Education of nurses has in recent years developed in centres of higher education, but with a rapid rise in courses offered concern has been expressed that too few suitable applicants may be available. This study has attempted to ascertain actual demand for the courses available by cross-referencing applications to a sample of courses, and has demonstrated a downward trend of suitable applications over the two years 1975 and 1976. A cautionary approach to establishing new courses or increasing numbers on existing courses may be advisable and further comparable work will be carried out to assess the validity of the trends already found.