Guarantee of no loss of bursary in Scotland

Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has confirmed that free tuition and bursaries for nursing and midwifery students would continue in Scotland, despite the UK Government’s plans to scrap them. Sturgeon confirmed these details at a recent Royal College of Nursing congress in Glasgow.

As MAMA Academy have previously reported, the UK Government has planned to scrap maintenance grants for nursing and midwifery students, which has led to widespread campaigning.

Nicola Sturgeon addressed the congress by saying that “We are totally committed to strongly supporting our nursing and midwifery students. Unlike the UK Government, we recognise the role and contribution of student nurses and the demands that you face…We know that nursing students can be older, or have children or specific needs, and their university education can place different demands on them. I want to confirm to you today, and this is a guarantee, here is Scotland we will retain free tuition and we will retain the bursary.”

She continued by saying: “In my view, the UK Government’s action in ending free tuition and removing the bursary are shamefully short-sighted. Reducing support for nursing students today will mean that there is simply not enough highly-qualified support for patients tomorrow. It is a mistake, it is wrong-headed and I hope that the UK Government changes its mind.”

Ms Sturgeon also confirmed the discretionary hardship fund for nursing and midwifery students, which provides additional support for those who need it most, will be in place for this academic year.

Royal College of Nursing Scotland director Theresa Fyffe commented: “The First Minister’s announcement of fairer funding for nursing students chimes with what we at the RCN in Scotland have been saying…We look forward to working with the Government to make this a reality for our nursing students and make sure they can complete their degree without falling into financial hardship and Scotland can continue to have a high-quality nursing workforce now and into the future.”
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