Funding for Social Work students

The details below provide information on the financial support that is available for Social Work students at the University of Birmingham in the 2023/24 academic year.

Tuition fee loans

All UK and EU students (except those on SKE courses) are eligible to take out a tuition fee loan from the Student Loans Company (SLC) to cover their tuition fees, which are expected to be £9,250 for the academic year 2023/24. This will need to be repaid after graduation, but only once you are in work and earning at least £27,295 per year.

UK students should apply to their appropriate regional funding agency for the tuition fee loan at the same time as applying for other statutory support (i.e. the maintenance loan and grants).

EU students may also qualify for tuition fee loan support, depending on your settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme. For full details please visit the gov.uk website, or contact the Student Finance EU team on 0141 243 3570.

UK students (except those on SKE courses) are eligible to apply for a maintenance loan, if required, of up to £9,706 (if living away from home and outside of London) to cover general living costs.  Students from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland may also be eligible for a maintenance grant. 

Applications are assessed by your appropriate regional funding agency and supplementary grants (e.g. Parents Learning Allowance, Childcare Grant, Disabled Students’ Allowances, etc.) may also be available to you.

EU students are not eligible to apply for any type of maintenance support. 

NHS Bursaries

Information about the social work bursary can be found on the NHS Business Services Authority website.

Postgraduate students can apply for a bursary from their first year of study and undergraduates from their second year of study. However, the number of bursary recipients for all eligible social work courses is limited (or ‘capped’).

It is the responsibility of each Higher Education Institution to determine its own criteria for allocation of the bursaries available. The University of Birmingham allocates bursaries according to the following criteria:

1. Pathways to Birmingham Applicants (providing they meet the A2B/R2P criteria and pass the summer school assignment), Contextual Offer Holders and Care Leavers, ranked by performance at assessment day (interview and written test)
2. All other applicants, ranked by performance at assessment day (interview and written test)

Please be aware that applicants who have applied through early clearing or main clearing will be added to the end of the bursary reserve list.

We will update candidates of their position on the bursary ranking list, whether they have been awarded a capped place or have been placed on the reserve list, at the following points:

1. Early July, after our final assessment day
2. Late August, after the UCAS Confirmation period
3. Early October, once we know who has arrived to begin the course.
4. BA only: after supplementary exam boards in your first year.