From nurses to physiotherapists: 9 out of 10 start work straight away; entrance exams from 16 September

Over the past year, the proportion of people in employment has risen in 15 of the 16 subject groups, with an increase of +4.3 percentage points, rising to 48.9 per cent from 44.6 per cent last year.

This increase relates to a total of 180,764 graduates, of whom 109,764 (61 per cent), with 53,621 in employment – an increase of 8.4 percentage points compared with the 49,459 in employment last year, when there were 170,663 graduates and 110,844 respondents.

All subject groups are on the rise, with figures ranging from a low of +0.8 percentage points for Computer Science and ICT to a high of +6.7 percentage points for Education and Training. The only figure to show a decline, down by -1.6 percentage points, is for Social Work, falling from 54.1 per cent of graduates in 2023 to 52.5 per cent of graduates in 2024.

As a result of these findings, the Health Professions have once again been confirmed as holding the top spot overall amongst the various disciplinary groups. Furthermore, the increase recorded shows that the figures from 18 years ago have been matched: in 2007 the figure was 87.0 per cent, compared with 87.9 per cent today – a difference of +0.9 percentage points, the highest in the last 18 years.

Employment rates are up on last year across the healthcare professions, with an overall increase of +3.1 percentage points: from 84.8 per cent of 2023 graduates to 87.9 per cent of 2024 graduates. More specifically, in the field of Nursing and Midwifery, the increase is +4.0 percentage points, from 85.1% to 89.1%; for Rehabilitation professions, the increase is +2.1 percentage points, from 86.4% to 88.5%.

A similar increase was seen in the Technical sector, up by 2.9 percentage points, rising from 82.0% to 84.9%, whilst the Prevention sector saw a decline of 3.7 percentage points, from 81.6 per cent of 2023 graduates in employment one year after graduation to 77.9 per cent of those graduating in 2024.

A detailed analysis of the 22 healthcare professions, based on the latest data collected on 2024 graduates one year after graduation, reveals that those with an employment rate above the average of 87.9% are: Podiatrists: from 87.5 per cent of 2023 graduates to 91.1 per cent of 2024 graduates; Dental Hygienists: from 86.4 per cent to 90.7 per cent; Physiotherapists: from 87.4% to 90.0%; Nurses: from 85.5% to 89.7%; Speech and Language Therapists, from 88.1 per cent to 89.7 per cent; Orthopaedic Technicians, from 79.1 per cent to 89.7 per cent, followed by Radiography Technicians, from 87.8 per cent to 89.4 per cent; Occupational therapists from 83.1% to 89.2% and neurophysiopathology technicians from 87.1% to 87.9%.

The following programmes are below the average of 87.9 per cent – which stood at 84.8 per cent for the 2023 graduates: Professional Educator at 87.6 per cent; Paediatric Nurse and Orthoptist at 86.4 per cent; Developmental Neuro and Psychomotor Therapist at 85.9 per cent; Hearing Aid Technician at 84.8 per cent; Laboratory Technician and Psychiatric Rehabilitation Technician at 82.8 per cent; Midwife 81.0 per cent; Occupational Health Technician 79.9 per cent; Dietitian 76.5 per cent; Healthcare Assistant 73.9 per cent; Audiometrist 71.4 per cent; and finally, Cardiovascular Physiopathology Technician at 63 per cent.

As regards employment rates broken down by universities operating in the 17 regions, almost all have risen compared with the previous survey. Among 2024 graduates in healthcare professions, employment rates are as follows, in descending order: Liguria 93.2% of the 2024 cohort, Friuli-Venezia Giulia 93.1%; Piedmont 91.5%; Lombardy 91.2 per cent; Veneto 89.9 per cent; Tuscany 89.4 per cent; Emilia-Romagna and Marche 88.7 per cent each; Umbria 87.4 per cent; Lazio 87.1 per cent; Puglia 86.1 per cent; Sicily 84.9 per cent; Calabria 83.5 per cent; Sardinia 83.2 per cent; Campania 82.6 per cent; Abruzzo 82.4 per cent; and finally Molise 81.4 per cent.

Prospects for recent Maturità graduates: the entrance exam is on 16 September.

These figures can serve as a useful guide for the approximately 500,000 recent high school leavers when registering for the entrance examination for the 23 degree programmes in the healthcare professions, which will take place on 16 September. It is expected that the calls for applications which the universities are about to publish will confirm around 37,000 places available, compared to last year’s figure of around 64,000 applications, with an average ratio of almost two applications per place. The ratios range from a maximum of 6.4 applications per place for Physiotherapy, 4.5 for Speech and Language Therapy, 3.3 for Midwifery, 2.8 for Dietetics, 2.5 for Radiography and 2.1 for Dental Hygiene; followed by the others, including nursing, with an average ratio of 0.9 applications per place across 19,000 places, and nine other courses.

*Lecturer in the Organisation of Healthcare Professions, University of Bologna