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In the UK, the latest UCAS data reveals a 34% decline in total applications to study nursing, compared to 2021. This equates to 15,000 fewer applications, alongside a rising number of nursing students leaving their courses before completion.  

Despite being the future workforce of our safety-critical nursing profession, student nurses across the UK are experiencing significant financial hardship during their pre-registration education. Increasingly, they are turning to hardship funds from their universities and frequently relying on food banks. While the cost-of-living crisis has affected many, financial support for nursing students has remained stagnant, failing to meet their basic needs. 

Although nursing students in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland continue to receive a bursary, it has remained unchanged in Northern Ireland since 2012, and at £430.42 per month, it is widely considered as inadequate to meet students' needs. 

In Northern Ireland, the Department of Health is currently reviewing the financial support available to students on all pre-registration health care programmes commissioned by the Department, including nursing.  

Officials will be working with universities and student representatives to gain a clearer understanding of issues such as attrition rates and the number of nursing students relying on university hardship funds. 

In 2023, ¾ÅÓÎÌåÓý Scotland conducted a survey of student members and published a report highlighting the significant financial hardship faced by nursing students. These findings led to an MSP roundtable event where members shared their experiences with the chief nursing officer and opposition politicians. 

As a result, the Scottish government has committed to reviewing nursing and midwifery student financial support, a commitment also reflected in the recommendations from the Scottish Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce. The review is currently underway, with ¾ÅÓÎÌåÓý Scotland actively involved in the process. They are urging the Scottish government to implement a cost-of-living increase to the bursary and to establish a regular review. 

To ensure nursing students are properly supported in their studies, ¾ÅÓÎÌåÓý Wales also believes that nursing education and research must receive investment and backing from higher education institutions (HEIs) to thrive and attract students. This, in turn, requires government action to ensure the broader HEI funding system rewards universities that invest in their nursing departments. 

England stopped commissioning nurse education several years ago, and students now pay course fees for pre-registration nursing programmes. The ¾ÅÓÎÌåÓý has called for loan forgiveness in England, which would encourage nurses to remain in the NHS for an additional 7-10 years.  

Although there is commitment in Northern Ireland and Scotland to review the financial support available to nursing students, this issue must be urgently addressed across the UK to safeguard the future of the nursing workforce and ensure the delivery of safe, effective health care.

References

¾ÅÓÎÌåÓý (2023) Nursing Student Finance: The true costs of becoming a nurse. Available at: /About-us/Our-Influencing-work/Policy-briefings/sco-parl-nursing-student-finance-280623

Scottish Government (2025) Ministerial Scottish Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce: report and recommended actions. Available at:

Sheehan, P. (2024), 'To ask the Minister of Health whether he has assessed the impact of increases in the cost of living on student nurses in receipt of a bursary', Northern Ireland Assembly questions, 9 December, AQO 1301/22-27. Available at: (Accessed: 19 March 2025).

UCAS (2025) 2025 Cycle Applicant Figures – 29 January Deadline. Available at: