The number of UK-educated nurses and midwives joining the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register has fallen for the first time in several years, new data has shown.
Latest NMC data reveals that despite the register reaching a record 867,935 nurses, midwives and nursing associates, the rate of growth has almost halved over the last year.
The nursing regulator confirmed it will ‘closely monitor’ the situation amid a fall in both new international and UK nurses and midwives joining the register in the year to March 2026.
In its new report published today, the NMC revealed that between April 2025 and March 2026, the register grew by only 1.7% compared to 3.3% between April 2024 and March 2025.
The slowdown has been largely attributed to a drop in internationally educated professionals joining the register – with 26.4% of new joiners in 2025-26 coming from overseas, compared to 39.1% in the year before and a high of 49.4% in 2023-24.
In the last year, 10,961 internationally educated professionals joined the register for the first time which is 9,708 (47%) fewer than the previous year (20,669 in March 2025).
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However, the data also reveals that the number of UK-educated professionals joining the register has also decreased by 4.9% – with 30,581 UK-educated professionals joining in the year to March 2026, compared to the 32,164 who joined the previous year
According to analysis by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) – which has described the trajectory of the nursing workforce as ‘deeply worrying’ – this marks the first time in five years that the number of new UK-educated professionals joining the register has fallen.
While the register has grown overall by 41,542 professionals, at the same time, an increasing number of professionals left.
Some 30,323 professionals left the register in the last year – up 5.3% from the year before, with registrants citing retirement, physical or mental health and burnout or exhaustion as the main reason.
Of those who left, 25,094 of those were UK-educated which is 6.7% more than in March 2025 (23,513), and 5,229 were internationally educated which is 0.9% fewer than in March 2025 (5,276).
The register as of March 2026 is 75.6% UK-educated registrants and 24.4% internationally educated.
‘A damning indictment of how badly nursing has been treated’
The RCN has warned that disinvesting in nursing and stopping international recruitment has resulted in a fall in nursing numbers despite demand for services increasing.
RCN’s chief nursing officer Professor Lynn Woolsey said: ‘These figures are difficult reading for a Prime Minister with ambitions to rebuild the NHS and reform social care.
‘We’re seeing domestic nurse numbers fall for the first time in several years at a time when international recruitment has continued to evaporate.
‘As demand for services increases and care needs become more complex, the trajectory for the nursing workforce is deeply worrying.
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‘Our warnings about the dangers of disinvesting in our domestic nursing workforce while stopping international recruitment were not heeded, but this government doesn’t have to repeat the mistakes of the past.
‘The upcoming workforce plan must deliver new investment to boost domestic nurse growth and provide measures to improve retention.
‘It really is a damning indictment of how badly nursing has been treated that today’s figures show how few would recommend it as a career.
‘However, it’s of little surprise when understaffing leaves staff so demoralised by the standard of care they’re able to provide, while low pay and an outdated pay structure fundamentally undervalue their skill and contribution’
‘More diverse than ever’
The overall number of nurses, midwives and nursing associates registered has reached a record high of 867,935 – an increase of 14,228 more than last year, representing 2.5% of the working population in the UK.
A total of 87.6% of registrants identify as a woman, 10.9% a man, 1.4% prefer not to say and 0.1% self-describe.
As of March 2026, there has been an 1.4% increase in nurses registered (799,001), a 4.2% increase in midwives (48,545), and a 11.4% increasing in nursing associates (14,238).
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The NMC has highlighted that the register is ‘more diverse than ever’ with more than a third of registrants being from Black, Asian, and ethnic minority backgrounds (33.8% compared to 32.5% last year).
However, the data also shows that Nigeria and Ghana have become two of the three biggest sources of internationally educated nurses and midwives joining the UK workforce, despite both countries being on the government’s recruitment ‘red list’.
Emma Westcott, executive director of strategy and insight at the NMC, said: ‘Together, these findings show a workforce that is larger and more diverse than ever, but one where growth is slowing and future supply cannot be taken for granted.’