The University and College Admissions Service (UCAS) has published a statistical release providing core numbers for the January equal consideration deadline 2025. There were 600,660 applications for full-time undergraduate university and college courses starting this Autumn, marking a 1% increase since 2024. There was also an increase in applicants to education providers in England (1%), Scotland (2%), and Northern Ireland (3%), while Wales saw a 2% decrease.
The Council has published a briefing which summarises some of the key headlines for the whole higher education sector as well as for nursing and midwifery.
Ed Hughes, Chief Executive at the Council of Deans of Health, said:
“It is very concerning to see the continued decline in applications to nursing and midwifery courses again this year.
The fall in applications has been particularly driven by a decrease in mature students. In order to support growth and realise the ambitions for the future health service, we need concerted action to address this – it is clear that the current incentives for mature students to enter these vital professions are not working. For some of our underserved communities, mature students will be a large part of the potential future workforce, so we simply cannot afford not to make health care professions attractive for them.
Whilst the application data at this point is very disappointing, this is not the last opportunity for aspiring healthcare professionals to apply for degree programmes. Our members will continue to work hard to recruit students to the variety of healthcare programmes they offer that lead to fulfilling careers in a broad range of professions and roles over the next few months. Delivering the future healthcare workforce needs concerted action, both nationally and regionally, between government, integrated care systems, healthcare employers and education providers to make careers in the health professions, and the programmes which lead to them, more attractive to a wide range of potential students.”
Read the briefing here: UCAS January 2025 deadline briefing