Fewer Mature Students Applying for Nursing Courses, Says Admissions Head

A nurse prepares a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in Coventry, England, on April 22, 2022. Jacob King—WPA Pool/Getty Images

There has been a concerning decline in the number of mature students from the UK applying for nursing and teaching courses, the head of the University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) has warned.

UCAS Chief Executive Jo Saxton made the comments after the admissions service had seen a 15 percent drop across all courses in the number of domestic applications from people aged 30 and over, between 2023 and 2024.

“The bit that concerns me, and I’m sure is a concern for policy makers and many others out there, is the decline in applications from mature students, and particularly interest from that cohort in the kinds of courses that the nation really, really, needs more of. So anything healthcare aligned—nursing, in particular—and teaching,” Saxton said during a webinar hosted by the think tank the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) on Tuesday.

There had been a “really healthy demand” from domestic 18-year-olds, with application figures for the group being the second-highest on record, Saxon added in comments made ahead A-Level and BTec results day on Thursday.

Nursing Applications Down

According to UCAS figures for applications made by the June 30 deadline, 34,460 over 30s had applied for university courses, down from 40,650 in 2023.

Nursing applications from over 30s fell from 14,900 last year to 13,210 this year, a decrease of 11 percent.

Mature prospective nurses also generally make up the bulk of all over 30s applications, this year accounting for almost one-third (32 percent).

Saxton told HEPI Director Nick Hillman that a possible reason for the decline in mature student applications could be the recent low unemployment rate, relating that over the past decade there had been a trend where during times of high unemployment, UCAS saw an increased number of mature applicants to those kinds of courses.

“I think that’s partly why those applications aren’t where the nation needs them to be at the the moment,” she said.

UCAS had warned in February that nursing applications across all age groups were down in England, having fallen by 9.8 percent in a year by January 2024—a problem for the NHS which is grappling with more than 42,000 vacancies in the profession.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) had urged the then-Conservative government to fund nursing student tuition fees, implement a loan forgiveness scheme for NHS nurses, and reintroduce universal living maintenance grants.

The RCN’s General Secretary and Chief Executive Pat Cullen had warned that “a decline in applicants risks causing a cascading effect, with fewer students accepted onto nursing courses leading to diminished course cohorts and eventually lower numbers graduating and becoming registered nurses.”

NHS ‘Reliant’ on Immigrants

The UCAS chief said that her service was working with NHS England to see how it can help boost domestic applications—likely a welcome measure from those in the sector concerned about the health service’s reliance on overseas workers.

Earlier this year, the extent to which the NHS relies on non-UK nationals to staff its hospitals was revealed.

Analysis by PA news agency found a record-breaking 20.4 percent of NHS England posts are filled by foreign nationals, including 36.3 percent of doctors and 30 percent of nurses and health visitors, prompting industry professionals to issue warnings over the importance of training domestic talent.

The Nuffield Trust think tank was one organisation which warned against the dependence on using overseas staff in health care, calling it “far from a sustainable, long-term solution.”

Health Secretary Wes Streeting later said in May—when in the Opposition as the shadow health minister—that the issue poses long term strategic risks for the NHS because of the global shortage of health care workers.

Leaders in the health care professions have also said that retention is just as important as recruitment.

Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, said in February that keeping staff “will be key in the short term to preventing pressures from worsening and ensuring the recruitment base we are looking to build from has solid foundations.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has put improving the NHS as a primary objective of the new government, as well as improving the training of domestic workers to reduce reliance on overseas labour.