Comparing funding for healthcare courses in England, Scotland and Wales
When deciding where to study nursing, midwifery, paramedic science or an Allied Health Profession course, you need to give some thought to the impact of location on your finances.
Funding is a little more complicated for healthcare courses due to the additional options available from the NHS Learning Support Fund (NHS LSF) and NHS Wales. It's important to note:
The following table summarises the funding available to applicants based on where they live and where they are going to study.
* Amount is assessed according to household income
^ PNSMB (The Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary) is only available to students who are eligible for funding from SAAS and who study in Scotland. It does not need to be paid back and is not based on household income.
I live in England but want to study at a university in Wales - should I take the NHS Wales Bursary?
Although it is an attractive proposition to have your tuition fees paid, the reality is that you might struggle to pay for accommodation and living costs if you choose the NHS Wales Bursary Scheme. The following is based on 2024-25 figures as all 2025-26 figures are not available yet:
The NHS Wales Bursary Scheme provides the following support each year:
In summary, the maximum you could get to cover your living costs is £6,313 per year. This might cover accommodation costs but not much else.
An alternative is to opt out of the bursary scheme and apply to SFE for the tuition fee and maintenance loans. Depending on household income, you could get a maintenance loan of between £4,767 and £10,227 (outside London, living away from home amounts). You would not be able to apply to the NHS LSF for the training grant and additional benefits.
If you study at a uni in England, you would receive your maintenance loan plus the annual training grant of £5,000 (or £6,000 depending on subject) from the NHS LSF.
Useful links
The NHS Learning Support Fund
NHS Wales Student Awards Service
SFW loan amounts
SAAS Paramedic, nursing and midwifery funding
SAAS Allied Health Profession funding
Funding is a little more complicated for healthcare courses due to the additional options available from the NHS Learning Support Fund (NHS LSF) and NHS Wales. It's important to note:
•
The NHS LSF is only available if you study at a university in England.
•
The NHS Wales Bursary Scheme is an option if you study at a university in Wales in return for committing to work for the NHS in Wales for two years when you graduate.
The following table summarises the funding available to applicants based on where they live and where they are going to study.
* Amount is assessed according to household income
^ PNSMB (The Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary) is only available to students who are eligible for funding from SAAS and who study in Scotland. It does not need to be paid back and is not based on household income.
I live in England but want to study at a university in Wales - should I take the NHS Wales Bursary?
Although it is an attractive proposition to have your tuition fees paid, the reality is that you might struggle to pay for accommodation and living costs if you choose the NHS Wales Bursary Scheme. The following is based on 2024-25 figures as all 2025-26 figures are not available yet:
The NHS Wales Bursary Scheme provides the following support each year:
•
payment of tuition fees
•
non-income assessed grant of £1,000
•
income-assessed bursary of up to a maximum of £2,643 (but falls to £0 if household income is above £50,000 per year)
•
students may also apply to their funding body for a maintenance loan. Only a reduced maintenance loan is available from SFE of £2,670 (by comparison Welsh students can get up to £11,150).
In summary, the maximum you could get to cover your living costs is £6,313 per year. This might cover accommodation costs but not much else.
An alternative is to opt out of the bursary scheme and apply to SFE for the tuition fee and maintenance loans. Depending on household income, you could get a maintenance loan of between £4,767 and £10,227 (outside London, living away from home amounts). You would not be able to apply to the NHS LSF for the training grant and additional benefits.
If you study at a uni in England, you would receive your maintenance loan plus the annual training grant of £5,000 (or £6,000 depending on subject) from the NHS LSF.
Useful links
The NHS Learning Support Fund
NHS Wales Student Awards Service
SFW loan amounts
SAAS Paramedic, nursing and midwifery funding
SAAS Allied Health Profession funding
Reply 1
Original post
by normawWhen deciding where to study nursing, midwifery, paramedic science or an Allied Health Profession course, you need to give some thought to the impact of location on your finances.
Funding is a little more complicated for healthcare courses due to the additional options available from the NHS Learning Support Fund (NHS LSF) and NHS Wales. It's important to note:
The following table summarises the funding available to applicants based on where they live and where they are going to study.
* Amount is assessed according to household income
^ PNSMB (The Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary) is only available to students who are eligible for funding from SAAS and who study in Scotland. It does not need to be paid back and is not based on household income.
I live in England but want to study at a university in Wales - should I take the NHS Wales Bursary?
