§ Mr. DhandaTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to increase financial support for undergraduate students of medicine. [137098]
§ Alan JohnsonUndergraduate medical students already receive more help overall than other higher education students.
For the first four years of their courses, English domiciled medical students receive support from my Department. Students from poorer backgrounds receive means-tested grants for fees of up to £1,125 per year (2003/04 rate). For years five and six, support is provided by the Department of Health, and currently students in those years pay no fee contributions. Most of the cost of their courses is met by the Government through HE Funding Council support.
Medical students will benefit from the new Higher Education Grants of £1,000 to be introduced in academic year 2004/05, which three in 10 of all students will receive in full and an additional number will receive in part. And in addition to the non means-tested loans undergraduate medical students receive from the Student Loans Company, they can receive means-tested bursaries from the Department of Health in years five and six.