The Student Room Group

Paramedic Science BSc

Hi, I was wondering how on Earth I can get funding to do a paramedic science degree in the south east of England! I already work in the ambulance service (IHCD tech 3) but in order to upgrade I need the BSc and the service wont fund me. I already have an honours degree in a different subject so cant apply for student finance and para science is exempt from the new NHS funding rules (which I cant understand at all bearing in mind the national shortage of paramedics we have!) I'm not HCPC registered so any course which offers this would suit me, even if not a BSc but I cannot find any unis which offer this in the South East. I have a mortgage to pay and a young child to support so I cant relocate. I can still do bank work for the service whilst I'm at uni but it wont pay the huge tuition fee bill at all. My partner can support me but cant front the £27,000 tuition needed. I cant get a career development loan as the course is longer than 2 years - it's so frustrating as I know the job already!

Any advice would be much appreciated as I'm coming across brick walls wherever I go. Even if I could pay my tuition fee in bitesize chunks it would be one thing but I don't know if even that is possible.
Original post by Kilo3
Hi, I was wondering how on Earth I can get funding to do a paramedic science degree in the south east of England! I already work in the ambulance service (IHCD tech 3) but in order to upgrade I need the BSc and the service wont fund me. I already have an honours degree in a different subject so cant apply for student finance and para science is exempt from the new NHS funding rules (which I cant understand at all bearing in mind the national shortage of paramedics we have!) I'm not HCPC registered so any course which offers this would suit me, even if not a BSc but I cannot find any unis which offer this in the South East. I have a mortgage to pay and a young child to support so I cant relocate. I can still do bank work for the service whilst I'm at uni but it wont pay the huge tuition fee bill at all. My partner can support me but cant front the £27,000 tuition needed. I cant get a career development loan as the course is longer than 2 years - it's so frustrating as I know the job already!

Any advice would be much appreciated as I'm coming across brick walls wherever I go. Even if I could pay my tuition fee in bitesize chunks it would be one thing but I don't know if even that is possible.


Have you tried contacting universities local to you and asking about whether they'll offer any concessions/discounts/fee waivers to people in your situation. It might also be possible for you to get entry directly into year 2 based on your work experience (this is called Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning - APEL) or for study part time which would make working and studying more manageable (plus part time fees are often a bit cheaper).
Also most of the degrees I've found state that the "Local Education Training Board for the NHS will pay your tuition fees." - that's outside the NHS bursary system and means if you get a place on the course then your fees are paid.

You wouldn't be eligible for a maintenance loan so you'd need to cover your living costs while studying but it sounds like it's the tuition fees that concern you most.
Reply 3
Thank you, PQ, I will look into it. A lot of universities seem to have a local board funding their students but not any in the Greater London area it seems. I will try contacting the universities directly and see what they say. I'm not worried about maintenance as my partner can support me whilst I'm studying, it's just the upfront cost of tuition fees that I cant afford. If I could go in to year 2 that would also be a great help so I shall definitely check that one out. It seems very much a postcode lottery for what you can get - if I went up North I wouldn't have any worry at all! There's no standard, nationwide system for funding Para students unlike, say, Nursing.
Original post by Kilo3
Thank you, PQ, I will look into it. A lot of universities seem to have a local board funding their students but not any in the Greater London area it seems. I will try contacting the universities directly and see what they say. I'm not worried about maintenance as my partner can support me whilst I'm studying, it's just the upfront cost of tuition fees that I cant afford. If I could go in to year 2 that would also be a great help so I shall definitely check that one out. It seems very much a postcode lottery for what you can get - if I went up North I wouldn't have any worry at all! There's no standard, nationwide system for funding Para students unlike, say, Nursing.


http://courses.uwe.ac.uk/B951/paramedic-science might be worth a look - it's mainly distance learning and part time so although it isn't local it could be an option to balance with working and studying.

Bournemouth, Brighton and Oxford Brookes BSc courses both stated they were fees paid by the local education trust (I'm not sure where in London you are but Ox Brookes or Brighton might be commutable - if expensive! or unreliable if you're getting the train to Brighton).
Reply 5
Original post by PQ
http://courses.uwe.ac.uk/B951/paramedic-science might be worth a look - it's mainly distance learning and part time so although it isn't local it could be an option to balance with working and studying.

Bournemouth, Brighton and Oxford Brookes BSc courses both stated they were fees paid by the local education trust (I'm not sure where in London you are but Ox Brookes or Brighton might be commutable - if expensive! or unreliable if you're getting the train to Brighton).


The most annoying thing is that I used to live in Oxford but moved to Essex to work in the Ambulance Service so now I'm too far away - how's that for irony! It's too far really for me to commute every day as I have my little one to think about. I will have a look at the distance learning option but I had the feeling they were stopping those sorts of courses, as OU has done, for example. I can hopefully still do bank shifts whilst studying so I don't mind being full-time.

It isn't just me in this position either - I have plenty of colleagues who have many years of experience on the road, banging their heads against the wall trying to get registered all the while seeing 22 year old graduates being swept in over us because they can get the funding and we cant.
Original post by Kilo3
The most annoying thing is that I used to live in Oxford but moved to Essex to work in the Ambulance Service so now I'm too far away - how's that for irony! It's too far really for me to commute every day as I have my little one to think about. I will have a look at the distance learning option but I had the feeling they were stopping those sorts of courses, as OU has done, for example. I can hopefully still do bank shifts whilst studying so I don't mind being full-time.

It isn't just me in this position either - I have plenty of colleagues who have many years of experience on the road, banging their heads against the wall trying to get registered all the while seeing 22 year old graduates being swept in over us because they can get the funding and we cant.


I really do feel for you - I hope you can resolve this funding position. Unfortunately, the idiotic decision of the government to withdraw NHS Bursaries for AHP courses is going to make stories like yours much more common - and you're exactly the sort of person who the NHS desperately needs to retain and bring on.

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