Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of granting a second student loan to prospective veterinary studies students who have already completed an undergraduate degree in a separate subject in order to help tackle the shortage of veterinarians in the UK.

In most cases, students who already have an equivalent or higher-level higher education qualification, compared with the one offered by their current course, will not qualify for maintenance or fee support.

However, the department recognises the need to promote access to professions by protecting the position of students who wish to retrain in the following subjects: teaching, architecture, social work, medicine, dentistry, veterinary science and healthcare. Students on these courses may qualify for some support, even when they already have an equivalent level qualification.

Students undertaking a full-time second degree in veterinary studies will qualify for maintenance support for the duration of their course.