As I write this editorial, rumours abound about the future of funding for pre-registration nurse and midwifery education following the Comprehensive Spending Review on 25 November. Each year around £5 billion is spent funding healthcare education by Health Education England (HEE), about £1 billion of this is spent funding pre-registration non-medical education. In a time of austerity and as the Government tries to cut the Country's budget deficit this is potentially an easy target.

Currently pre-registration nursing students in England have their tuition fees paid by the Department of Health. Universities are paid the benchmark price of £8315 (outside London). This is significantly less than the £9000 tuition fees paid by students …