Hey guys - for those that are interested, Ive got a response from further lobbying to the Department for Health about second degree funding. Not particularly original or imaginative, but what did we expect? I appreciate that this is at odds with the apparent consensus that lobbying be done through the JTG rather than as individuals - I wont do it again, honest :-) Text is below, J Dear Mr Higginson, There are two different types of medical and dental degree and different funding arrangements apply depending on the course. There is the four-year accelerated graduate entry degree and there is the five or six year undergraduate degree. The four-year accelerated degree is designed specifically for entrants who are already in possession of a degree and the level of support is tailored for graduate needs. The Department has therefore agreed interim arrangements for those students beginning these courses in September 2012/13, 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16. In the first year students will need to self-fund the first £3,465 of their tuition fees and they will be eligible to apply to Student Finance England for a tuition fee loan for the balance, up to £9,000, and a maintenance loan. From year two of the course, eligible students will be entitled to a contribution to their tuition fees of £3,465 from the NHS Bursary Scheme and a tuition fee loan for the balance of their fees. From year two they can also apply to NHS Student Bursaries for a maintenance bursary, a £1,000 grant and a reduced rate loan from Student Finance England. As the five or six year pre-registration course is an undergraduate degree, the funding arrangements in place are designed to support undergraduates. Therefore, if graduate students opt to undertake this course they will, for the first four years of the course, come under the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Education (Student Support) regulations. A longstanding principle of the BIS student support arrangements is that they do not allow students who have already achieved a first degree to obtain more student support. Therefore, students are expected to self-fund their fees for the first four years of the course. However, students are eligible to apply, through Student Finance England, for a maintenance loan for living costs and supplementary grants during these four years. This is a special provision, one that is not usually available for students doing second degrees. In the fifth year of study, students can apply to the NHS Student Bursaries for a maintenance bursary, a £1,000 grant and to have their tuition fees paid. They can also apply for a reduced rate maintenance loan from Student Finance England. The Department has previously asked the Medical Schools Council and Dental Schools Council to confirm the position with regard to students undertaking a medical or dental degree as a second subject, with a view to becoming an oral and maxillofacial surgeon. The Medical Schools Council and Dental Schools Council have discussed this issue with universities to consider whether it is possible, in these cases, to re-badge part of the second undergraduate degree as ‘graduate-entry’ so that the student could receive the same funding as other students on the graduate entry course. However, they have concluded that this would not be possible as such a move could only be done by formally changing each university’s regulations and they believe this would not be possible for individual students. The Medical Schools Council and Dental Schools Council have advised that students wishing to acquire both medical and dental qualifications in order to become maxillofacial surgeons should identify courses that do offer shortened programmes on the basis of the accreditation or prior learning, or enter the four-year graduate entry programmes. I hope this reply is helpful. Yours sincerely, Tom Andrews Ministerial Correspondence and Public Enquiries Department of Health
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 10:43:33 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015