UK Student Finance
An A-Z of Student Finance

NHS & Social Work Students

If you are training to work in social work, medicine or certain areas of healthcare, you may be entitled to a bursary from the General Social Care Council or the NHS.  You can apply for extra or different financial help if you are studying for a career in social work, medicine, dentistry, or certain areas of healthcare.

In some cases this help is paid on top of, and in other cases instead of the standard student finance package described elsewhere in the student finance section.

Social Work

If you are studying for a career in social work, you may be entitled to receive a non-repayable bursary. This is paid by the General Social Care Council, and is available to students studying an approved degree or diploma course in social work. Your institution will tell you if your course qualifies.

Although graduate students are not normally entitled to support from the standard student finance package, graduates on the social work undergraduate course will be entitled to apply for the full Student Loan for Maintenance (25 per cent of this is based on your income). The additional support available from the General Social Care Council covers both graduate and undergraduate students.

You can apply for this bursary whether or not you can access the standard student finance package.

Medical & Dental Courses

If you are on a standard five or six-year medical or dental course, you can apply for extra financial help. To qualify, you must:

·        have started your course since September 1998

·        normally live in England or Wales

·        study anywhere in the UK

The first four years of your course will be funded in the same way as other eligible full-time higher education courses (see ‘Finance for new full-time students’). However, in your fifth and further years of study, you’ll be entitled to different financial help. The main entitlement consists of:

·        an NHS bursary based on your income

·        the full amount of your tuition fees paid by the NHS

·        a reduced rate (approximately 50 per cent) Student Loan for Maintenance not based on your income (from Student Finance Direct)

Graduate-Entry Medical Programmes

Extra help is also available to students on the four-year graduate-entry medical programmes.

The first year of your course will be funded in the same way as students on other graduate-entry courses, although there is usually no help for tuition fees based on your income.

In the first year, you’ll be entitled to apply for the full Student Loan for Maintenance (25 per cent of this is based on your income).

In years two to four, you’ll be entitled to different financial help. The main entitlement consists of:

·        an NHS bursary based on your income

·        the full amount of your tuition fees paid by the NHS

·        a reduced rate (approximately 50 per cent) Student Loan for Maintenance not based on your income (from Student Finance Direct)

Healthcare Professional Courses

The NHS also provides financial help in the form of bursaries and other allowances for a limited number of places on courses in certain healthcare professions.

The main entitlement consists of:

·        a degree course bursary based on your income or a diploma bursary which is not income assessed

·        the full amount of your tuition fees paid by the NHS

a reduced rate (approximately 50 per cent) Student Loan for Maintenance not based on your income (from Student Finance Direct) if you are studying for a degree

How Do You Apply?

Social Work Courses

To receive the bursary from the General Social Care Council, you also have to satisfy the eligibility criteria set out in the bursary application form and guidance notes. You can download the form and notes from the bursaries page of the General Social Care Council’s website.

 

Healthcare Courses

Applications for NHS bursaries and other financial help for medical, dental and selected healthcare professions for students studying in England are dealt with by the NHS Student Grants Unit.

You can find a full list of courses that are covered and the financial help available in the booklet, ‘Financial Help for Health Care Students’. You can get a copy of the booklet online from the NHS Student Grants website or by writing to the NHS Business Services Authority.
 

 

Get Paid for Your Thoughts! Get paid to take online surveys - £2 to £35 per survey! Get paid to participate in online focus groups £25 to £75 per hour! Get paid to try new products - keep the products and get paid too! Get paid to preview movie trailers £2 to £15 per hour! Click here to learn more...