To encourage more students to consider careers in healthcare, the NHS and UK governments are offering a range of financial support. The support varies quite a bit depending on what course you’re studying, where your home address is, and where you’re planning to study. We’ve got all the information you need on the funding currently available for healthcare courses in the UK. 

Who’s eligible for the NHS bursary? 

The additional support is primarily intended to support students studying for a first degree in their home country in one of the following areas: 

• Nursing 
• Medicine 
• Dentistry 
• Allied health professions 

You may be able to access the support if you’re studying in a different nation to your home nation. If you’re from Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales and wish to study in England, the Learning Support Fund will be open to you. 

If you’re from England, Scotland or Northern Ireland, you’ll be able to access support from NHS Wales. Most students accessing funding from NHS Wales are agreeing to work for NHS Wales for at least two years after the completion of their course, so make sure you’re happy with the terms and conditions before you apply for the support on offer. 

If you’re hoping to study in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you’ll have to meet residency criteria before you’re offered any of the additional funding. There’s limited funding available in Scotland open to all UK residents, but you’ll be committing to working for NHS Scotland for a period after graduation if you accept the funding. 

You may also be able to access the support if you’re retraining and have a first degree in an unrelated area. This does depend on your home nation, the nation you’re planning to study in, the subject area of your first degree and the healthcare subject you wish to study. 

Funding in England 

How much is the NHS bursary in England? 

Nurses and allied health professionals 

For all eligible UK-resident students studying in the UK, the Learning Support Fund can provide funding, including an annual training grant of £5,000. This funding is for students eligible for student loans on these courses: 

• Dental hygiene or dental therapy (level 5 or 6 courses) 
• Dietetics 
• Midwifery 
• Nursing (adult, child, mental health, learning disability, joint nursing and social work) 
• Occupational therapy 
• Operating department practice (level 5 or 6 courses) 
• Orthoptics 
• Orthotics and prosthetics 
• Paramedic science (DipHE and FD courses aren’t eligible for NHS LSF) 
• Physiotherapy 
• Podiatry or chiropody 
• Radiography (diagnostic and therapeutic) 
• Speech and language therapy 

Students on the following courses are currently eligible for an additional £1,000 a year due to shortages in these fields: 

• Mental health nursing 
• Learning disability nursing 
• Radiography (diagnostic and therapeutic) 
• Prosthetics and orthotics 
• Orthoptics and podiatry 

You may also be eligible for additional grants from the NHS Learning Support Fund depending on your circumstances. Parents with a dependent may be eligible for an extra £2,000 per year.  

Additionally, you may be able to claim travel and accommodation expenses if travelling to your placement incurs fees on top of your normal commute to university. You’d be expected to take the cheapest option to claim back expenses. 

For students facing financial hardship, the Learning Support Fund offers the Exceptional Support Fund. You may be granted up to an additional £3,000 per year. This grant is only open to students who’ve exhausted other options such as using savings, support from family and applying to their university’s hardship fund. 

Healthcare degree apprenticeships 

Degree apprenticeships are funded by employers and offered in collaboration with universities. You’ll be studying part-time and working for your employer the rest of the time. If you’re on one of these courses, your tuition fees will be paid by your employer, and you’ll get a salary from your employment. 

Places on these courses may be hard to find and are advertised by employers. You can also find opportunities on NHS Jobs and the Government’s Find an Apprenticeship page. 

Currently, the healthcare subjects available as degree apprenticeships are: 

• Arts therapy 
• Diagnostic radiography 
• Dietetics 
• Midwifery 
• Nursing 
• Occupational therapy 
• Operating department practice 
• Paramedic science 
• Physiotherapy 
• Podiatry 
• Prosthetics and orthotics 
• Speech and language therapy 
• Therapeutic radiography

Medicine and dentistry

If you’re an undergraduate, the first four years of medicine and dentistry courses will be funded by Student Finance England through the standard tuition fee and maintenance loans. You can apply for additional support from the fifth year of your five- or six-year course. 

In bursary-funded years, you may be eligible for a contribution to tuition fees, a means-tested bursary and a non-means-tested grant of £1,000 per year.  

If tuition fees are higher than the standard level, you may have to pay the difference or apply for a loan from Student Finance England, but standard tuition fees are paid by the NHS for eligible years. 

Bursaries are means-tested, but you can get up to the following amounts depending on your circumstances: 

• Students in London: £3,191 
• Students outside London: £2,643 
• Students living with parents: £2,207 

Funding availability decreases if household income exceeds £26,076. You may get additional support if your course exceeds the standard academic year, known as the Extra Weeks Allowance.

You can also get a reduced maintenance loan from Student Finance England on top of the grant and bursary.

Medicine and dentistry students also have access to the Exceptional Hardship Fund, which may grant up to £3,000 per academic year if you can prove you’ve exhausted all other routes of financial support. 

How can you apply for the NHS bursary in England? 

You’ll first need to create an account on the Learning Support Fund Application system. You’ll have to reapply every year and your eligibility may vary year to year as your personal circumstances change. 

You’ll have to send proof of your receipt of student finance as part of your application to the fund, along with other evidence if you’re applying for any of the means-tested support. Travel and accommodation expenses are claimed back after the expense has been incurred. 

Applications open in March and close two months before courses are due to begin. 

Funding in Scotland 

How much is the NHS bursary in Scotland? 

Paramedic science, nursing and midwifery 

Only students meeting residency requirements and whose course will lead to full registered status are eligible for the Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary scheme (PNMSB). You can also only get funding for one course. 

