Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take support student nurses that began their courses in 2017 and are therefore not eligible for the grant announced by the Government in December 2019.

The maintenance grants announced on the 18 December 2019 are available to new and continuing Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professional (NWMAHP) students from September 2020. NMWAHP students who started courses in the 2017/18 academic year and will have completed their studies will not receive backdated payments. The move from bursaries to loans in 2017 enabled the Government to increase the upfront financial support available to students while studying by around 25%.

Final year nursing students, of which the vast majority commenced their studies in 2017, have been invited to opt in to paid placements to support the COVID-19 response. We have guaranteed that all nursing students who do opt in to paid placements will be rewarded fairly for their hard work. Nursing students who opt in will be getting a salary and automatic National Health Service pension entitlement at the appropriate band. They will also still receive their student maintenance loan and Learning Support Fund payments too.