NHS Bursaries for Health Careers

The NHS bursaries for health studies are a great way to help pay college tuition for students interested in a medical career. The National Health Services (NHS) offers bursaries for students entering the health field, making available financial aid to those who are entering certain training programs in the United Kingdom.

If you are looking to take on a career as a doctor, dental hygienist or nurse, you may find that the student NHS bursary will have available to you financial aid to assist in funding your college education. Students interested in pursuing a career in social work may also be able to apply for a separate but equally useful bursary program through the NHS as well. Different levels of awarded money will be available based on income and marital status, and further funding will be determined by academic results. The NHS bursary is a great place to start when looking for college funding for health care workers, and should definitely be considered by anybody with an interest in the health field. As it is always important to find additional funding options for school, this should certainly not be your last stop, but serves as a decent starting place.

Eligibility for NHS bursaries depends on a number of factors. Residency or “settlement status” is the first important requirement for financial aid through this program, though those students who are European Union nationals will still be able to apply under specific circumstances. After residency has been established, only specific course types will be funded by the NHS bursaries. These include Nursing, Midwifery and Operating Department practitioner courses.

Students who are entering the medical or dental field to become doctors may apply for funding through an NHS student bursary but must pass a financial needs test, which will look at your dependent status and take into account the income of your parents while also considering overall family size. NHS bursary money is also available to students seeking a post-graduate education in the medical field, and larger awards are given to those who fall into this category. Income from your time as an undergraduate as well as dependant/family income may also be used to determine award amounts.

NHS bursaries are also available to students interested in social work. This program varies from the one focused on medical students largely because it is not income based, but depends largely on whether eligible students are studying full or part time. Full time students can receive an award for 862.50 pounds while part timers can get 575 pounds. Residency requirements for this type of NHS bursary program are similar to the above mentioned one, but may vary for students from EU. You must also be enrolling or have already enrolled in a social work program, and not be receiving any assistance from an employer in the social work field for your education. As with the medical specific bursary above, this funding opportunity is a great place to start, and its lack of income-eligibility may be extra helpful to those who do not quite fit into a lower economic bracket but are still struggling to pay for schooling.

The due date for the 2011/12 NHS bursaries academic year is March 31, 2011 and the 2010/11 year awards have already been given out. The program has historically given all awards by September 1 of a given year, and follows the United Kingdom academic calendar, so it is likely to operate the same for this academic year.

If you are considering going to school for a career in medicine or social work, and need access to additional funds, you should certainly stop in and start gathering the necessary material to fill out the NHS bursary application form and apply to the NHS bursaries program. Read over their material very carefully and make sure you have correctly identified your status as a dependent or independent. The more information you have available at the time of application the more quick and painless the overall process will be.

Finding online bursaries.

How to get a Sasol bursary.

20 thoughts on “NHS Bursaries for Health Careers”

  1. I would like to apply for a bursary and would like to know the procedures taken to apply for the bursary as i am a south african citizen.

    1. zanele,

      you can apply to any bursary program in Africa and some other countries too that you find – if they allow South African citizens to apply. You must read the bursary application guidelines to find out. There are many South African bursaries you may apply too. A common misconception about bursaries is that you can apply to them with one bursary form which is incorrect. You must apply to them individually as you find them.

  2. I would like to apply for a bursary,but my Math and Science marks are not that good(36%both).I am academicallygood ,this closes doors for me.My dream is to pursue a career in health sciences.Please help,I don’tknow where to from here.

    1. sphiwe,

      best advice for you is to call three colleges and talk to the manager in the FinAid office about your situation. In person would be best but the phone is good too. Ask them what type of financial aid they have which you can apply to and possibly get. Maybe you may qualify for grants. By getting three opinions you will have a direction you should take. You may have to take out no cosigner student loans.

  3. I’m reali intrested in the medical field and I would like to know how to go about applying . I’m a south african. Citizen

    1. nireshnee,

      we explain about many various forms of bursaries on our site but you must apply to them if you want to find out if you qualify for one. You do this by going directly to the bursary sponsors website to apply online directly with them. There is normally a link in the article which will take you there, or you must search for the bursary in your favorite search engine to come to the updated and correct URL to apply. If the bursary sponsor changes their links often then we will not continue to provide the link in our article. Read more at http://www.westerncape.gov.za/eng/pubs/forms/H/142306.

  4. I will be doing my first year studying diploma in oral hygiene at wits. I have applied for national student financial aid scheem (nsfas), and the outcome is still pending. I really need financial assistance so i will be able to pay for my study fees.
    I would appreciate any information you have regarding bursaries for the health science field.

    Thanks

  5. Hi.I just recently matriculated and got a good pass is there any way you guys can help me find a bursary at this time?because almost all the bursaries applications are closed.

  6. hi.im curently in matric and have palns of studying medicine at the medical university of south africa, i have been obtaiting good marks throughout the years.how do i go about to get myself a busury?

    1. mantoa,

      their is no one bursary application form you can fill out to apply to all bursaries. You must go to the bursary sponsors website (college or company) and fill out their own bursary application form. They are all different. Start with your government bursaries firstly then move on to college and company sponsored programs.

      Go to the college website which you will be attending to see what bursary programs they have. Also set an appointment with the FinAids manager of the school you will be going to discuss ALL student aid options – grants – bursaries – need based college programs as well.

  7. I am 18 yearz old doing my grade 12 currently. Im from rural area,i need application forms for bursary but dnt knw were i can get form

    1. queen,

      read about online bursaries which are the simplest to apply to. Every sponsor will have their very own form – or it may be an online form to fill out and submit.

    1. Jane jali,

      apply to as many as you can and start with your government/country bursary programs firstly, then the private ones (company sponsored).

  8. I would like to apply for private sponsorship in bachelor of medicine and bachelor of surgery in one of the universities of Uganda and am now looking for grants. Currently am an orthopedic officer from Arua district deployed by ministry of health to Masaka regional referral hospital.(diploma in orthopedics)

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