Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of finance options available to doctors to cover their training costs; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Gummer

The Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Department of Health have joint responsibility for the funding of students on medical courses. For the first four years of the five or six year undergraduate degree, medical students receive the same maintenance and tuition fee loans as mainstream students under the BIS Education (Student Support) Regulations.

In the fifth year of study funding is provided by the National Health Service Bursary Scheme and eligible medical students can receive a means tested NHS Bursary and a non-means tested grant of £1,000. The NHS will also meet the cost of their tuition, so medical students do not have to pay tuition fees in the final years of their course.

Health Education England (HEE) has responsibility for determining the amount of funding available to students via the NHS Bursary Scheme.

HEE also support doctors in training by funding clinical placements for undergraduate students which is paid directly to the NHS providers at an agreed national tariff price, and postgraduate training at 50% of trainee salary and a placement fee of £12,400.

Funding support is reviewed on an annual basis.