Although it is an attractive proposition to have your tuition fees paid, the reality is that you might struggle to pay for accommodation and living costs if you choose the NHS Wales Bursary Scheme. The following is based on 2024-25 figures as all 2025-26 figures are not available yet:
The NHS Wales Bursary Scheme provides the following support each year:
In summary, the maximum you could get to cover your living costs is £6,313 per year. This might cover accommodation costs but not much else.
An alternative is to opt out of the bursary scheme and apply to SFE for the tuition fee and maintenance loans. Depending on household income, you could get a maintenance loan of between £4,767 and £10,227 (outside London, living away from home amounts). You would not be able to apply to the NHS LSF for the training grant and additional benefits.
If you study at a uni in England, you would receive your maintenance loan plus the annual training grant of £5,000 (or £6,000 depending on subject) from the NHS LSF.
Useful links
The NHS Learning Support Fund
NHS Wales Student Awards Service
SFW loan amounts
SAAS Paramedic, nursing and midwifery funding
SAAS Allied Health Profession funding
Funding is a little more complicated for healthcare courses due to the additional options available from the NHS Learning Support Fund (NHS LSF) and NHS Wales. It's important to note:
•
The NHS LSF is only available if you study at a university in England.
•
The NHS Wales Bursary Scheme is an option if you study at a university in Wales in return for committing to work for the NHS in Wales for two years when you graduate.
The following table summarises the funding available to applicants based on where they live and where they are going to study.
* Amount is assessed according to household income
^ PNSMB (The Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary) is only available to students who are eligible for funding from SAAS and who study in Scotland. It does not need to be paid back and is not based on household income.
I live in England but want to study at a university in Wales - should I take the NHS Wales Bursary?
Although it is an attractive proposition to have your tuition fees paid, the reality is that you might struggle to pay for accommodation and living costs if you choose the NHS Wales Bursary Scheme. The following is based on 2024-25 figures as all 2025-26 figures are not available yet:
The NHS Wales Bursary Scheme provides the following support each year:
•
payment of tuition fees
•
non-income assessed grant of £1,000
•
income-assessed bursary of up to a maximum of £2,643 (but falls to £0 if household income is above £50,000 per year)
•
students may also apply to their funding body for a maintenance loan. Only a reduced maintenance loan is available from SFE of £2,670 (by comparison Welsh students can get up to £11,150).
In summary, the maximum you could get to cover your living costs is £6,313 per year. This might cover accommodation costs but not much else.
An alternative is to opt out of the bursary scheme and apply to SFE for the tuition fee and maintenance loans. Depending on household income, you could get a maintenance loan of between £4,767 and £10,227 (outside London, living away from home amounts). You would not be able to apply to the NHS LSF for the training grant and additional benefits.
If you study at a uni in England, you would receive your maintenance loan plus the annual training grant of £5,000 (or £6,000 depending on subject) from the NHS LSF.
Useful links
The NHS Learning Support Fund
NHS Wales Student Awards Service
SFW loan amounts
SAAS Paramedic, nursing and midwifery funding
SAAS Allied Health Profession funding
Thank you for this. Really disappointed and totally unaware that the £5k grant wasn’t available if you study in Wales.
Original post
by saju21Thank you for this. Really disappointed and totally unaware that the £5k grant wasn’t available if you study in Wales.
That's why I've made the thread - a lot of students aren't aware and opt for the Welsh bursary then struggle to pay for living costs.
Reply 3
I did go to Cardiffs finance talk so was aware of the downside of opting for Welsh funding but somehow the ‘no £5k’ I missed - and it’s unfair to students who live in the SW as Cardiff/ Swansea are real study options - otherwise we only have Bristol Exeter Plymouth and they don’t have every course. NHS England still benefits from English graduates working in England irrespective of where they study.
Reply 4
Thanks so much for posting this. I've found it really hard to determine this info by looking at the different student finance websites alone.
Mature student in England, I have applied for the MSc Occupational Therapy at Glasgow Caledonian University, Edinburgh Napier and Plymouth University. I was relieved to discover that MSc Occupational Therapy is eligible for the undergraduate funding package and not postgraduate. My top choice is GCU, however I am nervous due to not being able to get the NHS LSF funding in Scotland.
Through GCU, I discovered the 'alternative guide' to postgraduate funding which seems like a good option to try to bridge the amount, but cannot find anything on this it across the student room, which I find strange? I wonder if anyone here has had any success with it? I have found one post on here from 4 years ago when adding " around alternative guide...and no responses on it!
