NHS Learning Support Fund

Students starting and continuing their course from 1 September 2020 onwards can apply for NHS LSF allowances if they’re on one of the following pre-registration undergraduate or postgraduate courses:

dental therapy or dental hygiene (level 5 and 6 courses)
dietetics
midwifery
nursing (adult, child, mental health, learning disability, joint nursing and social work)
occupational therapy
operating department practitioner (level 5 and 6 courses)
orthoptics
orthotics and prosthetics
paramedics (DipHE and FD courses are not eligible for NHS LSF)
physiotherapy
podiatry/chiropody
radiography (diagnostic and therapeutic)
speech and language therapy

If you're eligible, you can get:

a Training Grant of £5,000 per academic year
Parental Support of £2,000, if you have at least one dependent child under 15 years, or under 17 years if registered with special educational needs
reimbursement of excess costs incurred on practice placement for travel and temporary accommodation costs (Travel and Dual Accommodation Expenses)
students experiencing financial hardship (Exceptional Support Fund)

Guidance for the 2021/22 academic year

NHS LSF - Financial support for healthcare students (PDF: 591KB)

Accessing your NHS LSF account

You can log into your NHS LSF account to:

apply for funding
upload your evidence
manage your personal details

Continuing studies before September 2020

You can still log in to the previous system if:

you’re a student who started or continued your studies before September 2020
you need to make a claim for the 2019/20 academic year

Eligibility for NHS LSF

Students who want to apply for support need to be:

studying on an eligible programme at a university in England
eligible for tuition fee and maintenance support from the Student Loans Company, either through:
actively in study, whether academic or practice learning

Other arrangements are in place for students who may not apply for a loan due to personal reasons.

Those students must still show that they meet the eligibility criteria as defined by SFE, SFW, SFNI or SAAS, as applicable.

Students who started or continued their course between January and August 2020 will be able to apply for the additional funding from the start of their next academic year.

For example, if you started your course in January 2021, you will be able to apply for extra funding when you start your second year in January 2022.

Part time students will receive pro rata payments of the Training Grant and Parental Support.

If you're in receipt of an NHS Bursary, visit our N HS Bursary students section. NHS Bursary students are not eligible for NHS Learning Support Fund.

How and when to apply

New students

If you're a new healthcare student starting between September and October 2021 you can apply for NHS Learning Support Fund from 1 June 2021.

You should not apply on any other systems as your application will be rejected.

Continuing students

If you are continuing your studies between September and October 2021, you'll receive an email from us inviting you to apply for the 2021/22 academic year. Invites will be sent out from 29 March 2021 and sent out weekly until September.

Invites will be sent out in groups to make sure we process all of your applications for the start of the academic year.

2021/22 application closing date

For 2021/22, all NHS LSF applications must be submitted within six months of the start of the academic year.

Final year students who need to extend their course

If your final year was in the 2019/20 academic year, do not apply for NHS LSF using the new system as your application will be rejected.

Arrangements are in place for students that need to extend because of COVID-19.

If you were due to complete your studies in the 2019/20 academic year and need an extension for a reason other than COVID-19, contact your university. They will complete an extension request form for you and send it to us. We will then contact you with information on how to apply for extension payments.

If you need an extension for the 2020/21 academic year, more information will be available soon.

When will I receive my payments?

Funding will be scheduled over the academic year and will be paid in three instalments.

Payment will be made once we have received confirmation of your attendance from your university. For students who start or continue between September and October 2021, you must be in attendance on 1 November to receive your first instalment. This process is the same for students who start after September 2021.

For example, a student who starts or continues studying in:

January or February 2022 needs to be in attendance on 1 March 2022
March or April 2022 needs to be in attendance on 1 May 2022

Payment dates for the 2021/22 academic year

The main payment dates are set out here. Depending on when your university confirms your attendance, you may receive payment earlier or later than the dates stated. This should be used as a guide only, your NHS LSF account will always set out your actual payment dates.

Academic year commencing September/October 2021

Term 1 - 23 November 2021

Term 2 - 22 March 2022
Term 3 - 27 July 2022

Academic year commencing January/February 2022

Term 1 - 22 March 2022
Term 2 - 27 July 2022

Term 3 - 23 November 2022

Academic year commencing March/April 2022

Term 1 - 24 May 2022
Term 2 - 27 September 2022
Term 3 - 24 January 2023

Academic year commencing July/August 2022

Term 1 - 27 September 2022
Term 2 - 24 January 2023
Term 3 - 24 May 2023

Manage your NHS LSF account

The first time you apply for any element of NHS LSF in each year of study, you'll need to upload a copy of your student finance letter to your online account.

Uploading a document your NHS LSF account

The selected file must be:

a JPG, BMP, PNG, TIF or PDF
an original copy which displays the document in full
clear and in focus
in colour
unaltered by computer software
at least 50KB and no more than 5 MB

If the document does not meet this criteria, your application will be rejected.

Your NHS LSF account

Once you’ve registered for an NHS LSF account, you’ll be able to:

apply for funding elements of NHS LSF
update your personal details including your bank account
check your scheduled payments

Once you’ve registered for an account, you'll keep it throughout your studies and won't need to create a new one.

If you’re in receipt of LSF and are in training prior to September 2020, you’ll continue to use your current online account until you start your next academic year.