Many young people are motivated by a career in healthcare but are being put off. Emma Dodsworth from the Nuffield Trust explains why young people aren’t going into healthcare degrees and how the NHS, education leaders and the government can work together to deliver the NHS workforce of the future.
Expanding the supply of homegrown healthcare workers is central to the ambitions of the NHS long-term workforce plan in England – including doubling medical school places and, overall, around a two-thirds increases across nursing and other clinical training places by 2031–32.
Recent trends are concerning however, as the numbers of nursing applicants to English universities fell by around a third in the last three years, and acceptances by almost a fifth in the last two years to 2023.
A new survey commissioned by Universities UK of over 5,000 people aged 16 to 26 sheds important light on the motivations to, and barriers against, pursuing healthcare careers. The results are striking: there is significant, although not universal, interest in these careers. But there are still considerable problems around the perceptions of both the training pathway and roles themselves.
Interest in a healthcare career
It is positive to see that almost three in four young people are considering or have considered a career in healthcare (73%). However, one in eight respondents were unfamiliar with the variety of career options within the NHS beyond becoming a nurse or doctor.
Many young people spoke of altruistic motivations for pursuing a healthcare career, with respondents saying improving the lives of others (46%) and having a rewarding career (40%) are the most important factors.
