Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to create more (a) training and (b) employment opportunities for student nurses.

In September 2020, we made a new funding package of at least £5,000 available to all eligible pre-registration nursing students at an English University. The next iteration of the NHS People Plan will set out the needs of the National Health Service making sure we put the right measures in place to support and grow the workforce. An additional £15 million has also been made available through Health Education England to increase clinical placements in the NHS to support this growth.

We are also seeking to widen participation by ensuring that there are opportunities available for those who are unable to learn through a full-time degree. The Nursing Associate role and the Nurse Degree Apprenticeship in England provide work-based training routes into the registered nursing profession.