§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Prime Minister how many student nurses joined the National Health Service throughout the United Kingdom in each of the years 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983; and how many are currently undergoing training.
§ The Prime MinisterThe number of nurse learners entering training in the United Kingdom during the years ending 31 March is given in the following table.
1979 1980 1981 1982 1983* Students 28,205 26,058 25,166 26,062 24,501 Pupils 15,824 15,186 14,350 14,430 13,266 Total 44,029 41,244 39,516 40,492 37,767 * Provisional figures. The figures include a small proportion of nurse learners who are training in HM Forces and the private sector.
Provisional figures for 30 September 1983 show that there were about 92,000 nurse learners at various stages of training in the Health Service in the United Kingdom.