Funding for Paramedic and Nursing & Midwifery Courses (with registration)

If you are ordinarily resident in Scotland, you may be eligible to receive funding for tuition and living costs through the Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery student bursary scheme (PNMSB) which comes from the Scottish Government Health Directorate but is administered by the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS).

SAAS operate an online application process and their website has a lot of really useful information about how they work out your entitlement and how you apply for it. Applications open in April and we recommend applying early to ensure your funding is ready for you starting your course.

The Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery student bursary scheme (PNMSB) consists of a non-repayable bursary that is not income assessed and a number of additional bursaries/grants that are dependent on your circumstances. You are not eligible to apply for any Student Loan support on top of this.

You may also apply for a Tuition Fee element of support that is paid directly to the University on your behalf, and is also non-repayable, i.e. you do not have to pay this back.

If you have studied a course like this previously, and received funding through the Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary scheme, this will impact the funding you are entitled to receive, and can impact both the Tuition Fee element of support and living cost support. 

If you did not complete that previous course you should contact SAAS directly as they can help identify how much of your funding entitlement, if any, is still available to you, and the level of study this might apply to.

If you have completed a course like this that led to registration, you would not be eligible for funding to study a second course. I.e. you cannot receive funding to become dual registered.

If you are not eligible for the full package of student funding, you should carefully consider how you will manage financially during the time that you will not receive any bursary and may have to fund your tuition independently. 

If you have studied a course previously that was funded through the standard package of SAAS and SLC (i.e. you have not accessed support through the Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary scheme), you may still be eligible to receive funding for these courses through the Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery student bursary scheme.

The SAAS website details the financial support available and how you can apply. In basic terms, this can be made up of the following:

• Standard Bursary of £10,000 per year. This is not income assessed.
• Single parents allowance of £2,303 per year.
• Childcare allowance for registered care of up to £2,466 per year (less only if the registered childcare amounts to less).
• Dependants' allowance of £3,640 for first dependent child* and £557 for each other dependent child, also per year. Any income your dependants have may affect the level of support you receive.
• Tuition Fee award of  £1,820 per year

*Students with a spouse or partner on very low incomes may claim this allowance for that spouse or partner instead of a dependent child, and a further £557 for each dependent child.

Your funding package is paid on a monthly basis throughout the academic year. As these courses do not have the traditional summer break that other students experience, the package is effectively spread over 12 months. You are then expected to reapply for your funding package in each year of study, and should do so early to ensure continuity of funding.

This includes applying for Tuition Fee support, which is paid directly to the University.

IMPACT ON BENEFITS

It's important to understand that becoming a full-time student will impact any benefits you might be receiving, such as Universal Credit.

Your status as a student might mean you are no longer eligible to claim benefits. If you are still eligible to claim, your student funding will be taken into account for any benefit calculations, which may reduce the amount you receive during your studies. In some cases, you may not receive any benefits at all, so it is important to plan ahead and budget with this in mind.

Visit our Benefits page for more information, but we also recommend getting specialist benefits advice before you start your course. You can get this from organisations like Citizens Advice, or advice centres in your local area.

The Carnegie Trust administers a number of different schemes to different types of students, including the Undergraduate Tuition Fee Grant Scheme. This scheme can be an excellent source of funding for tuition support if you have exhausted your entitlement to SAAS support.

Generally, applicants need to be Scottish by birth or descent, or have attended a secondary school in Scotland for at least 2 years, and undertaking their first degree. The Trust have a very efficient application process and can be contacted directly if you are unsure about your eligibility.

Applications open in June, prior to your course start date, and remain open until 5pm on 1st December, but it is always best to apply early.

Find out more on the Carnegie Trust website.

If you are ordinarily resident in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, these courses are now funded through the same package of support from your national funding body as other undergraduate courses.

Your tuition fees for this course are the same as the Rest of UK tuition fee rates for Undergraduate level study. You can find out more about these on the individual course pages.

You should be eligible to receive funding from the relevant national funding body to support you in meeting the cost of tuition, as well as living costs. For more information please visit our webpage.

While this course does attract the standard package of student funding, the type of course this is (i.e. pre-registration) may affect your eligibility for any additional sources of funding, so please ensure you read eligibility criteria carefully.

You should also be careful when researching funding for your studies, as you will likely not be eligible for additional NHS Bursary or Grant schemes that would be available to you if you were studying within your home country. 

The UK left the European Union on 31 January 2020. The UK then entered a transition period that ended on 31 December 2020. Brexit has had/continues to have an effect on some areas of life in Scotland, including Higher Education.

Started the course in 2020-21 or earlier:

Under EU reciprocal arrangements that were in place until Brexit, eligible EU students coming to Scotland to study did not have a tuition fee to pay for these courses. This is because the University is funded by the government to produce a registered nurse or midwife. 

If you started your course in 2020-2021 or earlier, you will remain eligible for this support for the duration of the course. 

You cannot claim any support through the Scottish Government for living costs, so it is vitally important you consider how you will support yourself during your studies.

