Nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom might no longer be required to hold degrees under potential plans from the Conservative party, which is exploring the possibility of replacing degree programs with apprenticeships. Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch is examining whether prospective nurses and midwives could be trained on the job, thereby avoiding tuition fee debt.
This initiative stems from concerns within the Conservative party about the "degreeification of the world of work." The party is developing plans to increase the number of apprenticeships available.
However, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has strongly criticized the suggestion, asserting that degree-level education for nurses directly improves patient safety outcomes. England introduced the requirement for all new nurses to have a degree-level education in 2013. At the time, the Department of Health stated this move would equip nurses to handle increasingly complex patient needs and reflect their enhanced responsibilities. Previously, only about a quarter of nurses held degrees, with most new nurses completing two-year diploma courses.
Currently, most nurses pursue a three-year undergraduate degree, typically requiring at least five GCSEs and two A-levels, although nursing degree apprenticeships are available. Graduates often incur significant student debt, with recent nursing graduates facing an average debt of £50,160, according to the RCN, a figure higher than that for doctors.
Badenoch commented on the NHS staffing, stating she found it "very strange" that the service was not staffed by "homegrown people." She questioned the necessity of nurses obtaining degrees and indicated that the government was actively reviewing the requirement, drawing a parallel to the recent change that removed the degree requirement for police officers.
A spokesperson for the RCN responded to Badenoch's remarks, calling them "tired perceptions of nursing" that are "decades out of date." The RCN emphasized that nursing is a "safety-critical, highly-skilled profession and vital to the delivery of modern health care," adding that "all the evidence shows, nurses being degree-level educated improves patient safety outcomes." The RCN also pointed to the Conservative party's record, citing tripled student fees, the scrapping of the nursing bursary, and years of pay cuts that led to strikes.