The number of new nursing students has fallen by up to 40 per cent in parts of England, threatening NHS rescue plans, an analysis shows.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) warned that the number of people training to become nurses fell across all regions between 2020 and 2023.

Large swathes of the country are being left behind by a failing education system, it said, and called for better financial incentives for prospective students.

Data from university admissions service UCAS showed that admissions to pre-registration nursing courses fell by 40 per cent in the North East – the worst affected region.

The number of new nursing students has fallen by up to 40 percent in parts of England (stock image)

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) warned that the number of people training to become nurses fell across all regions between 2020 and 2023 (stock image)

The RCN is now urging the government to introduce a loan forgiveness scheme for students who commit to working in the UK after graduating and funding their living costs (stock image)

Yorkshire and Humberside and the South West of England each recorded a fall of 25 per cent, while the fall in uptakes in the East of England was 22 per cent and the South East 19 per cent.

As registered nurses tend to work in the region where they study, the RCN fears this could lead to fewer medical professionals in the same local areas.

Areas that saw smaller declines include the West Midlands, with a fall of 14 percent, and London, with a fall of 12 percent.

The analysis comes a week after Labor unveiled its 10-year plan to fix a “broken NHS”.

The RCN is now urging the government to introduce a loan forgiveness scheme for students who commit to working in the UK after graduating to support their living costs.

General secretary Professor Nicola Ranger said: “The prospect of high debts and a lack of financial support is deterring the nurses of the future and threatens to leave patients without the high-quality nurses they desperately need.”

“Ministers are right to want to modernize the NHS and move care into the community, but to achieve this you need to make nursing an attractive profession again.”

There are currently more than 31,000 unfilled nursing posts in the English NHS.

The health service's long-term workforce plan calls for increasing the number of nursing staff from 350,000 to 550,000 by 2036/37.

A Department of Health spokesperson said: “It will take time to recruit the necessary staff, but we are committed to delivering the largest expansion of the NHS workforce in history with more midwives, nurses, doctors and allied health professionals.”