1. Healthcare students in England and Wales
Healthcare students who meet certain personal and residency criteria, and who are undertaking an eligible course (see below) in England and Wales are funded by the NHS bursary scheme.
The personal and residency criteria for NHS bursaries are similar to those for other undergraduate study (see
here), although support for NHS courses is usually available even if you already hold a degree.
Healthcare courses
– Allied health professions: chiropody, dietetics, occupational therapy, orthoptics, physiotherapy, prosthetics and orthotics, radiography and radiotherapy, operating department practice, speech and language therapy
– Professions complementary to dentistry: dental hygiene, dental therapy
– Nursing and midwifery
– Medicine and dentistry (the latter stages of pre-registration training only)
The funding that is available depends on when you started your course.
•If you started a course in England on or after 1 August 2017, see below.
•If you started your course in England or Wales on or after 1 September 2012 and, in England, before 1 August 2017, see
here.
•If you started your course before 1 September 2012, speak to an adviser or see a previous edition of this Handbook.
Note: medicine and dentistry students in their initial years of training are funded by Student Finance England or Student Finance Wales. When you move onto the NHS bursary scheme, you are funded under the rules that were in place when you started your course.
Employed students (sometimes known as seconded students) do not usually qualify for bursaries, but may qualify for student support payable by the Department for Education or the Welsh government (see Chapters 2 and 3).