Medicine: Students

(asked on 2nd December 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to support medical students during the covid-19 outbreak.


Answered by
Michelle Donelan Portrait
Michelle Donelan
Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
This question was answered on 10th December 2021

The government wants to make sure all students, including medical students, receive the right amount of student support to complete their studies.

First time students on standard 5 or 6 year undergraduate medical and dental courses are eligible to apply for support on the same terms as other full-time students for the first 4 years of their course (subject to previous study). This gives them access to tuition fee loan, living cost loan and targeted grants. For the fifth and subsequent years of their course they apply to the NHS for tuition support and an income assessed NHS Bursary. In addition, they can apply to Student Finance England for the non-income assessed reduced rate living cost loan for these years. Graduate entry accelerated medical programmes, as defined in the Student Support Regulations, are up to a maximum 4 years in length and attract financial support from the Department of Health and Social Care and Student Finance England.

Maximum grants and loans for living costs for undergraduate courses and grants and loans for postgraduate courses have been increased by 3.1% for the current 2021/22 academic year with a further 2.3% increase announced for 2022/23, taking the support available for the lowest income students to record levels in cash terms.

Many providers have hardship funds that students can apply to for assistance should the COVID-19 outbreak affect individuals’ finances in academic year 2021/22.

Regarding the mental health and wellbeing of students, the government is investing £2.3 billion extra funding into mental health services by the 2023/24 financial year through the NHS Long Term Plan. This is in addition to £500 million this year to address NHS waiting times for mental health services. £13 million has been allocated to support young adults (18-25 years), including university students, to help bridge gaps between children’s and adult mental health services.

Student mental health continues to be a strategic priority for the Office for Students (OfS). We have worked closely with the OfS as they have invested £9 million in projects to develop innovative practice, and we have asked them to allocate an additional £15 million in the 2021/22 academic year to help address the challenges posed by transitions into university, given demand for mental health services. Students can access support via Student Space which has been funded by up to £3 million by OfS as a response to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 outbreak.

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