This is a much larger proportion than before. Students in nursing training are three times more likely to drop out of first year in 2021 than in 2011, according to a study published this Thursday by the Department of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics (Drees) . This means that 10% of students in the first year of training dropped out of their studies in 2021 compared to only 3% in 2011, according to the study on dropouts in nursing training and other health training from 2011 to 2021.
As a result of this development, the number of graduates per year fell by 7% between the years 2010 and 2021. The higher number of dropouts were partially offset by the increase in the number of enrolments: 35,500 students in the first year of training in 2021 while this figure was stable – around 31,000 – in the 2010s. Over the whole of a classic course lasting three years, the dropout rate for the last cohort studied, that of 2018, reached 19 % among men against 13% for women and 14% for the whole promotion, specifies the study.
Geographic disparities
Dropouts for the 2018 promotion are 19% in Normandy and 18% in Pays-de-la-Loire, while Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur is only affected by 8% dropouts. These abandonments also affect other training sectors. Thus, one student in 10 in training as a nursing assistant or electroradiology manipulator dropped out of her studies in 2021, for example.
However, the study does not put forward a cause to explain this increase in dropouts. This study was carried out using the “Schools” survey, which collects annual data on health professions training schools. Added to this are data from the “Students” survey – annual from 2003 to 2017 and four-yearly since 2022 – which provides socio-demographic data of students in training for health and social professions.