You’ll receive a £10,000 grant each year and 75% of the grant in your fourth year if you’re on an honours degree. You may also be eligible for a one-off Initial Expenses Allowance, a Dependent's Allowance, Disabled Students Allowance or Maternity Allowance.

You can also apply for discretionary funding if you’re facing financial hardship. You’ll apply for this through your university. 

Allied health professions 

There’s no specific bursary in Scotland for students studying to become allied health professionals, but you’ll be entitled to the normal student loans. You can claim for the cost of travel to your placement if it’s higher than your normal commute to uni. 

Medicine and dentistry 

Again, there’s no standardised extra funding for medicine and dentistry courses in Scotland, though English students studying in Scotland can apply for the same support they’d get if they studied in England, and Welsh students can apply for support through NHS Wales. 

For Scottish students, the SAAS will cover tuition fees for all five years of your course provided you complete all five years in Scotland. If you do the St Andrews course and opt to study the second half of your degree outside Scotland, you’ll have to apply for a tuition fee loan for your fourth year, and then apply to SAAS to cover your fifth and sixth years. 

If you’re studying dentistry at Glasgow, Aberdeen or Dundee University, you may be eligible for the £4,000-a-year Dental Students Support Grant. All UK-resident students can apply for this, though your household income has to be under £34,000 per year. Aberdeen students can apply from their first year, and Glasgow and Dundee students from their second. You’ll have to work for NHS Scotland for the same number of years after graduation as you got funding for, or you’ll have to pay it back. 

If you’re a graduate studying the accelerated medicine degree offered by St Andrews and Dundee, you can apply for the ‘return of service’ bursary of £4,000 a year. Again, you’ll have to work for NHS Scotland for as many years as you claim the bursary or pay it back. All students on the programme can apply for it, not just Scottish students. 

How can you apply for the NHS bursary in Scotland? 

Scottish students can apply through the Student Awards Agency Scotland for the PNMSB funding. Applications open in spring and close in June. 

For the Dental Students Support Grant, you’ll have to apply through your university before the end of December. 

Funding in Wales 

How much is the NHS bursary in Wales? 

Nursing and allied health professions 

All UK-resident students on eligible courses can apply for this funding. If you apply, you’re agreeing to work for NHS Wales for two years after you graduate (less if you’re on a two-year course). This does not apply to doctors or dentists. Eligible courses include: 

• Nursing and midwifery 
• Dental hygiene, or dental hygiene and therapy 
• Dietetics 
• Occupational therapy 
• Operating department practice 
• Paramedic science 
• Physician associate practice 
• Physiotherapy 
• Podiatry 
• Radiography and oncology 
• Speech and language therapy 
• Some healthcare science courses 

Your tuition fees will be paid by NHS Wales, you’ll get a non-means-tested grant and a means-tested bursary. You’ll also be able to apply for a reduced rate maintenance loan. 

Medicine and dentistry 

English students in Wales can access the same support from NHS England as English students studying in England. Welsh students can also access a bursary for these courses. 

You can apply in year five of a five- or six-year course. Years prior to this are funded through Student Finance Wales. Tuition fees will be paid up to the standard fee and you’ll also get a means-tested bursary and a non-means-tested grant of £1,000. You can apply for a maintenance loan even if you’re receiving NHS grants and bursaries, but you’ll get a reduced rate. 

How can you apply for the NHS bursary in Wales? 

For the NHS Wales nursing, midwifery and allied health professionals bursary, you’ll apply as soon as you’ve firmly accepted a place as funding places are limited. Applications will remain open until six weeks after courses start but the sooner you apply the better. You’ll apply through NHS Wales. 

You’ll also apply through NHS Wales for the medicine and dentistry support on offer. 

Funding in Northern Ireland 

How much is the NHS bursary in Northern Ireland? 

You must have lived in Northern Ireland for three consecutive years prior to the beginning of your course to be eligible for support unless you’re an English student on a medicine or dentistry course. If this is the case, you can access the same support available if you were studying in England. 

Nursing and midwifery 

Instead of a bursary, Northern Ireland has commissioned places on courses. These places are for students studying for their first degree. Your tuition fees will be paid by the Northern Ireland Department of Health, and you’ll get a non-means-tested bursary. You may also be eligible for further, means-tested support. You may also apply for the Student Support Fund if you fall into severe financial hardship.

Allied health professions 

There’s support available for Northern Irish students these following courses: 

• Dietetics 
• Occupational therapy 
• Paramedic science 
• Physiotherapy 
• Podiatry 
• Radiography (diagnostic and therapeutic) 
• Speech and language therapy 

If you’re eligible, your tuition fees will be paid by the Department of Health, and you’ll receive a means-tested bursary. You can also apply for a reduced maintenance-loan, which isn’t means-tested. You’ll normally receive 75% of the standard rate for your circumstances. 

Medicine and dentistry 

The first few years of your course will be supported by normal student finance. Once you’re eligible, you’ll receive support from the NI Department of Health rather than the NHS. In years funded by the Department of Health, you’ll have your tuition fees paid and receive a means-tested bursary as well as a reduced-rate maintenance loan. 

If you’re from England or Wales, you can access funding from NHS England or Wales for medicine and dentistry courses. 

How can you apply for the NHS bursary in Northern Ireland? 

For commissioned places, you’ll apply to your chosen university and if successful, you’ll be linked with the Bursary Administration Unit by your uni before your course starts. 

For allied health profession, medicine or dentistry courses, you’ll apply for funding through Student Finance Northern Ireland. They’ll also be able to tell you more about the level of bursary available.