NHS Learning Support Fund for midwifery and allied health students

If you study midwifery or an eligible allied health course at a university in England, you can claim a Training Grant of £5,000 per academic year from the NHS Learning Support Fund (LSF), whatever your household income. Some courses add a £1,000 Specialist Subject Payment. Students with a dependent child can claim £2,000 a year in Parental Support, and you can claim back extra placement travel and accommodation costs. The fund is run by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), and you apply every year through an online account.

Which courses qualify

The NHSBSA lists eligible pre-registration undergraduate and postgraduate courses in:

• dental therapy and dental hygiene (levels 5 and 6)
• dietetics
• midwifery
• nursing (adult, child, mental health, learning disability and joint nursing courses)
• occupational therapy
• operating department practice
• orthoptics
• orthotics and prosthetics
• paramedics (except DipHE and foundation degree courses)
• physiotherapy
• podiatry or chiropody
• radiography, diagnostic and therapeutic
• speech and language therapy

Foundation years are not eligible. Since 1 September 2025, undergraduate pharmacy and pre-registration healthcare science students can claim placement expenses only, not the other payments. You must be studying at a university in England, actively studying (including on placement), and eligible for tuition fee and maintenance support from the Student Loans Company through Student Finance England, Wales, Northern Ireland or the Student Awards Agency for Scotland. If you did not apply for a loan you may still qualify if you meet the same criteria. If you receive the NHS Bursary you cannot claim the LSF.

What you can get

The Training Grant is £5,000 per academic year, with a pro rata amount for part-time students. It is not means tested. The Specialist Subject Payment adds £1,000 per year on these courses: mental health nursing, learning disability nursing, diagnostic and therapeutic radiography, prosthetics and orthotics, orthoptics and podiatry. If a course leads to dual registration and includes one of those subjects, such as adult and mental health nursing, you can still get it.

Parental Support is £2,000 per academic year, or pro rata for part-time students, if you have at least one dependent child under 15, or under 17 if the child is registered with special educational needs. The Exceptional Support Fund exists for unexpected financial hardship.

For midwifery the headline figure is the £5,000 grant. NHS Health Careers says that if you are eligible you receive at least £5,000 a year while at university, and that your circumstances may mean you receive more. The same page describes the standard midwife route as an undergraduate or postgraduate degree or a midwifery degree apprenticeship, and our midwife guide covers it, along with the shortened course for nurses.

Placement costs

Placements often mean longer journeys or a second bed. The Travel and Dual Accommodation Expenses (TDAE) element lets you claim:

• 30 pence per mile for cycling
• 42 pence per mile for driving
• up to £82.50 per night for commercial accommodation, such as a hotel or bed and breakfast
• up to £37.50 per night for non-commercial accommodation, for example with a friend or relative who is not your parent

You claim only the excess over your usual daily journey to university. You need to be receiving the Training Grant first, unless you are a pharmacy or healthcare science student. Claims must be in within six months of the last date of the placement period, and NHSBSA aims to process them within 20 working days once your university sends the claim. Disabled students with a Disabled Students’ Allowance assessment that recommends taxis can claim back the public transport equivalent cost that is deducted from their allowance.

How to apply

Create an NHS LSF account, apply within six months of the start of your academic year, and reapply each year. If you are a continuing student, an email will tell you when to reapply. Upload your student finance award letter if you have applied for a loan, or identification such as a passport or driving licence if you have not. For students starting in September or October 2026, the main payment dates are 17 November 2026, 16 March 2027 and 20 July 2027. Later starters have different dates, and attendance confirmation by your university affects them.

If you interrupt or withdraw from your course, your university tells the NHSBSA your last date of attendance and your entitlement is recalculated for the period you were enrolled. Apply only through the LSF system, since applications made elsewhere are rejected.

What to check

• Your course title against the list above, especially if it is a foundation degree or diploma.
• Whether you are in England. The fund applies to universities in England, so students elsewhere in the UK should ask their own funding body.
• Whether an apprenticeship suits you better. See the nursing degree apprenticeship and NHS apprenticeships guides.
• The current rules. The government publishes the Learning Support Fund guidance each year, and the NHSBSA links to the 2026 to 2027 edition.