Brookes nurses to have bursaries cut

Oxford Brookes student nurses and midwives will no longer get bursaries.

Bursaries that can amount to £20,000 are about to be cut for some student nurses at Brookes. These cuts will affect the near 900 student nurses here, and have been welcomed by the deans and leaders at Brookes.

The existing bursaries are used to cover living costs and help pay housing fees which in Oxford, are particularly high in comparison to other areas. The elimination of such funds could seriously affect current students.

The idea is that removing the money used for bursaries and investing it in training places will increase student support in the long run. The money saved will be given to training facilities across the country so that health services have more UK workers to depend upon.

However, these changes do not take into account foreign students, who are not granted Student Finance, or mature students who have other areas of their life to fund. Additionally, the risk of not getting a placement at the end of university is high and keeping the bursaries would allow financial security.

Brookes nurses will face financial challenges

Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor June Girvin, Dean of the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, told the Oxford Mail: “There may be consequences that we would be keen to mitigate as detail is worked through – for example, the impact upon widening participation, mature students and those with previous degree qualifications seeking a career change.

“Such fundamental change will need stable transition arrangements and close partnership working with the NHS to ensure that placements continue to be well supported.”

Jon Skewes from The Royal College of Midwives said that removing these grants could make nursing and midwifery an “unattainable and less attractive” profession.

He said:“The announcement is extremely worrying. The cuts are likely to deter many potential students from entering the profession, which is not good news for midwifery in the UK.”