Will the Minister explain what steps are being taken to introduce a liveable NHS bursary for final year medical students in Wales?
You may be aware that on 1st September, I announced the removal of the Reduced Rate of Maintenance Loan (RRML) from academic year 2024/25, as well as the extension to the existing NHS Welsh Bursary arrangements for the same period. This will enable eligible, Welsh-domiciled1 medical, dentistry, and healthcare students to access the full amount of maintenance loan should they wish, regardless of any means-tested bursary they may receive. This will in effect provide eligible Welsh-domiciled1 NHS Bursary Students access to double the amount of loan they currently have access to (within their Bursary years). The removal of the RRML will help to alleviate some of the current financial pressures students are facing.
In addition to this, officials are due to launch a public NHS Bursary Consultation in the next few months. I will publish a timeline for the Consultation later this month. The planned Bursary Consultation is part of the ongoing review of the NHS Bursary Programme here in Wales. Work is also being undertaken outside the formal consultation process to ensure the Bursary scheme in Wales continues to act as both an incentive and as a means of financial support to students, as well as remaining comparable with schemes offered elsewhere in the UK.
1Welsh-domiciled – those students ordinarily resident in Wales.