Nurse interest down

APPLICATIONS to nursing courses have dropped by a third in the two years since student bursaries were axed, figures show.

The number of people in England applying to begin training fell from 51,840 in 2016 to 35,260 this year, according to Ucas, representing a decline of almost 32%.

There are almost 5,000 fewer applications than last year, when 40,060 were received.