Allied health degrees also given funding boost
Last month it was announced that the UK government would be providing grants of £5,000 (minimum) to help nursing students with their living costs during their study. At the time, it was clear that the grant would also be available to future allied health professionals as they start their pre-registration degree courses at UK universities. It has now been revealed that the funding will also be available to students studying radiography, physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and dietetics.
Shortage specialisms to receive £1,000 per academic year
In addition to the £5,000 grant for living costs, the government had previously verified that additional funds of £1,000 would be available for specialisms affected by shortages. These specialisms have now been confirmed as:
Mental Health Nursing
Learning Disability Nursing
Radiography (Diagnostic and Therapeutic)
Prosthetics and Orthotics
Orthoptics and Podiatry
The grants are in addition to other financial support (such as student loans) and eligible students will receive a further £1,000 per academic year towards childcare costs. Those who live in certain regions will also receive a final £1,000 per academic year, although details of those locations are yet to be announced.
The government believes that these maintenance grants will benefit approximately 100,000 pre-registration nursing, midwifery and allied health degree students every year. The funding will begin for those starting their courses in September 2020.
It’s great to see allied health gaining recognition
At Sanctuary, we believe that it is a positive step by the government to recognise the tremendous impact that allied health professionals have upon the NHS. They make up a third of the NHS workforce, so it’s imperative that we do what we can to encourage more people to consider a career in this highly valued area of care.
We’ve worked closely with our allied health community for many years now, so it’s exciting to us to see it financially supported in the same way as other areas of healthcare.
Our careers hub is packed full of resources to help you throughout your allied health career or to find out about our latest job vacancies, simply upload your cv.
