Siân Thomas, joint acting director of NHS Employers, told HR magazine from next year nursing would be an "all graduate" profession.
Thomas said currently 20% of newly qualified nurses have a nursing degree, while the other 80% held a diploma in nursing.
She added: "Countries like Australia are heading towards an all graduate nursing profession. I understand by taking this step toward graduate nurses in the UK we could be putting more people into debt as students, but this is one innovation the NHS is prepared to take to improve healthcare."
Nursing to become a graduates-only profession
From 2009 nurses must have a degree to be recruited into the NHS.
