The current situation for UK nurses regarding pay, working conditions, and recognition reveals ongoing challenges despite recent pay awards. Pay For the 2025–26 financial year, nurses under the Agenda for Change pay system will receive a 3.6% pay increase—marking the second consecutive year of above-inflation rises. As a result, the average starting salary for a nurse has grown from approximately £27,050 in 2023 to around £31,050 in 2025. However, this pay uplift is still considered insufficient by many. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) highlights that nurses at the start of their careers have suffered a significant erosion of wages—up to 21% loss in real terms since 2010 for band 5 nurses—amounting to a cumulative loss of approximately £70,000 over that period. The RCN emphasizes that current pay award increases barely cover the cost of living, with some nurses effectively gaining only about £5 mor...