Nursing students in Wales are being pushed into poverty, with many forced to choose between buying food and travelling to clinical placements, while taking on mounting debt to pursue their careers, the Royal College of Nursing has warned.

RCN Wales is calling on the Welsh Government to undertake an urgent review of the true cost of studying nursing, and to ensure financial support reflects the real pressures students are facing.

RCN Wales is calling for nursing student support in Wales to be protected and increased with a non-means-tested NHS Wales bursary that is in line with the cost of living and adjusted according to inflation, and said that while the current bursary is a “vital foundation of support”, it “no longer reflects the reality of living costs or the financial demands of NHS placements.”

RCN Wales says it is increasingly hearing from students across the country who are struggling to cope financially while studying.

Students have described not having enough money to travel to placements, while also working significant additional hours on top of full-time study and placements, leading to severe exhaustion.

Many say they are being penalised by means testing where household income does not reflect their financial reality.

Others have spoken about facing housing insecurity and struggling to meet basic living costs, with some even considering leaving their courses because of overwhelming financial pressures.

RCN Wales Executive Director Nicola Williams said: “While we welcome the existing non-means-tested bursary, it simply does not go far enough in the current financial climate.”

“We are hearing directly from students who cannot afford to get to placements, who are working exhausting hours alongside full-time study, and who are struggling to meet even their most basic needs.

“Some are being penalised by means testing that does not reflect their real circumstances, leaving them without the support they need.”