Frequently Asked Questions

The NHS LSF provides additional funding for eligible healthcare students. It is supplementary financial support to the mainstream student loans system and is intended to support students whilst they train and gain professional registration. 

It is made up of the following allowances: 

• Training Grant (non-income assessed) - £5,000 per student per academic year.
• Specialist subject payment (non-income assessed) - £1,000 per student per academic year.
• Parental Support (non-income assessed) - £2,000 per student per academic year, for students with parental responsibility for at least one child.
• Travel and Dual Accommodation Expenses (non-income assessed) - Reimbursement of excess travel and temporary accommodation costs incurred as a result of attending a practice placement. 
• Exceptional Support Fund (non-income assessed) - Up to £3,000 per academic year for students who find themselves facing unexpected financial hardship.

The Training Grant is paid in 3 instalments 21 November 2024, 19 March 2025 and 23 July 2025.

There are also additional weekly payment runs every Tuesday.

We can confirm attendance from 1 November for Term 1, 1 March for Term 2 and 1 May for Term 3.

If you cannot complete your course in the time normally required, or you are required to repeat part of it at any point, NHS LSF payments may be extended in exceptional circumstances, providing you continue to meet all of the general NHS LSF eligibility criteria. Academic failure on its own will not be considered grounds for additional funding. Your university will submit a notification to us on your behalf if they are satisfied exceptional circumstances apply, and NHSBSA Student Services retains the final discretion to judge each case on its individual merits.

You must inform LSF and your University as soon as possible if you stop attending your course for any reason. When we receive notification, we will stop any further instalments of the Training Grant which may have been due to you in the current academic year and will work out if you are owed any payment or part-payment or whether an overpayment has occurred. If you transfer to a course that is not eligible for NHS LSF, you will no longer be entitled to any payments, and these will be stopped from the month in which you transfer. If you are overpaid, we will contact you to advise of the amount and how to repay it. The sooner you let us know that you are no longer attending your course, the sooner we can take action to help prevent overpayment.

If you are eligible for, and in receipt of, NHS LSF when you a start a period of maternity leave, you may be entitled to continue to receive your NHS LSF payments up to a maximum period of 12 months until you return to your course. This must be authorised by your university before the maternity leave starts. Retrospective applications for maternity absence may not be accepted. Please note that the latest that a period of maternity leave can start is the day immediately following the birth of your child.

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