Fit to Place and Placement Support

The UK Council of Deans of Health have published an FAQ document that explains what you need to know about returning to standard placements and Covid-19.

All students at the University of Essex are required to comply with the regulations of the University regarding conduct. Students enrolled on courses which have a practical professional placement have additional responsibilities placed on them as outlined in relevant regulatory and/or professional body codes of practice. Failure to meet these responsibilities can lead to the Fitness to Practise Procedure being invoked. Students will be notified on registration if their course of study is subject to the terms of this procedure.

Students who require Occupational Health clearance for their programme will receive an email with instructions prior to their course commencing. Please refer to the guidance here or email studentoh@essex.ac.uk if you need support.

Please also view the Student Placement Health and Safety Guidance | University of Essex

For Nursing, Occupational Therapy, and Speech and Language Therapy, we have a Practice Education Management System (PEMS) which allows you to view and update the practice education elements of the programme. You will have received log-in details of this by email - should you have trouble with this, please contact us. We also have a handy 'how-to' guide for Placement Organisation users.

Please see some Frequently Asked Questions relating to the Training Grant which will hopefully answer any questions that you have. If you have any further questions regarding this process, please let us know by emailing:

• Nursing students – Colchester - cnursing@essex.ac.uk & Southend snursing@essex.ac.uk
• Occupational Therapy students - hscot@essex.ac.uk
• Speech & Language Therapy students - hscsltadmin@essex.ac.uk
• Oral Health students – Colchester - colchesteroralhealth@essex.ac.uk & Southend: hhsohlth@essex.ac.uk.

A training grant of £5000 per academic year paid in 3 instalments.

Confirmation of attendance and payment dates for the 2024/25 academic year

Term 1

Your term 1 payments will be made once we have received confirmation of your attendance from your university. If you start or continue between September and October 2024, your attendance cannot be confirmed until 1 November. Your university will have until 12 November to guarantee you receive your first payment on 19 November 2024.

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

• January or February 2024 needs to be in attendance on 1 March 2025
• March or April 2024 needs to be in attendance on 1 May 2025

Term 2 and 3

You’ll need to confirm your attendance for term 2 and term 3. You’ll be prompted to do this via email, using the email address on your Learning Support Fund account. Once you have confirmed your attendance status, your university will be able to match you in attendance as they do for term 1.

Payment dates for the 2024 to 2025 academic year.

The following is a list of main payment dates. Depending on when your university confirms your attendance. This should be used as a guide only, your NHS LSF account will always set out your actual payment dates.

Academic year starting September or October 2023:

• Term 1 - 19 November 2024
• Term 2 - 18 March 2025
• Term 3 - 22 July 2025

Further information and guidance on eligibility https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/nhs-learning-support-fund-lsf

Parental Support

Eligible students attending a full-time pre-registration healthcare course will be able to claim a set amount of £2,000 per academic year.

This is available to students who have parental responsibility for a child who is either:

• under the age of 15 years
• under 17 years if the child is registered with special educational needs

Parental responsibility means someone who is either a parent or has the same legal rights, duties, powers and responsibilities as a parent for a child.

This allowance will not affect your access to child support or other means of funding through your higher education provider or other sources.

Payments will be made in 3 instalments with your Training Grant payments.

Students on part-time courses will receive a pro rata amount.

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/nhs-learning-support-fund-lsf/parental-support-formerly-child-dependants-allowance

Exceptional Support Fund

The Exceptional Support Fund (ESF) is available to eligible students experiencing unforeseen financial hardship during their studies, when all other available means of funding have been exhausted.

A grant of up to £3,000 per academic year could be available to help those students who can show there is a shortfall between their income and day to day expenditure which they are not able to manage by their own actions.

Students applying for ESF must have first applied to their university for any hardship or other available funding.

You can still apply for ESF even if your application to university was unsuccessful, as long as you have approached them for help.

Your university must endorse and sign your ESF claim form before it can be submitted to us.

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/nhs-learning-support-fund-lsf/exceptional-support-fund 

Travel and accommodation expenses

Eligible students can claim back travel and accommodation expenses, relating to placements, through the NHSBSA Learning Support Fund (LSF). This includes fuel and public transport, as well as car hire in special cases.

As the LSF is not managed by the University of Essex, we are unable to tell you whether you are eligible. However, for details regarding eligibility, how to apply, what can be claimed, and how to claim, please refer to the NHS Learning Support Fund webpage and the TDAE application guidance booklet 2022/23 for placements that commenced before 01/09/23 and TDAE application guidance booklet 2023/24 for placements that commenced after 01/09/23.

Please email your completed claim form and relevant evidence to hscplacements@essex.ac.uk. All claims are checked and processed by the University. If any queries arise, we will contact you and advise what is needed to progress the claim. Once processed, the claim will be emailed to the NHSBSA along with any evidence of accommodation costs incurred.

The NHSBSA aim to process all eligible TDAE claims within 20 working days (Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays) of receipt. We have been advised that monies are then paid into the bank account you nominated when you registered your NHS LSF account, up to 10 working days after the claim has been processed. The claim can show on your account any time during that 30 working day time frame.

Students have a maximum of six months from the last date of the placement period they are claiming for to submit their claim.

Please also see some Frequently Asked Questions which will hopefully answer any questions that you have. If you have any further questions regarding this process, please let us know by emailing hscplacements@essex.ac.uk

We understand university life can be demanding, the challenges of learning in clinical practice can increase demand for students in the school of healthcare. At Essex, we offer a range of services to support students to manage these demands and be successful as well as achieve their goals.

Full details of the support offered can be found on student wellbeing and inclusivity page.