‘We need action. We need jobs. We need answers’ — Welsh student nurses face unemployment after 2,300 hours of unpaid training
Student nurses in Wales are facing the prospect of qualifying with no job to go to — just days after a similar crisis emerged for newly trained paramedics — after a key NHS recruitment process was delayed for the second time due to a critical shortage of available posts.
ITV News Wales first reported that the Royal College of Nursing Wales was raising the alarm over the shortage of Band 5 posts for newly qualified nurses, warning that up to 50% of nursing graduates across Wales may have no job at the end of their studies. Now the human face of that crisis has emerged from Carmarthen, where the S23 Adult Nursing cohort — 23 students — have written an open letter describing their situation as one of “deep desperation and disappointment.”
The students say they received an email on 7 April — the day before their planned streamlining date — informing them that the process had been pushed back from 8 April to 11 May 2026 due to a significantly low number of available Band 5 roles compared to graduating students. Even with the delay, they were told the gap was not expected to fully resolve. It is the second time the process has been delayed for this cohort.
“We were told that training as nurses would guarantee us employment, allowing us all to embark on a meaningful career that means so much to us,” the students wrote. “How have we been able to train for jobs that don’t exist?”
NHS Wales logo on a nurses uniform
(Image: NHS Wales)
The Carmarthen cohort is part of a far wider picture, with the students estimating that around 400 nursing students across all pathways and universities in Wales are entering the process with little guarantee of employment.
The students describe the personal cost in stark terms. Over three years they have worked days, nights, weekends and holidays across NHS trusts in Wales, completing 2,300 hours of unpaid clinical placements — administering medication, performing CPR, dressing wounds, and supporting families through some of the most difficult moments of their lives. Their NHS bursary requires them to work within Wales for two years after qualifying.
“We have done all this, without salaries, driven by the belief in our NHS, our desire to serve our wider community, and our understanding that we, as nurses, are in high demand,” they wrote. “Now, as we are preparing to qualify, we have been informed that there may be no jobs available.”
One student, Trystan Thomas, spoke to ITV News about the impact on morale. “We were sold a dream about becoming nurses, about becoming healthcare professionals — and now we’ve been told ‘thanks for all your hard work, you may or may not get a job,’” he said. “I used to walk in and see smiles and we’d be happy about where we are. Now I see long faces, me included.”
A busy hospital ward (Image: HEIW)
Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW), which co-ordinates the national process of matching final-year nursing, midwifery and Operating Department Practitioner students to Band 5 roles across NHS Wales, confirmed the delay. “This decision has not been taken lightly,” a spokesperson said, adding that the extension was intended to allow health boards more time to review workforce positions and validate vacancies. HEIW acknowledged it could not guarantee the gap would fully resolve, and confirmed students would be released from the two-year Wales work obligation if posts could not be found.
Professor Sandy Harding, Associate Director of Nursing at RCN Wales, said the situation exposed serious failures in workforce planning. “Our NHS is under intense pressure, yet hundreds of newly qualified nurses may have no posts to enter. This is simply unacceptable,” she said. “These students stepped forward for Wales, trained through immense challenges, and now face uncertainty at the very moment the system needs them most.”
The crisis sits in uncomfortable contrast with the recent history of NHS nurse recruitment in the region. Swansea Bay University Health Board — which covers Morriston and Singleton hospitals — spent the last four years running a major international recruitment drive to fill the very Band 5 nursing vacancies that domestic graduates are now being told don’t exist. A recruitment trip to Kochi in India in 2023 attracted 107 nurses to Morriston Hospital, with the health board at that time employing approximately 32 international nurses every five weeks. In total, 456 overseas nurses were recruited over four years, with a 96% retention rate. Head of Nursing Education and Recruitment Lynne Jones said at the time: “Our sources of Band 5 nurses are our student nurses and the regular recruitment of overseas nurses.” The student nurses are now here — but it appears the posts are not.
The Welsh Government said it was working closely with health boards, HEIW and universities to address the situation. A Welsh Labour spokesperson said the number of nurses working in NHS Wales was now at record levels and that vacancy rates were falling — but acknowledged this improvement must translate into “clear and timely employment pathways for graduates.” The Welsh Conservatives called the situation “completely unacceptable” and pointed to the paramedic crisis as evidence of systemic workforce planning failure. The Welsh Liberal Democrats called it “an extraordinary and unforgivable failure.” Plaid Cymru said it highlighted Labour’s failure to invest in and plan for the NHS workforce. The Greens and Reform UK Wales also condemned the situation, with both noting the parallel with the paramedic recruitment collapse.
The nursing crisis follows Swansea Bay News’s revelation last week that nearly £10 million of public money had been spent training paramedics at Swansea University who were then told there were no NHS posts for them in Wales — with some advised to look as far away as Canada and Australia. Together, the two crises suggest a deepening pattern of NHS Wales workforce planning failures across multiple healthcare disciplines.
The Carmarthen students were clear about who they do and do not hold responsible. “We do not blame our university. They have been honest, transparent and supportive throughout our three years,” they wrote. Their three questions for those responsible were direct: why was there minimal transparency allowing them to seek roles elsewhere? Are they free to work outside Wales if posts are unavailable? And why is Wales continuing to accept increasing numbers of nursing students if this situation is likely to continue?
Related stories from Swansea Bay News
Nearly £10m of public money spent training paramedics who are now being told to look for work abroad
The crisis that broke just days before — newly qualified paramedics at Swansea University told there are no NHS jobs for them in Wales.
Welsh Government under pressure over paramedic recruitment shortfall
Last year’s warning that this pattern was emerging — when only 20 of 67 paramedic graduates were offered posts.
India recruitment trip attracts 100 nurses to Morriston Hospital
Swansea Bay ran a major international recruitment drive to fill the Band 5 vacancies that domestic graduates are now being told don’t exist.
Health board says Swansea Bay is the place to stay for overseas nurses
The 456 overseas nurses recruited over four years — and the 96% retention rate that made the health board an NHS Wales exemplar.
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