Mature student in England, I have applied for the MSc Occupational Therapy at Glasgow Caledonian University, Edinburgh Napier and Plymouth University. I was relieved to discover that MSc Occupational Therapy is eligible for the undergraduate funding package and not postgraduate. My top choice is GCU, however I am nervous due to not being able to get the NHS LSF funding in Scotland.
Through GCU, I discovered the 'alternative guide' to postgraduate funding which seems like a good option to try to bridge the amount, but cannot find anything on this it across the student room, which I find strange? I wonder if anyone here has had any success with it? I have found one post on here from 4 years ago when adding " around alternative guide...and no responses on it!
(edited 5 months ago)
@Alfielove No I've not heard of the alternative guide, but it is only for subscribers so the information isn't accessible to everyone. It doesn't matter where you study a healthcare course so why choose a course in Scotland if you're not going to be able to access the NHS LSF?
Reply 6
Original post
by normaw@Alfielove No I've not heard of the alternative guide, but it is only for subscribers so the information isn't accessible to everyone. It doesn't matter where you study a healthcare course so why choose a course in Scotland if you're not going to be able to access the NHS LSF?
You can also pay to subscribe, if your uni do not subscribe to it or you're not accepted yet, I think.
What do you mean it doesn't matter where you study a health care course? 🤔
Original post
by AlfieloveYou can also pay to subscribe, if your uni do not subscribe to it or you're not accepted yet, I think.
What do you mean it doesn't matter where you study a health care course? 🤔
What do you mean it doesn't matter where you study a health care course? 🤔
All courses are approved by the HCPC so they are held to the same standard, and you future employer (the NHS) won't care where you studied the degree. So where you study your course won't have an impact on your employability.
Reply 8
I have to say the way the Welsh funding works if you are an English student is incredibly frustrating.
Speaking as someone who is a mature student and lives on the Wirral (England, close to the Welsh border), and I am wanting to study Speech and Language therapy.
Not all unis offer this course so my nearest commute would actually be Wrexham but I would miss out on the English bursary funding.
The Welsh scheme combined with the SFE reduced rate would not cover my living costs so I would have to apply to opt out and be fully funded by SFE, meaning I would miss out on the English £5000 bursary and would have to pay back full matinence loan and tuition fees.
The logic of the Welsh scheme, according to the Welsh govt., local health boards is to get more trained health professionals in areas where it could be harder to recruit, hence the 2 year commitment (which I would have been willing to make) but the sums just don't add up for English students... 🤔
Speaking as someone who is a mature student and lives on the Wirral (England, close to the Welsh border), and I am wanting to study Speech and Language therapy.
Not all unis offer this course so my nearest commute would actually be Wrexham but I would miss out on the English bursary funding.
The Welsh scheme combined with the SFE reduced rate would not cover my living costs so I would have to apply to opt out and be fully funded by SFE, meaning I would miss out on the English £5000 bursary and would have to pay back full matinence loan and tuition fees.
The logic of the Welsh scheme, according to the Welsh govt., local health boards is to get more trained health professionals in areas where it could be harder to recruit, hence the 2 year commitment (which I would have been willing to make) but the sums just don't add up for English students... 🤔
Reply 9
@normaw
So can I confirm, I am a currently living in wales and am hoping to study paramedic science at Swansea University in September 2026 and plan to continue working and living in wales post qualification.
Does this mean I would be entitled to the following?
Or would I need to choose between taking the NHS bursary for maintenance or the SFW for maintenance?
So can I confirm, I am a currently living in wales and am hoping to study paramedic science at Swansea University in September 2026 and plan to continue working and living in wales post qualification.
Does this mean I would be entitled to the following?
•
Tuition fees covered.
•
£1000 non means tested and means tested NHS bursary.
•
SFW maintenance loan.
Original post
by injured-code@normaw
So can I confirm, I am a currently living in wales and am hoping to study paramedic science at Swansea University in September 2026 and plan to continue working and living in wales post qualification.
Does this mean I would be entitled to the following?
Or would I need to choose between taking the NHS bursary for maintenance or the SFW for maintenance?
So can I confirm, I am a currently living in wales and am hoping to study paramedic science at Swansea University in September 2026 and plan to continue working and living in wales post qualification.
Does this mean I would be entitled to the following?
•
Tuition fees covered.
•
£1000 non means tested and means tested NHS bursary.
•
SFW maintenance loan.
If you are eligible to get your funding from SFW, then yes you are entitled to the maintenance loan in addition to the NHS Wales bursary entitlements.
Cardiff Uni's website has a clear explanation of this:
https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/funding/funding-your-healthcare-course/nhs-bursary
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