Economists have estimated that demand for healthcare courses will drop by at least 6% following the removal of bursaries next year, leading to thousands fewer nurses being trained in 2017.
They also predicted that universities would lose at least £57m next year, largely due to smaller student intakes, under the new arrangements that will see nursing, midwifery and allied health professional students in England having to take out loans to fund their tuition fees and living costs.
Meanwhile, the report – titled The Impact of the 2015 Comprehensive Spending Review on Higher Education Fees and Funding Arrangements in Subjects Allied to Medicine – estimated the government would fail to make the vast majority of savings it expects from the move because a large proportion of student loans would have to be written off.
According to the analysis, carried out by consultants London Economics for Unison and the National Union of Students, the cost to healthcare students to study at university would increase by 71% under the government reforms.
Full story in The Nursing Times 24 May 2016