NHS Learning Support Fund

What you get

You get a Training Grant of 5,000 GBP per academic year (about 5,800 EUR) for the length of your healthcare degree. You do not pay it back, and it comes on top of the normal student loans. The grant is paid in three instalments across the year. Part-time students get a proportional share. You can add these extras on top of the base grant:

• Specialist Subject Payment: an extra 1,000 GBP (about 1,150 EUR) per year if you study a subject short of trainees: mental health nursing, learning disability nursing, diagnostic or therapeutic radiography, prosthetics and orthotics, orthoptics, or podiatry. It is added automatically, so you do not apply separately.
• Parental Support: 2,000 GBP (about 2,300 EUR) per year if you have at least one dependent child under 15, or under 17 if the child has special educational needs.
• Travel and accommodation costs: you get back the extra travel and temporary accommodation costs for clinical placements, above your normal daily travel.
• Exceptional Support Fund: up to 3,000 GBP (about 3,450 EUR) per year if you hit unexpected financial hardship. This one is means-tested, so it depends on your income.

The money comes from the UK Department of Health and Social Care. The NHS Business Services Authority runs it.

Who can apply

• Course: You study nursing, midwifery or an allied health profession, for example dietetics, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, paramedicine, radiography, podiatry, speech and language therapy, orthoptics, prosthetics and orthotics, operating department practice, or dental therapy and hygiene. Foundation years do not count.
• Level: Undergraduate or pre-registration postgraduate courses both qualify. A second degree is fine.
• Where you study: Your university must be in England, and you must be actively studying, whether in lectures or on placement.
• Residence: You must be a UK resident and eligible for tuition fee and maintenance support from the Student Loans Company (SFE, SFW, SAAS or SFNI). International students cannot apply.
• Not already NHS-funded: You cannot claim if you get an NHS Bursary or an employer pays you during your training.
• Pharmacy and healthcare science: Undergraduate pharmacy and pre-registration healthcare science students can only claim the travel and accommodation part, not the other grants.

How to apply

Create an NHS LSF account on the NHS Business Services Authority online portal. Register the account within one month of starting active study, and apply for the funding within six months. Applications made through any other system are rejected.

How realistic are your chances?

This is not a competition you have to win. If you are on an eligible course at an English university and qualify for student finance, the Training Grant is yours regardless of grades or income. The only tight part is timing: register your account and apply within the deadlines after your course starts, and add the specialist, parental or hardship elements you qualify for.