Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many student midwives started their training in (1) the current academic year, and (2) each of the three preceding academic years.

Since the changes to the bursary system in 2017 midwifery places are no longer directly commissioned. The Department makes funding available for clinical placements, with places filled via the normal university application process. The Government has committed to expand midwifery training places by 3,650 over a four year period with an increase of 650 in September 2019 and 1,000 in each of the subsequent years.

Data from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) in the following table shows acceptances to midwifery courses increased by 425 in the academic year 2019-20. The table also shows the number of acceptances in each of the three preceding academic years.

Source: UCAS end of cycle data, 2019