Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the NHS Learning Support Fund for parents undertaking postgraduate midwifery courses.

The Department for Education provides the primary financial support package for English domiciled students in higher education, through Student Finance England (SFE) loans, including those studying pre-registration undergraduate or postgraduate midwifery, as a first or second degree. SFE also provides a childcare allowance for eligible students with children.

To supplement this, the Department provides non-repayable funding to eligible healthcare students via the NHS Learning Support Fund (LSF). Eligible students on a pre-registration undergraduate or postgraduate midwifery course receive a Training Grant of £5,000 per academic year and an additional Parental Support of £2,000 per academic year for those with children. Further support is available for placement travel and dual accommodation costs and for students experiencing exceptional financial hardship.

The Government keeps the funding arrangements, including the LSF, under review, balancing the support students need with the effective use of public funds.