Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support student nurses.

To supplement the student loan support provided by the Department for Education, the Department of Health and Social Care provides non-repayable and non-income assessed funding via the NHS Learning Support Fund. All eligible nursing students receive a grant of £5,000 per academic year. Additional funding of £1,000 per year is also available for those studying certain course, for example, Mental Health Nursing and Learning Disabilities Nursing, with a further £2,000 per year for childcare, as well as support for placement travel and accommodation costs. Students in exceptional hardship can also access up to a further £3,000 per year.