RCN analysis has found that more than 32,000 student nurses in England could drop out of their courses by 2029. That’s enough to fill every nursing vacancy in the NHS in England.
To rescue nursing and deliver its NHS reforms, the UK government must make nursing a more attractive degree and career by introducing a loan-forgiveness model for students who commit to working in the NHS and wider public services, alongside universal maintenance grants.
We believe addressing the debt burden and easing cost of living pressures are the best ways to reduce the drop-out rate, alongside increasing nursing pay to make the career more attractive.
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger said: "To deliver the government’s NHS reforms we need to supercharge recruitment into nursing, but we can’t do that with a broken education model or more real-terms pay cuts. Ministers should change course and agree a social contract with nursing students that sees pay rise and loans forgiven if they commit to working in public services."
This comes as the UK government proposes just a 2.8% pay uplift for NHS nurses in England and new data from the universities’ admissions service UCAS shows just 130 extra students started nursing courses in England this year compared with 2023.
Nicola added: “Transforming care cannot happen without investment to transform nursing. That means changing the way we recruit into the profession and making it a more attractive career by raising pay."
Nursing students in England pay tuition fees of £9,250 each year, which is due to rise to £9,535 in 2025. There is no universal maintenance grant to support living costs. Nursing education is unique, requiring students to complete thousands of clinical hours alongside their academic studies. This leaves them unable to seek paid employment as other students can, causing hardship.
Earlier this year, RCN analysis revealed the number of people studying to become nurses has collapsed in every region in England by up to 40% since the pandemic.
