Background

Quality midwifery education in the UK relies on a stable academic workforce as well as sufficient clinical placement capacity, yet it has received limited policy focus despite wider maternity workforce pressures. The Royal College of Midwives’ (RCM) 2023 State of midwifery education report used a decade of Freedom of Information (FOI) data to highlight structural constraints in higher education institutions, including workforce decline and governance challenges. This paper reports the findings from the 2024/25 review, contributing to a longitudinal national dataset intended to inform workforce planning, policy development and professional engagement in relation to midwifery education in the UK.

Aim and objective

To understand the current state of pre-registration midwifery education across higher education institutions (HEIs) in the UK, with the objective of using findings to inform workforce planning, policy development and professional engagement in relation to midwifery education.

Methods

A cross-sectional annual review was conducted using FOI requests submitted to all 61 UK HEIs providing pre-registration midwifery programmes in 2024/25. Data were collected across institutional structure, educator staffing levels and qualifications, student enrolment, student-to-staff ratios (SSR), student outcomes, attrition and lead midwife for education (LME) governance positioning. Comparative data from 2017/18, 2022/23 and 2023/24 are presented
where available.

Results

The response rate was 100 per cent (61/61 institutions). Significant institutional challenges were identified: 45.5 per cent of institutions had restructured in the prior 12 months, 38 per cent had recruitment freezes and 20.5 per cent were reducing staffing. Average teaching staff per programme fell from 13.1 in 2022/23 to 11.5 in 2024/25; registered midwife staff fell from an average of 11.7 to 9.5 WTE. Only 46 per cent of educators held a postgraduate degree and 70 per cent held a recognised teaching qualification, down from 81 per cent in 2017/18. Total student enrolment fell from 10,968 to 10,397. The average SSR worsened from 1:17 in 2020/21 to 1:21 in 2024/25 (range: 1:12.8–1:37.5). In the 2023/24 academic year, only 67 per cent of students graduated on time and 20 per cent did not achieve registration as a midwife. Critically, 42 per cent of LMEs had no representation on any institutional strategic management group.

Conclusion

These data describe a midwifery education system under sustained and increasing strain. Declining educator capacity, worsening SSRs, high attrition and gaps in institutional governance increase risks to the future supply of newly qualified midwives. Coordinated national policy intervention across higher education, workforce planning and professional regulation is urgently required to secure the long-term sustainability of midwifery education in the UK.