Nursing leaders today warn the NHS faces a staffing crisis after figures showed a sharp fall in applications for training places.
The number applying to be student nurses has dropped from 65,620 to 53,010 – a fall of 12,610 on last year.
The fall comes after the Government axed student bursaries for trainee nurses and midwives.
From this September they have to take out loans to cover living costs and £9,000 a year fees.
The Royal College of Nursing said the figures case doubt on the ability to train enough nurses to fill the 40,000 vacant nurse posts in England.
The figure by the university applications service UCAS showed applications in England for student nursing places were down 23% in England.
There was also a 28% fall in the number of people aged 25 and over applying and a 27% fall in number of male applicants.
Article from The Mirror, 13 July 2017