Asked by: Lord Lilley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether universities in England face any financial or other restrictions on the number of nurses they may accept for training; and if so, what are the restrictions.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government does not impose a cap on nurse training places. Higher Education Providers (HEPs) make decisions on their intakes, and these are based on demand from suitable candidates and the ability of education and healthcare systems to provide the necessary capacity (both academic and practise). HEPs receive funding to support the delivery of these courses from student fees, as well as additional support from the Strategic Priorities Grant.
We have committed to deliver 50,000 more nurses into the NHS by the end of this Parliament. We will achieve this through a combination of investing in and diversifying our training pipeline and recruiting and retaining more nurses in the NHS.
Since September 2020, all eligible nursing, midwifery and allied health profession students have received a non-repayable training grant of a minimum of £5,000 per academic year. Additional funding is also available for studying certain courses, for example mental health and learning disabilities nursing, with further financial support available to students for childcare, accommodation costs and travel costs.
This support package comes in addition to maintenance and tuition fee loans provided by the Student Loans Company. It enables healthcare students to focus on their studies and placements and helps alleviate financial pressures which students might be facing.
Health Education England (HEE) has invested £55 million in expanding clinical placements, including simulated learning capacity. This funding is being provided in addition to £180 million, spent each year by HEE on placements for around 120,000 nursing, midwifery and allied health professional students.