK and the RCN has said consistently that this will impact on our ability to recruit and retain much-needed nursing staff.

“In short, we need to ensure that a career in nursing is made more attractive and that will be dependent on resolving the crisis we have in terms of pay and transformation of services.

“If we don’t get movement on pay and safe staffing soon, we are walking into a major patient safety crisis.”

Responding to the figures, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Nursing continues to be a rewarding career with thousands of people choosing to study nursing and midwifery every year.

“The latest applicant numbers are still 12% higher than in 2019, following a surge of applications during the pandemic, with eligible students receiving a training grant of at least £5,000 a year.”

Meanwhile they said that there would also be more students coming through clearing “eager to start careers in nursing”, as well as those coming through apprenticeship routes.

The spokesperson added: “We’ve made significant progress in growing the workforce with record numbers of nurses and doctors working in the NHS and the first ever NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, backed by over £2.4 billion in government funding, will further boost education and training, as well as expanding apprenticeships and alternative routes into professional roles.”