Students will attend clinical placements in a range of locations across the South West and must be prepared to travel and stay away from their university accommodation as needed. This means that students may incur additional costs for travel and temporary accommodation for the duration of their placements. Students are responsible for finding their own accommodation but we have a local information network that students can use to share ideas about places to stay/lift sharing etc.
We endeavour to allocate placements in locations that enable students to use their current or family residences as a base, but this is not always possible. If we know of nursing or other subsidised accommodation we will provide students with contact details of that (e.g. hospitals).
Placement examples
You may have placement in the Plymouth area that means the only costs incurred (if any) are for local bus travel.
A placement may be further afield e.g. in Exeter, Truro, Bristol or Dorchester and a student may choose to drive or catch a bus or train to these locations which will incur additional costs.
You may be entitled to supplementary funding to support your study on a pre-registration healthcare course from the NHS Business Services Authority. This is in addition to any other financial support you receive e.g. student loan and was introduced to help with the placement costs to students on eligible programmes.
If you're eligible, you can get:
Applicants for any of the Learning Support Fund allowances must normally be eligible for tuition fee and maintenance loan support from the Student Loans Company. When you apply online for any of the LSF allowances, you will be asked to provide your current student loan award notification to show that you meet the eligibility criteria. Students who choose not to claim a student loan (either on religious grounds or personal reasons) may still be eligible to access the Learning Support Fund; however, their eligibility will be assessed by us on a case by case basis.
Full information is available here
Travel and Dual Accommodation Expenses
If eligible, you are able to claim back expenses for travel to practice placements each day for costs incurred over and above your usual daily travel costs to attend university.
Rates payable from 2023:
You may be able to claim the cost of taking temporary accommodation near to your practice placement site if it is not possible or practical for you to travel there from your normal term time address on a daily basis. The reimbursement rate for this is up to £82.50 per night for commercial accommodation (for example, hotel, bed and breakfast), or up to £37.50 per night for non-commercial accommodation (for example, with a friend or relative, but not parents).
