By Professor John Robertson

The Guardian today has:

Numbers studying nursing down sharply in all parts of England, RCN says North-east the worst-affected region, recording 40% drop in acceptances on to pre-registration courses, union finds

but for some reason never actually tells us how many have been accepted for places into English universities to do Nursing degrees. It’s:

13,870 students were accepted into nursing courses in England in 2024, down from 14,010 in 2023.¹

And in Scotland?

The figures show that the number of applicants for nursing courses in Scotland is down 8.3% compared to the same point last year. By the January deadline, 4,650 people had applied to study nursing in Scotland, compared to 5,070 at the same point last year.²

Usual sums then? All things being equal, pro rata, per head, Scotland might have been expected to train 10% of England’s 13 870 or 1 387 but is in fact training 4 650, 3 to 4 times as many! There’s a headline story:

Scotland is nurse training capital of the UK?

Sources:

1. https://www.nursingtimes.net/education-and-training/a-level-results-day-nursing-numbers-down-in-england-15-08-2024/#:~:text=In%202021%2C%20when%20applications%20and,was%20%22still%20going%20backwards%22.
2. https://www.rcn.org.uk/news-and-events/news/ucas-figures-scotland-150224