Am I eligible for an NHS bursary? (Medical and Dental students)

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1 Am I eligible for an NHS bursary? (Medical and Dental students) You must be a medical or dental student who is ordinarily resident in England on the first day of the first year of your course, and not just for the purpose of undertaking a full-time course of education. For example, if you moved to England from Scotland, Northern Ireland, or Wales primarily for the purpose of undertaking a full-time course of education, you will not normally be classed as being ordinarily resident for NHS bursary purposes. If you normally live in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland (except for your course of study) you should contact the appropriate national authority for details of the student support arrangements which apply to you. As a general rule, if you are/were eligible for support through an English Local Authority/Student Finance England at the start of your course, you may also be eligible to apply for an NHS funded income assessed bursary for the appropriate period of your training. You must submit an application for an NHS bursary within 6 months of the start of the academic year in question, even if you only wish to apply for the payment of your course tuition fee contribution. Late applications received after the required date will not be processed, unless there are exceptional circumstances which were beyond your control and which actively prevented you from making an application in the required timescale. Medical and dental students undertaking 5 or 6 year undergraduate programmes You may be eligible for an income assessed bursary and help with tuition fees from your fifth year of study and beyond. You may also be entitled to apply for reduced rate non-income assessed student loans for this period of your training. In years one to four of training, you remain supported under mainstream Department for Business Innovation and Skills (DBIS) arrangements, meaning you are normally eligible for support from Student Finance England. Graduates undertaking shortened versions of the standard undergraduate course If you are a graduate who has a degree from a previous course and you have started a shortened undergraduate medical or dental course, you may be eligible for

2 NHS funding from year five of the course, which could be your fourth or earlier period of study. Pre-registration medical students on courses where a degree is a requirement for entry This covers courses such as four year fast track medical or dental programmes. You are eligible to apply for an income assessed bursary and help with tuition fees from year two of the four year graduate entry course. In year one, you should apply to Student Finance England for financial assistance. The NHS bursary is not available for the first year of training. You may also be eligible for a reduced rate loan in years two, three and four to meet the balance of your living costs but you should consult Student Finance England or the website to establish what you may be entitled to claim. Tuition s The NHS Bursary Scheme will pay towards the tuition fee contribution for all eligible Medical and Dental students for the later years of their course, as explained above. In order for the course tuition fee contribution to be paid to the University in question the student must be both: personally eligible in attendance on their course on 1 December of the relevant academic year The maximum amount of help a medical or dental student will receive towards their fees for each academic year is set out in the table below. If a student s tuition fees are less than this, the tuition fee contribution will be limited to the student s actual fees. If the student s tuition fees are higher the student will have to pay the balance. Year and Type of Course Any eligible academic year of an international course where the periods of study at the institution in the UK are no more than 10 weeks full-time or 30 weeks part- starting before 1 September 2006 starting on or after 1 September 2006 starting on or after 1 September

3 time (excluding holidays). Any final year of a course which is ordinarily required to be completed after less than 15 weeks attendance. Any other eligible academic year on a pre-registration course lasting 5 or more years (including any integral foundation or intercalating years at bachelor or masters degree level). Any other eligible academic year on a shortened/accelerated preregistration course for graduates Intercalating Students Intercalating means taking a year out of your normal medical or dental studies to study for an extra degree. This lengthens the time you will take to qualify by a year, but means you end up with two degrees: your normal medical or dental qualification plus a BSc, BMedSci or something similar. Please note, students who intercalate in order to undertake a 2 or 3 year PhD are not eligible to receive NHS bursary funding during that period. If the intercalation course is undertaken earlier than the fifth year of study, no NHS bursary will be payable but it will be counted towards the qualifying period when you will be able to apply for NHS bursary support. Example 1 Intercalation year taken in 2012/13 Fifth Year of study in intercalation year Able to apply for a bursary The intercalation year (2012/13) and Course Year 5 when you return to your medical or dental course and Any subsequent years of your course

4 Academic Year 2008/ / / / / /14 5 Year of Course Intercalation year - NHS bursary funding applicable Example 2 Intercalation year taken in 2010/11 Third Year of study in intercalation year Able to apply for bursary Course Year 4 as this will be your fifth year of study Academic Year Year of Course 2008/ / /11 Intercalation year 2011/ /13 4 Most medical and dental schools will allow you to spend your intercalated year at a different institution, if required. Where this is the case, your course tuition fee contribution will be paid to the University in which you are undertaking your intercalation course, after NHS Student Bursaries has been invoiced for these. Medical and dental students who are eligible for NHS bursary support in the 2012/13 academic year who choose to undertake an intercalation year at either the same or a different University should be aware that the maximum tuition fee contribution that can be met on the student's behalf is 3,465 for courses which commenced on or after 1 September 2007 (that is, the standard personal tuition fee contribution for the academic year). The Department of Health cannot pay a higher amount for intercalation courses. Students affected by this should note that, if the tuition fees for your intercalation course are set higher than this standard amount, you would be expected to meet the balance of the cost of the fees yourself.

5 Students who commenced Medical or Dental courses prior to 1 September 2006, and who will still be in training in 2012/13 should be aware that the maximum tuition fee contribution that will apply to them is 1,380.