Europe is a continent located primarily in the Northern Hemisphere. It is often grouped into Northern, Western, Eastern, and Southern Europe. Russia, which is partly in Eastern Europe and partly in Asia, is the most populous country with territory in Europe. Major languages across the continent include English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Nordic languages, and Eastern European languages. The European Union is a political and economic union of 27 European countries and plays an important role in education, student mobility, and professional-recognition rules among its member states.
Europe has many established nursing schools and health-science faculties, and some countries are popular destinations for nurses and nursing graduates. Program language, clinical-placement eligibility, and registration requirements vary by country and institution, so students should check each program carefully. For nurses responsible for general care, EU rules set minimum training at at least three years, or 4,600 hours, and support automatic recognition when the training meets EU standards. Bachelor’s nursing programs and postgraduate study lengths still vary by country, qualification type, and university.
EU professional-recognition rules can make it easier for qualified nurses to have training recognized across member states, but applicants must still meet the host country’s registration, language, documentation, and licensing requirements. Listed below are some of the best-known nursing schools on the continent.
Top Nursing Schools in Europe
1. King’s College London
King’s College London is a prestigious university in England that was founded in 1829. Its Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care is a major center for nursing, midwifery, and palliative-care education and research.
The faculty is directly descended from the Nightingale Training School, established at St Thomas’ Hospital in 1860. King’s describes it as the world’s first professional school of nursing and the direct predecessor of its modern Florence Nightingale Faculty. In the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026, King’s ranked 2nd in the world and 1st in the UK for Nursing.
At the undergraduate level, King’s offers nursing routes such as Adult Nursing, Children’s Nursing, and Mental Health Nursing. It also offers pre-registration master’s routes and the MNurs dual-award program. For 2026 entry, King’s lists the UK home undergraduate fee as £9,790 for new students, while international fees are published on the individual course pages. King’s states that EU, EEA, and Swiss students who start a course in or after August 2021 are normally no longer eligible for home-fee status unless they qualify through another category.
2. University of Manchester
The University of Manchester in the United Kingdom traces its roots to 1824, while the present university was formed in 2004 through the merger of the Victoria University of Manchester and UMIST. It is a leading UK university, and Nursing at Manchester ranked 10th globally in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026.
The Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health has roots that include the Manchester Royal School of Medicine and Surgery, formed in 1836. Nursing is offered through the Department of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work.
Three undergraduate nursing focuses can be taken at the university: Adult Nursing, Children’s Nursing, and Mental Health Nursing. The BNurs Adult Nursing page states a three-year route, with a four-year MNurs option, and the program can lead to eligibility to register as a nurse with the Nursing and Midwifery Council after three years. For 2026/27, Manchester lists home fees for BNurs Adult Nursing at £9,790 and international fees at £33,600; fees may increase by up to 7% each year in later years. EU/EEA applicants should confirm their fee status under the current UK rules.
3. University of Southampton
The University of Southampton‘s School of Health Sciences is another top school for nursing in Europe. The university traces its origins to the Hartley Institution, which opened in 1862. Today, Southampton also has an international presence, including its Malaysia campus.
Its nursing programs are offered by the School of Health Sciences. Current options include three-year BSc routes in Adult, Child, and Mental Health Nursing, four-year MNurs dual-field routes, and postgraduate nursing options. Southampton’s nursing subject was listed in the global top 15 in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026.
For 2026/27, Southampton’s undergraduate fees table lists BSc and MNurs Nursing programs at £9,790 for UK home students and £24,400 for international students. The earlier statement that the nursing course is not offered to international or non-local students is no longer accurate; Southampton currently lists international tuition for several nursing programs and advertises a £5,000 tuition-fee scholarship for eligible international students on eligible Adult Nursing courses.
4. Karolinska Institute
Karolinska Institute, also known as Karolinska Institutet, is a medical university in Sweden founded in 1810. It focuses on medical and health-science education and research. In the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026, Nursing at KI ranked 16th in the world, 5th in Europe, and 2nd in the EU.
The Study Programme in Nursing is a Swedish-taught, full-time, on-campus bachelor’s program of 180 higher education credits at Flemingsberg. It leads to the Degree of Bachelor of Science in Nursing and the Degree of Bachelor of Medical Science with a Major in Nursing.
International students may study nursing-related courses at KI through exchange if they are nominated by a home institution that has a written exchange agreement with KI. KI’s current exchange information says English-language options may include full-time courses and clinical rotations, but clinical placements are limited and cannot be guaranteed. KI states that education is free for EU/EEA and Swiss citizens, while students from outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland generally pay application and tuition fees unless they qualify for an exemption; the application fee is SEK 900.
5. University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh is a recognized university in the UK that was founded in 1583. Nursing is taught within the School of Health in Social Science.
The university currently offers the Bachelor of Nursing with Honors in Nursing Studies, a four-year undergraduate program that integrates theory, clinical practice, and research and leads to registration as an Adult nurse. It also offers postgraduate options, including a two-year Master of Nursing with Pre-Registration (Adult), MScR Nursing Studies, and Ph.D. Nursing Studies.
Fees vary by program, year of entry, and fee status. For 2026/27, Edinburgh’s tuition finder lists Nursing with Pre-Registration (Adult) at £9,790, and UK students from England, Wales, and Northern Ireland starting or continuing in September 2026 are charged £9,790 per year; Scottish students should apply to the Student Awards Agency Scotland for tuition-fee support. International and postgraduate students should check the university’s official tuition-fee finder for the exact current fee for their chosen program.
We hope that this article on the Best Universities for Nursing in Europe was helpful. To learn more about how you can study in Europe, check out the Available Programs for International Students in Europe.
