Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the British Medical Association's press release entitled Medical student poverty worsened by financial drought as student loans fall short over summer, published on 9 August 2025, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social care on the potential impact of extending eligibility to the full entitlement for student finance maintenance on students in receipt of the NHS Bursary during their (a) final undergraduate year and (b) later years of a post-graduate medical degree.

​​The government needs to ensure that the student funding system is financially sustainable, and funding arrangements are reviewed each year. The department will continue to engage with the Department for Health and Social Care to consider the financial support that medical students receive.

​The cost of studying medicine is one of the important factors deterring working class students from applying to medicine. The Department for Health and Social Care is exploring options to improve financial support to students from the lowest socio-economic background so they are able to thrive at medical school.

​Students attending years 5 and 6 of undergraduate medical courses and years 2 to 4 of graduate entry medical courses qualify for NHS bursaries. The government has increased the NHS Bursary tuition fee contributions, maintenance grants and all allowances for the current academic year, 2025/26, by forecast inflation, 3.1%, based on the RPIX inflation index.

​Medical students qualifying for NHS bursaries support also qualify for reduced rate non-means tested loans for living costs from the department. The government has increased reduced rate loans by 3.1% for the 2025/26 academic year, in line with percentage increases to maximum loans for living costs in non-bursary years.

​To help students from the most disadvantaged backgrounds progress and excel in higher education, the government will introduce targeted, means-tested maintenance grants before the end of this Parliament. These grants will support students studying courses aligned with the government’s missions and the Industrial Strategy, funded by a levy on income from international student fees. We will also future proof our maintenance loan offer by increasing loans for living costs in line with forecast inflation every academic year from 2026/27 onwards, and provide extra support for care leavers, who will automatically become eligible to receive the maximum rate of maintenance loan.

​We will confirm the percentage increase to loans for living costs for the 2026/27 academic year in-line with updated inflation forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility published alongside the Autumn Budget.​