Thinking about nursing?: NHS bursaries

What is an NHS bursary?
A bursary is an annual payment awarded to assist with day to day living costs while you are studying. It also includes the cost of your tuition fees for the course you wish to attend. A bursary is not subject to income tax deductions or national insurance contributions. There are two types of bursary available, depending on which course you are undertaking. These are either income-assessed or non-income assessed.
The income-assessed bursary is calculated using either your own, your parents’ income, or that of your spouse, civil partner or your partner, if appropriate.

The non-income assessed bursary provides a flat rate basic maintenance grant and no contribution is required from your income or that your family.

In addition to the standard bursary, students may also be entitled to apply for further allowances such as: Help with childcare costs (See FAQ 12 for more information)

Dependents Allowance (See FAQ 10 for more information)
 
Parent Learning Allowance See FAQ 11 for more information)

Help with practice placement expenses (See FAQ 14 for more information)
 
Disabled Students’ Allowances (See FAQ 13 for more information)

You can also use our on-line bursary calculator - to get an estimate of how much help you could get. (Click the link on our home page)

Who is eligible?
To be eligible to apply for NHS financial support, you must be accepted for an NHS funded place on a full or part-time course which leads to professional registration as a:

• doctor or dentist (you will be eligible for an NHS Bursary during the latter stages of your pre-registration training). Information regarding Tuition Fees for new medical / dental students commencing courses in the 2012/13 academic year can be found here
• chiropodist (including podiatrist), dietician, occupational therapist, orthoptist, physiotherapist, prosthetist, and orthotist, radiographer, audiologist or a speech and language therapist
• dental hygienist or dental therapist
• nurse, midwife or operating department practitioner (degree course)
• nurse, midwife or operating department practitioner (diploma course)

You may be eligible for an NHS Bursary even if you have already had public funding for higher education. If you have previously had an NHS Bursary and wish to switch professions, you may also be eligible.

NHS Bursaries are not intended for:

Registered first level nurses seeking a second registration in nursing;

OR

Registered midwives seeking a second registration in midwifery,

For example: if you are a qualified adult nurse and you are seeking to complete a branch programme in mental health nursing you would not be entitled to a Bursary, but you could approach your employer to see if they are prepared to fund the training.

OR;

Registered health care professionals wishing to undertake post registration training courses.

The NHS Bursary package differs from the support available to non-NHS students who are supported through the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) student support arrangements. It is therefore important that students considering healthcare professional training do not refer to DIUS publications, (with the exception of medical and dental students who should refer to DIUS student support information in the earlier part of their training).

If you attend a course in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, broadly comparable arrangements will apply, but you will need to consult the relevant national authorities for details as NHS Student Bursaries will not be able to administer your funding.

Medical and dental students whose country of residence is England are supported through the NHS Bursary Scheme during the later stages of their training irrespective of which home country their medical school is situated in. However, medical and dental students living in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland should consult the relevant national authorities.

Residency Requirements

For information about the residency requirements that would determine your eligibility to receive NHS Bursary funding please click the 'Residency' link below.

Medical and Dental Students

For detailed information regarding NHS Bursary funding for medical and dental courses please click the 'Medical and Dental Students' link below.

Seconded or Sponsored (Assisted) Students

For information about students undertaking NHS Courses who are also in receipt of funding from another source (eg employer) please click the 'Seconded or Sponsored (Assisted) Students' link below.




How to apply?

The NHS Bursary Application Procedure

DipHE and Degree level students entering their first year

To apply for an NHS bursary, including any additional allowances, you must be offered either a conditional or unconditional place on an NHS funded course at a University or Higher Education Institution in England.

Shortly afterwards, your university will pass your personal details to NHS Student Bursaries and we will send you a letter or email which will notify you how to create your own personal online account which you will then use to make an application for an NHS Bursary.

Medical or dental students who were not eligible to apply in a previous academic year

Your university will send the details of all medical and dental students who will be eligible to apply for NHS funding from the forthcoming academic year. From this information you will then be sent an e-mail which provides information on where to obtain the relevant application form from this website.

NB: You do not need to insert a reference number when completing the bursary application form – this will be allocated to your record once you have submitted your application.

Continuing students

If you have already been in receipt of an NHS bursary for a previous academic year or years, you will be sent an email/letter before the start of the next academic reminding you that you now need to reapply for this. Please follow the instructions on the letter which informs you how to either apply online or complete a hard copy application. Details of each process are available on the following link.

http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/Students/3264.aspx

At this time new and continuing students who have been invited to apply should create an account and complete an online application via the Bursary Online Support System (BOSS).
The BOSS system will be unavailable between 12pm and 1pm on Thursday 14 June 2012. During this hour essential maintenance will be performed.

Only students invited to apply online should create an account and complete an application via the Bursary Online Support System (BOSS). Over the next few weeks we will be inviting students whose forthcoming academic year commences from June to October 2012 to apply in this way.

Students who are currently in their final course year and who are expected to complete their course in January and February 2013 must not complete an online application and should make their application by completing a hard copy application form which is available on our website.

If you have already made an online Bursary registration or firm application via the Bursary Online Support System (BOSS) please note that the barcode cover sheet address, has now changed.

All evidence to support your claim should be now sent with the barcode cover sheet to:

NHS Student Bursaries
Ridgway House
Northgate Close
Middlebrook
Horwich
Bolton
BL6 6PQ

Please note, BOSS only supports Internet Explorer 7 (or later) or Firefox. You may encounter problems using other browsers.

Forms: http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/Students/3266.aspx



Where to find more information?

NHS Business Services Authority
http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/

Or email me with your questions:
blog3cn@live.co.uk