Please visit our Money Advice pages for information on how you can make your money go further.

*If you are an EU National with settled status, and have been living in Scotland or the UK for more than 3 years, you may be eligible to be treated as a Scottish student in respect of funding and apply to SAAS for a full package of support. If you think this applies to you, contact SAAS for further advice. 

The UK left the European Union on 31 January 2020. The UK then entered a transition period that ended on 31 December 2020. Brexit has had/continues to have an effect on some areas of life in Scotland, including Higher Education.

You will find lots of helpful information on the SAAS website.

Eligible EU students with settled or pre-settled status may be eligible to have their tuition fees paid by the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) for their full period of study.

You cannot claim any support through the Scottish Government for living costs, so it is vitally important you consider how you will support yourself during your studies.

Please visit our Money Advice pages for information on how you can make your money go further.

*If you are an EU National with settled status, and have been living in Scotland or the UK for more than 3 years, you may be eligible to be treated as a Scottish student in respect of funding and apply to SAAS for a full package of support. If you think this applies to you, contact SAAS for further advice.

Student Awards Agency Scotland
If you meet the criteria noted above and wish to apply to SAAS for tuition fee support, it is important to ensure you meet all eligibility criteria.

SAAS will not fund your studies if you are studying in Scotland for one year as part of your course at your home institution, to which you will transfer credits, return to and graduate from.

SAAS may also consider whether you have already achieved a degree for which you received support from your home country, another EU member state or the European Social Fund.

Further information on eligibility and the application process can be found on the SAAS website.

From 01 January 2021 the new Student immigration route has taken the place of the previous Tier 4 route. All prospective international higher education students, including EU, EEA and Swiss nationals coming to the UK on or after 01 January 2021, now need to apply to the Student route.

As an International Student you will be unable to apply to the Scottish or UK Government for financial support, and will be subject to the International tuition fee rate.

As you cannot claim any support for tuition or living costs, it is vitally important you consider how you will support yourself during your studies.

Please visit our Money Advice pages for information on how you can make your money go further.

The UK left the European Union on 31 January 2020. The UK then entered a transition period that ended on 31 December 2020. Brexit has had/continues to have an effect on some areas of life in Scotland, including Higher Education.

You will find lots of helpful information on the SAAS website.

The UK's departure from the European Union has impacted students from the Republic of Ireland differently that other students from elsewhere in the EU. You should be sure to read the Tuition Fee Status information carefully to ensure you best understand how your circumstances impact your Tuition Fee Status.

Students who normally live in the Republic of Ireland will have a fee status of Republic of Ireland and may apply to Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) for a tuition fee loan of up to £9,250 per year.

You cannot claim any support through the Scottish Government for living costs, so it is vitally important you consider how you will support yourself during your studies.

Please visit our Money Advice pages for information on how you can make your money go further.

Student Awards Agency Scotland
If you meet the criteria noted above and wish to apply to SAAS for tuition fee support, it is important to ensure you meet all eligibility criteria.

Further information on eligibility and the application process can be found on the SAAS website.

Remember that your support will be in the form of a loan, which needs to be paid back. You do not have to take out the student loan, or can elect to take out only a proportion of what you are offered. The student loan is repayable and does accrue interest but it is much cheaper than other types of finance such as bank loans, overdrafts or credit cards.

Find out more about how the student loan works here.

From 01 January 2021 the new Student immigration route will take the place of the previous Tier 4 route. All prospective international higher education students, including EU, EEA and Swiss nationals coming to the UK on or after 01 January 2021, will need to apply to the Student route.

As an International Student you will be unable to apply to the Scottish or UK Government for financial support, and will be subject to the International tuition fee rate.

As you cannot claim any support for tuition or living costs, it is vitally important you consider how you will support yourself during your studies.

Please visit our Money Advice pages for information on how you can make your money go further.

When studying these types of courses, the types of additional funding you might be eligible to apply for can be very different to the funds available to students on other types of courses. It is therefore important not to rely on funding from a source that you have not carefully researched, and that may not be available to you. The following is an overview of the funds that may be available to you, and details of where you can find out more.

CHILDCARE COSTS:

You may be eligible to apply for help meeting the cost of study related childcare through the UWS Childcare Fund. If you’re eligible to apply to Student Awards Agency Scotland for a bursary, we would expect you to apply for the SAAS Childcare Allowance in the first instance.

Our assessment will then look at the balance of your childcare costs across the academic year and provide a further contribution towards these costs. No award will cover your childcare costs in full, so you should plan ahead for how you will fund the balance.

This fund is limited and is awarded on a first come, first served basis, so we would strongly recommend applying early to avoid disappointment. The fund opens each year in the summer before term starts, and you can find out more here.

DISCRETIONARY FUNDS:

The Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery Discretionary Fund is available to eligible UK students studying these courses, and who are in receipt of the maximum student support available to them. Unfortunately these are not available to EU or International students.

We are unable to provide a significant contribution towards general living expenses but many students can find this offers a little extra financial help that can take some pressure off.  You can find out more here.