A petition calling the government to reconsider the decision to scrap student nurse bursaries has reached over 100,000 signatures in two days.
The petition, set up by student nurse Kat Webb, came as Chancellor George Osborne announced that bursaries for student nurses would be replaced by student loans during the Spending Review on 24 November.
Ms Webb highlighted that most students will work to fund their studies alongside working full time hours during placement and attending lectures and completing assignments. 'Taking away the NHS bursary will force more student nurses into working 70 hour weeks, as many already do, it will compromise our studies and most of all our patient care.
The change will affect students starting in 2017.
Mr Osborne stated that providing student loans for nurses rather than bursaries would remove the cap of student nurse numbers and allow for 10,000 more training places for student nurses.
Parliament considers all petitions with more than 100,000 signatures for a debate. The petition had 111,902 signatures as of the morning of the 27 November.