LOW PAY and burnout are leading to almost half of nursing students in England to consider quitting before they graduate, a major survey has found.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) urged ministers to fund tuition fees for nursing students and reintroduce universal maintenance support after its report found that as many as 46 per cent of the 68,000 enrolled on nursing courses could walk away.

Seven in 10 students cited financial difficulties such as the cost of living as the reason for considering an early exit.