A young woman studying Applications to nursing courses in the UK have risen by almost a third this year, with more than 60,000 people expressing an interest in joining the workforce. Health and nursing leaders put the "extraordinary leap” in applications down in part to people being inspired by the work of nurses during the coronavirus pandemic. "The tireless and outstanding commitment of all our nurses over the past year is the best possible advert for the nursing profession” Mark Radford The data, published today by the University and College Admissions Service (UCAS), showed that 60,130 people had applied to a nursing course for autumn 2021 – an increase of 32% on 2020.