FOR the first time in England, pharmacy students will be eligible to reimburse travel and accommodation costs while attending placements.
The Department of Health and Social Care confirmed that pharmacy students would finally be included in the Travel and Dual Accommodation Expenses (TDAE) section of the NHS Learning Support Fund (LSF).
Unlike their peers in other healthcare degree programmes, such as nursing, midwifery, and medicine, pharmacy students were excluded from the entire LSF.
While many pharmacy schools provided some money towards these expenses, it was meagre when compared with TDAE funding.
The updated LSF guidance states that, from the 2025 to 2026 academic year, new and continuing undergraduate pharmacy students, as well as pre-registration healthcare science students, can access the TDAE provision.
Pharmacy students had in 2023 launched a Fair Funding Campaign, and many MPharm students wrote to the MPs, highlighting this disparity.
The new measure would be helpful for students hailing from lower-income households.
Students can now undertake placements in diverse healthcare settings without worrying about the cost of travel and accommodation.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has welcomed the inclusion of pharmacy students in the LSF.
RPS president professor Claire Anderson sees this as “A welcome recognition by the Government of the crucial role of pharmacists in the future NHS."
“As pharmacists play a more clinical role in the health service, it seemed increasingly unjust to exclude pharmacy students from the financial support they deserve," she added.
