Our students fund their courses in the following ways:
Employer Sponsorship and Funding
In many cases a student’s employer is willing to fully or partly sponsor the course fees. Some may have professional development grants to pay towards funding if they are not able to sponsor students.
Some NHS Trusts might be able to get money through their strategic health authority education and workforce development directorates, and teachers and social workers may apply for advice to their local authority training officers. Some Children’s Trusts have professional development funds. They may also have training priorities and a prescribed list indicating what they will and will not fund.
Employers who sponsor students are invoiced directly. Full details of your sponsorship arrangements are required at enrolment.
Self Funding
There are three ways of paying:
- Cheque, payable to the Tavistock & Portman NHS Foundation Trust
- Debit/credit card online or by phone +44 (0) 20 8938 2385 with your details
- Three equal instalments due at the beginning of each term October, January and April (only for course fees in excess of £650).
Tavistock and Portman Student Loan Fund
The Trust currently has a limited fund available for interest-free loans up to a maximum of £2,000 per year to support students who are enrolled on a clinical professional training which is not funded by a strategic health authority, local authority, other sponsor or employer. Students may apply for up to three of these loans (i.e. a maximum of £6,000).
Successful applicants sign a binding undertaking that they will begin to repay the loans in instalments as soon as they are qualified and in employment, in order not to be liable for interest payments. Please note that only students who are already enrolled on a course can apply for a Student Loan.
Tavistock and Portman Access Fund
A limited sum of money is available to assist students whose financial circumstances suddenly change for the worse, threatening their ability to pay the fees for a course they are enrolled on. In these circumstances, they can apply for a bursary of up to £750 as a maximum contribution towards their course fees. The amount they will actually receive depends on their financial circumstances and on the number of applicants to the Access fund. It is Trust policy to try to help as many applicants in need as possible with their fees, and the sum can also depend on the size of the annual fee for a course.
Please note that these bursaries are non-repayable and only students who are already enrolled on a course can apply to the Access Fund.
Charitable Trusts
Some trusts offer bursaries, grants or loans to specific cultural, ethnic, disability, gender or other groups, or for specific kinds of training. There is a large volume including details of all such trusts in the Trust Library.
Specific funding for Social Workers
Social Workers can contact the NHS Business Services Authority which administers the Social Work Bursary on behalf of the Department of Health: see NHS bursaries in the related links section.
