ELIGIBILITY
Students undertaking courses in pre-registration nursing and midwifery leading to the award of a degree or Diploma in Higher Education may be eligible for a bursary under the NMSB scheme. Eligibility for support depends on TWO criteria - that your course is eligible and that you meet the residence requirements.
Course eligibility
Bursaries are for eligible students attending courses which:
- lead to registration on the Professional Register maintained by the Nursing anld Midwifery Council ( NMC);
- are funded by the Scottish Executive Health Department ( SEHD).
Residence eligibility
If you began your course after 31 July 2002 you must satisfy the same prior residence rules as apply to undergraduate students in the general higher education system. You must have been ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and Isle of Man for the three years immediately before the relevant date (the first day of the first academic year of the course). There will be two relevant dates; to reflect the two start dates for nursing and midwifery courses. These dates will be 1 January and 1 August. If you are not a UK national you must also have settled status in the UK within the meaning of the Immigration Act 1971 on the same relevant dates. To find out about getting settled status, you can visit the Home Office website or phone their helpline on 0870 6067766. If you have not been living in the UK you may still qualify, depending on your circumstances.
You must also be ordinarily resident in the UK on the first day of the first academic year of your course. Ordinarily resident has been defined in the courts as 'habitual and normal residence in one place'. It means that you, your parents or your husband or wife live in a country year after year by choice throughout a set period, apart from temporary or occasional absences such as holidays or business trips.
We will not treat you as ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom if your main purpose in coming here was for education and you would have otherwise have been living elsewhere.
Students from abroad
If you do not satisfy the usual residence conditions for support outlined above you may still be eligible for assistance in certain circumstances. Support may be available to:
- UK nationals returning from work in other member states of the European Union ( EU) or from elsewhere in the European Economic Area ( EEA) and Switzerland;
- Nationals of other EU and EEA countries who have been granted permanent residence in the UK, and their husbands, wives, or civil partners and children or stepchildren;
- Nationals and husbands, wives and civil partners of nationals of other EU member states, and Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein, who have migrant worker status, or whose parents are, or have been, migrant workers in the UK;
- People recognised as refugees by the British Government and their husbands, wives or civil partners and children or stepchildren; and
- People who have been granted 'exceptional leave to enter' or 'exceptional leave to remain', 'humanitarian protection', 'temporary protection' or 'discretionary leave' in the UK and their husbands, wives or civil partners and children or stepchildren.
You will need to supply evidence from the Home Office to confirm your status.
Students from the European Union
European Union students applying for fees and living-cost support must meet the residence conditions for UK nationals in the UK (as set out in the Immigration Act 1971).
You may qualify for support with your tuition fees if you meet all of the following conditions.
- You are an EU national, or the child or stepchild of an EU national;
- You have been ordinarily resident in a member state of the EU or elsewhere in the EEA or Switzerland for the three years immediately before the relevant date; and
- You are taking a full-time course in pre-registration nursing or midwifery leading to entry in the Register of nurses maintained by the Nursing and Midwifery Council.