Nursing students will benefit from guaranteed, additional support of at least £5,000 a year to help with living costs.
The funding will be given to all new and continuing degree-level nursing, midwifery and many allied health students from September 2020. It is expected to benefit more than 35,000 students every year.
The announcement of the funding comes ahead of the UCAS university application deadline of 15 January.
The funding comes as part of the government’s pledge to increase nurse numbers by 50,000 over the next 5 years.
Students will receive at least £5,000 a year, with up to £3,000 further funding available for eligible students, including for: specialist disciplines that struggle to recruit, including mental health
An additional childcare allowance, on top of the £1,000 already on offer and in areas of the country which have seen a decrease in people accepted on some nursing, midwifery and allied health courses over the past year
This means that some students could be eligible for up to £8,000 per year, with everyone getting at least £5,000. The funding will be available from next year. Further details on who can access the support will be available in early 2020.
The funding will not have to be repaid by recipients. Students will also be able to continue to access funding for tuition and maintenance loans from the Student Loans Company.
The announcement comes alongside the latest push in the biggest nursing recruitment drive in decades, with a campaign boost ahead of the UCAS deadline for university applications on 15 January 2020.
Anita Charlesworth, Director of Research and Economics at the Health Foundation, said:
‘The NHS doesn’t have enough nurses and we urgently need to increase the number in training. The government’s decision to increase the financial support for student nurses is welcome and will help to encourage people into the profession. Student nurses often cite financial pressures as a key reason why they are unable to continue with their studies.
‘We previously recommended providing cost of living support as part of analysis jointly conducted with The Nuffield Trust and The King’s Fund. It is good to see the government taking this step to address the growing workforce shortage in the NHS, but improving financial support alone will not fully address the nursing crisis.
‘Nurses spend a lot of their time on clinical placements. The government also needs to make sure that the students have good quality clinical placements where they are supported and effectively supervised. Nursing shortages are most severe in areas like mental health and learning disabilities, so these areas must be a priority for the expansion in nurse training.
‘The nursing shortfall needs to be addressed on multiple fronts. Thenumber of people training as postgraduates needs to triple, along with a marked increase in the annual budget for training and developing nurses and a recognition that a significant number of nurses will also be ethically recruited from abroad.
‘Without taking action on all these fronts, the workforce shortage in nursing risks getting significantly worse over the coming years.’
