PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Midwives: Training (10 January 2019)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many student midwives were in receipt of a bursary in each academic year since 2016-17; what the average bursary paid to a student midwife was in each of those years; and what the total cost of those bursaries was to his Department in each of those years.

Asked by:
Gareth Snell (Labour)

The following table shows the number of midwifery students in receipt of bursary funding in the last two completed academic years and the average payment per student.

Academic Year	Student Count1	Total Value of Payments (£)2	Average Per Student (£)
2016/17	6,485	35,798,444	5,520
2017/18	4,146	23,815,211	5,744

Source: NHS Business Services Authority

Notes:

¹Any student who received any element of bursary funding whilst enrolled on a midwifery course

²Total payment(s) of any award element, i.e. Basic Award or supplementary allowances

In August 2017 the education funding system changed with all new pre-registration undergraduate nursing, midwifery and allied health profession students accessing student loans for tuition fees and living costs rather than a National Health Service bursary. In August 2018 postgraduate pre-registration nursing, midwifery and allied health profession students also began to access student loans.

Answered by:
Stephen Hammond (Conservative)
17 January 2019