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- Overview
- Funding available
- A representative example of funding available
- How to apply
- Check if you're eligible
- EU students
- Extra help – NHS hardship grant
Overview
Funding from the NHS is available for eligible students in years 5 and 6 of our MBBS/BSc Medicine course and years 3 and 4 of our Graduate Entry (Cumbria) MBBS course.
Funding available
The funding you may be eligible for depends on your chosen course and year of entry.
Currently, if you’re an eligible full-time student, you can apply for the following in years 5 and 6 of the Imperial MBBS/BSc Medicine course/years 3 and 4 of the MBBS Graduate Entry (Cumbria) course:
- non-means tested grant of £1,052 per academic year
- tuition fee contribution
- means-tested bursary based on your household income
The 2025–26 bursary rates for full-time students are up to:
- £2,207 if you’re living with parents
- £3,191 if you’re studying in London
- £2,643 if you’re studying outside of London
This funding is on top of any Government Maintenance Loan (at a reduced rate in years with NHS Bursary funding) you may be eligible for. Plus the Imperial Bursary.
Extra weeks allowance
If your course runs for more than 30 weeks and 3 days, you will be entitled to Extra Weeks Allowance, subject to means testing.
If you have to attend the course for 45 weeks or more in an academic year, you will receive Extra Weeks Allowance to ensure your bursary covers all 52 weeks of the year.
Find out more in the .
A representative example of funding available
| Type of funding |
Year 1 to |
Year 5 | Year 6 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Imperial Bursary (means tested) |
up to £5,000 | up to £5,000 | up to £5,000 |
| Government maintenance grant | - | - | - |
| Government maintenance loan | up to £13,762 | £3,749 (reduced rate) | Final year £2,870 (reduced rate) |
| Government tuition fee loan | £9,535 | - | - |
| NHS funding for tuition fees | - | £9,535 | £9,535 |
| NHS non-means tested bursary | £1,000 | £1,000 | |
| NHS means tested bursary | - | up to £5,567 | up to £5,567 |
| Type of funding | Year 1 | Year 2 and 3 | Year 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imperial Bursary (means tested) | up to £2,500 | up to £2,500 | up to £2,500 |
| Government maintenance loan (Living away from your parents, outside London) | up to £10,227 | £2,605 (reduced rate) | Final year £2,030 (reduced rate) |
| Government tuition fee loan | £5,964 | £5,705 | £5,705 |
| Self-funded for tuition fees | £3,571 | - | - |
| NHS funding for tuition fees | - | £3,830 | £3,830 |
| NHS non-means tested grant | - | £1,000 | £1,000 |
| NHS means tested bursary | - | up to £4,491 | up to £4,491 |
How to apply
You need to register for an before you start your application.
After you’ve registered, you can log in to your account and apply for an NHS Bursary.
This bursary is not available until years 5 and 6 of your Medicine course or years 3 and 4 of your MBBS Graduate Entry (Cumbria) course.
Check if you're eligible
NHS Bursaries are only available to students who were ordinarily resident in England on the first day of the first academic year in which their medical or dental course began.
If you moved to England from elsewhere in the UK (including the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man) wholly or mainly for the purpose of undertaking full time education, you will not be eligible for NHS Bursary funding.
Instead, you should contact the relevant funding authority in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland or the Islands:
EU students
EU students studying who do not qualify for the maintenance grant elements of the NHS Bursary may still be entitled to have their tuition fee paid by the NHS in years 5 and 6 of their course (or years 3 and 4 of their MBBS Graduate Entry (Cumbria) course), providing they meet the relevant residency criteria.
See the for details.
Extra help – NHS hardship grant
You may be able to claim between £100 and £3,000, depending on your current financial circumstances.
To apply you must be:
- on a course leading to registration as a doctor or dentist
- eligible for a full NHS bursary (tuition fees, non-means tested grant, and any means-tested bursary)
- in genuine hardship
- unable to manage any shortfall between your income and expenditure
For information about the NHS Hardship Grant, including how to apply, see the .