Nursing applications in decline

A disconcerting trend within the UK's healthcare sector has recently emerged, marked by a noticeable decrease in applications to study nursing for the academic year 2023-2024. This data, recently released by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) (2023), starkly contrasts with the surge in interest seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. The potential ramifications of this downturn are wide-reaching and could pose severe challenges to the healthcare sector, particularly affecting the quality of patient care.

UCAS reports a nearly 20% decrease in nursing applications across all age groups within the UK, as of the January deadline. The total number of individuals applying to study nursing from autumn 2023 stands at 33 570, which represents a drop of more than 7600 compared to the same time in 2022, equating to a decrease of 18.5%. The current figures reflect a 3% decrease from January 2020 and only a 3% increase from 2019 (UCAS, 2023).