All students are looking for extra money whenever they can grab it to go alongside their student finance. One of the best ways to get that is through grants and support. Luckily for healthcare students, there’s the NHS Learning Support Fund.
If you are a healthcare student it’s very likely that you’re eligible for the NHS Learning Support Fund. Though you cannot have this as well as the NHS Student Bursary, it’s worth applying if you weren’t eligible for the former. We all need help where we can get it, so this may be the perfect answer for you.
What Is The NHS Learning Support Fund?
The NHS Learning Support Fund is available to those starting or continuing their course from 1 September 2020.
If eligible, you can get up to £5000 in a training grant per academic year. If you are a parent, you can also get £2000 in parental support if you have a dependant 15 or under, or 17 and under if they have special educational needs.
Plus, if you have had excess travel and temporary costs due to a placement, then you can get your money back.
They also offer extra support for those experiencing financial hardship.
The fund is a supplementary financial support separate from mainstream student loan systems. It’s intended to support those seeking a career in medicine whilst they train and gain their registration.
Who Is Eligible?
Those studying the following courses:
- Dietetics Midwifery Nursing (Adult)
- Nursing (Child)
- Nursing(Learning Disabilities)
- Nursing (MentalHealth)
- Nursing (dual qualification programmes)
- Nursing/ Social Work (joint)
- Occupational Therapy
- Operating Department Practitioner
- Orthoptics Orthotics
- Prosthetics Paramedicine*
- Podiatry/Chiropody
- Speech and Language Therapy
Physiotherapy
You must also meet the residency eligibility criteria stated by the Student Finance system that you receive your student loan from. This will either be Student Finance England, Student Finance Wales, The Student Awards Agency for Scotland, or Student Finance Northern Ireland.
The funding issues the following statement about eligibility:
“Please note that registering for an NHS LSF account is not a guarantee that you will receive any of the allowances. You must meet the eligibility criteria outlined in this guide and your personal eligibility will not be fully determined until you actively submit an application and supporting evidence. The NHS LSF allowances are supplementary
funding only and you should not base your financial plans for the academic year on receiving any of them.”
How And When To Apply For The NHS Learning Support Fund
All NHS Learning Support Fund applications must be submitted within 6 months of the start of the academic year. Invitations to apply will be sent out to continuing students on a weekly basis until the month of the course.
Unfortunately, it is too late to apply if your course started in September or October of this year. If your course starts in the earlier months of 2023 then there is still time.
You can sign into your NHS LSF account to apply or view/update any details.
When Will The Payments Be Made?
Students who started or continued their course in September/October 2022 had to be in attendance on 1 November to receive their first instalment. If your course begins in January or February 2023 then you must be in attendance on 1 March 2023. For courses that start March/April 2023 then it is 1 May 2023.
Here are the payment dates for the 2022/23 academic year:
Academic year starting September or October 2022
- Term 1 – 21 November 2022
- Term 2 – 21 March 2023
- Term 3 – 25 July 2023
Academic year starting January or February 2023
- Term 1 – 21 March 2023
- Term 2 – 25 July 2023
- Term 3 – 21 November 2023
Academic year starting March or April 2023
- Term 1 – 23 May 2023
- Term 2 – 26 September 2023
- Term 3 – 23 January 2024
Academic year starting July or August 2023
- Term 1 – 26 September 2023
- Term 2 – 23 January 2024
- Term 3 – 23 May 2024
If you think any of this applies to you and you’ve still got time to apply then you should definitely get on to it. After all, £5000 will make a lot of difference over the next year.
