The following links take you to the relevant section of this page.
- The bursary
- Initial Expenses Allowance
- Dependants' Allowance
- Single Parents' Allowance
- Childcare Allowance for Parents
- Disabled Students' Allowance.
- Expenses for clinical placement
The bursary
All eligible students get a bursary.
If you began your course on 1 January 2007 or earlier and you are taking the four-year honours degree course and you are eligible for the bursary, you will get the full bursary rate in years 1 to 3 and a 75% bursary for year 4. If you are taking the three year diploma course you will get the full bursary rate in years 1 to 3. The table below shows the amount of bursary we can pay you.
| Years 1 to 3 | Year 4 | |
|---|---|---|
| Under 26 at the start of the course | £6,294 | £4,721 |
| 26 or over at the start of the course | £7,088 | £5,316 |
| Graduates who have been accepted for a two-year training course | £7,088 | £5,316 |
Initial Expenses Allowance
We will pay you an extra £58 Initial Expenses Allowance in your first year of study. This will be included in the first instalment of your bursary.
Dependants' Allowance
You can apply for an allowance for your husband, wife, civil partner or partner and for any child you are legally responsible for. You should tell us if the other parent is receiving student support as you can only claim one allowance for each child. You must send us copies of your childrens birth certificates with your first application. Do not send us the originals as we cannot guarantee to return them safely.
The maximum amounts you can claim are shown in the table below:
| £2,573 | for a husband, wife, civil partner or partner, or, if you are single, one adult you have a legal responsibility for who has little or no income from any source; or for the first child, as long as you are not receiving an allowance for a dependent husband, wife, civil partner or partner, or other adult dependant. |
| £2,071 | for children who are aged 18 or over at the start of your year of study |
| £1,440 | for children who are aged 16 or over but under 18 at the start of your year of study |
| £1,071 | for children who are aged 11 or over but under 16 at the start of your year of study |
| £543 | for children who are under the age of 11 at the start of your year of study |
Any income your dependants have may reduce your support. If you are married, in a civil partnership or living with a partner, you must declare your husband's, wife's, civil partner's or partner's income, even if you are only claiming for your children. We take account of their gross income from all sources (but not including income tax or National Insurance contributions).
You should tell us the type of income your dependants have. The table below gives examples of the types of income (this is not a full list).
| Income included | Income not included |
|---|---|
| Income from employment | Attendance Allowance |
| Income Support (certain payments) | Child Benefit |
| Invalid Care Allowance | Child Tax Credit |
| Jobseeker's Allowance (contribution based - paid enough NI contributions) | Disability Living Allowance |
| Maintenance (exclude any you receive for children who are not students) | Housing Benefit |
| Retirement Pension | Jobseeker's Allowance (contribution based - paid enough NI contributions) |
| Unearned income (for example, bank interest) | Severe Disablement Allowance |
| Working Tax Credit | Winter fuel allowance |
We pay the Dependants' Allowance provisionally . This means that we will ask you to confirm the actual income your dependants have received at the end of your year of study. We will assess the allowance again when we receive confirmation of their actual income. If we reduce the allowance, you must repay whatever you have received over your entitlement. You should tell us about any change in your circumstances during the year, as it could mean that we have paid you too much.
Single Parents' Allowance
You may be entitled to an extra allowance of £1,270 if you are single, widowed, divorced, separated or no longer live with a partner and bringing up children on your own. You must send us written evidence to prove you are a lone parent when you apply , such as:
- a copy of your tax credit award (please send all relevant pages);
- a letter from the Department for Work and Pensions to show you receive benefit as a lone parent;
If you cannot give us one of the above, we may accept a letter, on company header paper, from a professional person who knows your circumstances and can confirm that you are a lone parent. A professional person can be, for example, a doctor, lawyer, teacher, police officer or minister of religion.
Childcare Allowance for Parents
The childcare allowance is payable to any student who is a parent and wants to claim formal childcare costs.
If you have to pay all or part of the cost for registered or formal childcare, you can receive up to £1,185 a year, depending on the cost of childcare. 'Formal' childcare includes childminders, after-school clubs and providers of day-care and education. If you are getting your full childcare costs paid from other sources (for example, your institution) you should not apply for this grant.
You should always contact us first for help with your childcare costs before you ask for help from any other source.
You should tell us when you fill in your application form if you think you may be entitled to this support. We will send you another form to ask for details about your childcare provider and confirmation of the amounts you will pay.
Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA)
If you have a disability, you may be eligible to claim for certain extra expenses you have to pay because you are on the course. We will consider paying the following amounts.
- Up to £1,680 for any qualifying cost during the academic year.
- Up to £20,000 for non-medical personal help for the academic year.
- Up to £5,030 for major items of specialist equipment (this is a total amount for the course, not for each year of the course).
Before we can pay this allowance, you will need to fill in a DSA application form to give us more information. We may need to refer you to an assessment centre for advice on the equipment you may need. This can take time so it is essential that you apply as early as possible.
Expenses for clinical placement
Clinical placement is the part of the course that consists of supervised practice in clinical areas. You can claim expenses for some extra travel and reasonable accommodation costs. You cannot claim for normal daily travel to and from your institution or for your normal day to day living expenses.
Travel
We pay travel costs on the basis of the cheapest fare. You should take advantage of season tickets, zone cards, and student railcards wherever possible. If you claim more than the cheapest fare available, your claim will be restricted to the cheapest fare. We will deduct the amount of your normal daily travelling costs to your institution, (but no more than £5 a day) from the costs of placement travel, and we will pay the difference.
We do not normally pay for:
- air fares, unless your institution is prepared to certify that the use of air transport is justified;
- parking fees; taxi fares; tips; carriage of luggage; bicycles or pets; food and drink for the journey; or
- private transport unless there are exceptional circumstances (for example, if you live in a rural area where public transport is not available).
Subsistance
If you must live away from your term time address because of your placement you may reclaim extra board or lodgings charges. You must pay the cost of all meals, food, and so on that are not included in the accommodation costs from your Bursary. This includes any extra costs while staying with relatives. You must send us receipts along with your claim.