Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on NHS services in Northamptonshire of recent changes in the numbers of student nurses in Northamptonshire.

Student nurses in training are supernumerary to the workforce and as such do not provide any Service. It takes three years to train a nurse and we have over 52,000 students in training. The University and College Admissions Service reports show that nationally, the number of applicants to nursing courses is up 4% compared to the same point last year.

In Northamptonshire the local clinical commissioning groups report that the number of students who started in September is stable, with further work on-going locally to increase numbers for the March 2020 intake. The Department has put in place a financial package for students that means a typical student has 25% more money to live on while studying than under the bursary system.