PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Medicine: Education (7 October 2024)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to encourage people from lower-income backgrounds to study medicine, in the context of the availability of financial support for maintenance available in the fifth and sixth years of a medicine degree.

Asked by:
Jayne Kirkham (Labour)

From year five of their undergraduate course, medical students can access the NHS Bursary. This is non-repayable and comprises payment for tuition fees, income-assessed help towards living costs, and where eligible, further allowances, such as for dependents and childcare and for those living with a disability. A further grant may also be available to medical students who are struggling financially, depending on their current financial circumstances.

Students eligible for the NHS Bursary can also apply for a reduced rate loan for living costs from Student Finance England. The Government is committed to supporting people from all backgrounds to study medicine and these funding arrangements are reviewed annually.

Answered by:
Karin Smyth (Labour)
10 October 2024