Ellie Atkins-Tate, a 28-year-old Cardiff nursing student who faced bereavement, a psoriatic arthritis diagnosis and new motherhood while studying, fears she may not secure a job in NHS Wales after qualifying in October. HEIW reports nearly 150 graduates from last year remain without roles, while workforce data showed over 5,600 full-time equivalent vacancies at the end of 2025. Funding constraints and pandemic-era workforce forecasts — alongside a reported £481m three-year overspend — have tightened recruitment, though recent additional Band 5 roles bring identified positions to roughly 92% of this year's cohort.
After Bereavement, Illness and New Motherhood, Student Nurse Fears Losing Her Dream NHS Job
Ellie has overcome grief, illness and motherhood to become a nurse but says it's disheartening this may not happen [Ellie Atkins-Tate]
Ellie Atkins-Tate, a 28-year-old third-year nursing student from Cardiff, says the prospect of securing a job in NHS Wales is casting a shadow over what should be one of the proudest moments of her life. She trained through bereavement, a diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis and the birth of her son, and is due to qualify in October.
Personal Struggle and Determination
Ellie describes her three years at university as intensely challenging. In her first year she lost a grandmother she was very close to, later experienced unexplained symptoms that led to a diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis, and became a mother while completing placements and assignments. Despite sleepless nights and the physical and emotional demands of study and clinical work, she says she has never given up on becoming a nurse.
Ellie lost her grandmother, who she was really close to, in her first year of university [Ellie Atkins-Tate]
"It's always been a dream of mine to be a nurse and it's really disheartening that this may not happen. I haven't overcome grief, illness, motherhood and personal hardship just to reach the finish line and find there is nowhere for me to go," Ellie said.
Why Jobs Are Harder To Find
Her concerns reflect wider pressures across NHS Wales. Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) reports that nearly 150 nursing and midwifery graduates from last year's cohort remain without NHS roles. At the same time, workforce data showed more than 5,600 full-time equivalent vacancies across Welsh health boards at the end of 2025 — a sign of unmet demand but also of posts that cannot currently be funded.
HEIW explains that the number of university training places was planned using forecasts produced during the Covid pandemic, when staff turnover was unusually high. Since then, staff retention has improved, reducing the number of vacancies that would normally open. Audit Wales also reported a three-year NHS Wales overspend of £481m in September 2025, which has constrained the ability of health boards to fund all vacant posts.
Ellie became a mother during her studies, and balanced sleepless nights, placements, assignments and raising a family, while remaining committed to her dream of becoming a nurse [Ellie Atkins-Tate]
Responses And Wider Context
Universities in Wales have paused some healthcare course intakes for 2026–27 while HEIW and health boards reassess workforce needs. The Welsh Government said it has asked HEIW to coordinate a national support offer with a single point of access to keep graduates connected to emerging vacancies, and that it is working with partners to maximise employment opportunities.
Alex Howells, chief executive of HEIW, said organisations had identified just under 100 additional Band 5 nursing roles since June, which HEIW estimates brings roles identified to cover about 92% of this year's graduate cohort. Professional bodies warn the problem is not confined to Wales: the Royal College of Paramedics expects similar freezes elsewhere in the UK, and the Royal College of Midwives has reported that roughly a third of newly qualified midwives across the four nations had not secured permanent roles.
What's At Stake
Students like Ellie argue this is about more than individual careers: it affects retention of newly trained professionals and risks discouraging future applicants to healthcare courses. Ellie has urged universities, health boards and government to coordinate clearer pathways from qualification to employment so Wales can retain the professionals it has invested in training.
"We are being told the NHS needs nurses, yet many of us are left wondering whether we will even be able to begin the careers we have worked so hard to achieve," she said.
Help us improve.
