NHS Bursary

Hi guys i am really stuck...

So i have applied to study radiography and still havent done my student finance, so doing it right now... i dont know whether to apply for a bursary as you have to work in Wales post graduation for 2 years!!!

Someone help me

Reply 1

Kevin De Bruyne

Original post by Carrotcar

How much is the bursary? If it is significant and there are no large/unusual costs of working in Wales then personally I'd take it.

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Reply 2

Tformosus

The NHS bursary means that you'll have course student fees paid, get a £1K grant and a means tested bursary of up to £2643 each year, plus access to a student loan and travel and accommodation expenses for any placements will be covered (nursing, midwifery and other courses with extra study weeks get a bit more)

I'll be studying ODP at Cardiff and for me the main bonus is the NHS picking up the course fees. Two years isn't really that long a time, you could consider it paid work experience a chance to solidify what you've learnt on the course with real work, so that when you've graduated and [done] your two years you wont just have a degree to offer a potential employer but a couple of years NHS experience too. Furthermore it doesn't seem unreasonable for NHS Wales to get some return on its investment.

If you've got parental or other support and thus don't have to rely too heavily upon a student loan, it'll mean you can graduate without a huge debt burden. And if you don't have significant support, then it makes going to university viable.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 3

Carrotcar

Its just i live in England so it would be more practical to live back at home as I would have no family , and the job is full time so it would be hard to have time to go back home. I'm so stuck on what to do! It's so hard to make the decision now as I don't even know if I'll like cardiff in general

Reply 4

Tformosus

Ah, that is a bit of a complication. It's understandable that you wouldn't want to be cut of from your folks.

Would spending your "working week" in Wales and going home to visit the family at "weekends" be an option at all? e.g. find a job where commuting back home every once in awhile is an option. I can only give my experience as working as a HCSW and I don't know what it's like for the radiographers, but working in the NHS isnt a regular 9-5 job. You are typically able to specify a preference for how long and what days you want to work, depending of course on the needs of the service and balancing all the requests of your colleagues. As long as you do your 75 hours over two weeks you have some freedom to try arrange things so you get a bit more time off say a long weekend every couple of weeks (though your weekend might actually work out being during the week) e.g. I do 7 ten hour 7:30-6pm shifts and 1 5 hour 8-1pm shift giving me the rest of the days over that weeks off. But it would still mean you'd having to live away from your family most of the time and visit on those long weekends (which you have no guarantee of getting - though you can state a preference you certainly don't always get it).

If freedom to work wherever you want to work as soon as you graduate is more of a priority than getting the bursary, that you can afford to turn it down, then perhaps its not for you. But I'd recommend thinking long and hard about it and talking it through with your family.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 5

huss49

Hi, im also applying for the NHS bursary but on the cardiff website it states that new students have to pay 6000k or is it with the student finance thing?

Reply 6

ellyf

Hi, I've applied for the NHS bursary and will (hopefully) be studying diagnostic radiography from september this year. I believe you are able to apply for both student finance and the NHS bursary, so i would apply for both just so you have those options and you can then choose your funding before you enrol.

In terms of working in wales for 2 years post graduation, after living in wales for three years and studying with others and meeting new people you may find that you want to stay in wales, especially if your friends are staying or you get a job in a hospital there.

Original post by Carrotcar