NHS finance information

Yes! Many students worry where they’ll find the money from but remember, if you're a UK student applying for a student loan, you don’t have to pay anything upfront and you won’t have to pay anything back until you’re earning over £25,000 a year, £2,083 a month or £480 a week (current figures).

The repayments are set at 9% of your salary over £25,000 and are automatically taken from your wages each month.

If this is your second degree, your loans will be combined and you’ll pay back 9% of your salary over £25,000.

If you’re concerned and want to find out more, it’s worth reading MoneySavingExpert’s article, which looks at the loan repayments in more detail.

For September 2025 entry:

• UK/CI/ROI students: £9,535
• International students: £19,700

If you are a student on an eligible NHS course*, you may be eligible for funding from the NHS Learning Support Fund which offers students access to non-repayable financial suport. Please note, this is supplementary funding of between £5,000 - £8,000 and you will need to meet the eligibility criteria listed below. You should not base your financial plans for the academic year on receiving this. 

 Applying to the fund won't affect any other funding you're entitled to, such as Tuition Fee Loans and Maintenance Loans, Disabled Student Allowances and university bursaries. All students will receive their funding in three instalments, phased over the academic year.

The extended package of financial support includes:

• Training grant (non-income assessed) £5,000 per student per academic year
• Specialist subject payment (non-income assessed) £1,000 per student per academic year
• Parental support (non-income assessed) £2,000 per student per academic year, for students with parental responsibility for at least one child
• Traval and dual accommodation expenses (non-income assessed) Reimbursement of excess travel and temporary accommodation costs incurred as a result of attending a practice placement
• Exceptional support fund (income-assessed) Up to £3,000 per academic year for students who find themselves facing unexpected financial hardship

Who is eligible for funding from the NHS Learning Support Fund?

To qualify for the extra support you'll need to be:

• On an eligible course at a university in England
• Eligible for tuition fee and maintenance support from your national funding body (either Student Finance England (SFE), Student Finance Wales (SFW), Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS), or Student Finance Northern Ireland (SFNI).

Please note, if you wish to apply for the Exceptional Support Fund, you must have applied and received a decision from the BU Financial Support Fund first. 

Find out more information about the funding and view FAQs. 

*Eligible courses:

• Adult Nursing, Children's & Young People's Nursing, Mental Health Nursing (Mental Health Nursing students may be eligible for an additional £1,000 specialist subject payment)
• Midwifery
• Paramedic Science
• Occupational Therapy
• Physiotherapy
• Operating Department Practice (ODP).

Please note that students on a Foundation Year are not eligible for this funding. However, you will be able to access it once you complete the Foundation Year and move onto the degree.

The loan entitlemen has not yet been confirmed for September 2025 entry. The figures below represent the loan entitlement for September 2024 entry as a guide:

• Tuition Fee Loan: This covers the full cost of tuition fees
• Maintenance Loan (2024/54 entry figures) - 30 week courses:
  • Up to £10,227 if living away from home (not in London)
  • Up to £8,610 if living in parental home (not in London)
• Maintenance Loan (2024/25 entry figures) - 45+ week courses:
  • Up to £12,647 if living away from home (not in London)
  • Up to £10,216 if living in parental home (not in London)

You’ll repay these loans once you’re earning over £25,000 (current figure).

This tuition fee loan for healthcare courses is available to students if you've already studied another degree.

This tuition fee loan is available to healthcare students if you've already studied another degree. However, BSc (Hons) Paramedic Science students who have already completed a degree or who have previous degree study may not be entitled to further Tuition Fee Loan support. Therefore, it is important to check your entitlement with your funding provider prior to undertaking your course.

The tuition fee loan is not available to apprenticeship students as tuition fees are paid by your employer through the apprenticeship levy.

The figures for September 2025 entry are not yet available. For 2024/25 entry, Student Finance England provided eligible UK students with a Childcare Grant of:

• Up to £193.62 a week for one child
• Up to £331.95 a week for two children or more

Eligible students will also be able to apply for a Parents’ Learning Allowance of up to £1,963 a year (2024/25 entry figure).

This money doesn’t need to be paid back.

Extra support for students on healthcare courses:

The NHS Parental Support Allowance (previously known as the Child Dependants Allowance) means eligible students attending a full time pre-registration healthcare course, are able to claim a set amount of £1,000 per academic year.

New and continuing eligible nursing, midwifery and allied health professions students with caring responsibilities will benefit from an additional £1,000 to help balance their studies with caring responsibilities. This is in addition to the £1,000 already on offer through the current NHS Parental Support Allowance (previously known as the Child Dependants Allowance).

View FAQs about the new funding to find out more.

Travel and Dual Accommodation Expenses will be available to reimburse excess costs incurred when undertaking practical training on placements. Eligible students will need to complete a claim form which will need to be approved by your university and this will then come through to the NHS Business Services Authority who will process for payment.

Information regarding Travel and Dual Accommodation Expenses, including how to apply, is available via the NHS Learning Support Fund. 

Bursaries & Scholarships

Universities offer additional support to their students. BU offers the following to eligible students:

• BU Maintenance Bursary 
• BU Care Leavers Bursary
• BU Estrangement Bursary
• BU Sport Scholarship 
• BU Music Scholarship 

None of our scholarships or bursaries have to be paid back, find out more here.

We’ll also provide you with your uniforms. 

The government training grant, funding from the NHS Learning Support Fund and the Student Finance England loans are only available for eligible UK students. For more international financial support information, visit international financial support.