NHS hardship funds for medical and dental courses

Medical student

The hardship grant has been made available to medical and dental students only, due to the length of the courses and the other funding that is available. A grant of between £100 and £3,000 can be made to assist a student.

To be eligible for a medical hardship grant a student must be:

  • on a course leading to registration as a doctor or dentist 
  • eligible for a full bursary (both tuition fees and basic bursary) 
  • in genuine hardship 
  • unable to manage any shortfall between income and expenditure by their own actions

An application for hardship funding must include:

  • evidence of income and expenditure (evidence of bills must be in the student's name)
  • three months bank statements
  • university approval of the hardship application 
  • evidence that the student has applied for all other available funding, including the Imperial College Student Support Fund.  Evidence should include confirmation of the value of any funding received.

Payments will not be made if the student has chosen not to take up their full student loan entitlement and any other form of funding or financial assistance that may be available to them. Only one application is permitted per NHS funded year.

Applications should be made by students in writing, attaching details, evidence of their personal financial circumstances and a copy of their student coversheet (available to print from the ‘Documents’ section of their BOSS account) to:

The Operations Manager
NHS Student Bursaries
Hesketh House, 200-220 Broadway
Fleetwood, Lancashire FY7 8SS

Students must send evidence that they have already applied for a student loan and any other relevant forms of funding/financial assistance, such as the Student Support Fund. Applications cannot be considered if the student has not already tried to access these other forms of support first.

For more information, please visit the NHS Business Services Authority page for Medical and Dental Students.