Politics · United Kingdom · 3 hrs ago
Conservatives consider replacing nursing degree requirement with apprenticeships
Kemi Badenoch says the Conservatives are considering ending the nursing degree requirement in England and expanding on-the-job apprenticeships.
The proposal could also apply to midwives, and aims to reduce the tuition debt faced by students.
England has required new nurses to be educated to degree level since 2013, when the change was intended to prepare them for more complex patient needs and greater responsibility.
Most nurses now take a three-year undergraduate degree, though nursing degree apprenticeships already exist.
The Royal College of Nursing opposes the idea, saying degree-level education improves patient safety and nursing is a highly skilled, safety-critical profession.
The union says the average debt for the latest cohort of nursing graduates was £50,160.
The Conservatives are still drawing up plans, and the sources do not say whether or when the requirement would change.
Kemi Badenoch says the Conservatives are examining whether nurses and midwives could train on the job without having to obtain degrees.
The party is considering more apprenticeships as part of a plan to end what Badenoch calls the “degreeification” of work.
The Royal College of Nursing says degree-level education improves patient safety.
The requirement for all new nurses in England to be educated to degree level began in 2013.
Nursing graduates had average student debt of £50,160 for the most recent cohort cited by the Royal College of Nursing.
- Who
- Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and the Conservative Party are considering the proposal; the Royal College of Nursing has criticised it.
- What
- The Conservatives are examining whether nurses and midwives could train on the job without a degree.
- When
- Badenoch discussed the issue on Wednesday night; the article was published on 5 November 2026.
- Where
- England, where new nurses have been required to be educated to degree level since 2013.
- Why
- Badenoch raised concerns about student debt and what she calls the “degreeification” of work. The Royal College of Nursing says degree-level education improves patient safety.
Kemi Badenoch and the Conservatives
Royal College of Nursing
Nursing education
Kemi Badenoch and the Conservatives
The Conservatives are examining whether nurses and midwives could train on the job without a degree.
Royal College of Nursing
Degree-level education is important because nursing is a safety-critical, highly skilled profession.
Patient safety
Kemi Badenoch and the Conservatives
Badenoch questioned why nurses must obtain degrees.
Royal College of Nursing
The college says evidence shows degree-level education improves patient safety outcomes.
The requirement for all new nurses in England to be educated to degree level was introduced.
Badenoch told LBC radio that the Conservatives were actively examining whether the degree requirement should change.
The Daily Mail published its report on the proposal and the Royal College of Nursing's criticism.
- Degree requirement
- Introduced in England in 2013
- Average nursing graduate debt
- £50,160 for the most recent cohort cited by the RCN
- Average doctor graduate debt
- £47,774, according to the RCN
- Typical nursing degree
- Three years
What people are saying
We are actively looking at it
I do wonder why we are putting so much debt on young people, and then they can't get jobs afterwards; when they get the jobs, they're not earning very much.
Nursing is a safety-critical, highly-skilled profession and vital to the delivery of modern health care.
All the evidence shows, nurses being degree-level educated improves patient safety outcomes.