Finances in Medical School

Finances for any university student can be daunting. For a lot of people, this is your first time having to balance paying for your rent, food, and other expenses. It can be really hard to figure out where to spend what, and before you know it, you’ve run out of money. Hopefully, this guide will help you to avoid that.

Funding for medical school isn’t the same as other courses, and figuring out what’s going to happen in your later years can be confusing. Not only that, figuring out your financial situation can be anxiety-inducing, and feeling as though you don’t have much money can really get you down.

Years 1 to 4:

You are eligible to receive tuition fee funding and a maintenance loan from student finance. Your maintenance loan can be used towards living costs such as rent and food, as well as any other things you want to do. Your tuition fee loan will get paid directly to your university to cover the costs of your tuition. You have to reapply for these loans each year of your study. These loans are repayable once you start earning a certain amount.

More information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/repaying-your-student-loan/what-you-pay?step-by-step-nav=18045f76-ac04-41b7-b147-5687d8fbb64a

Year 5:

Medical and dental students can apply for an NHS bursary in the later years of their course. The NHS will cover the cost of your tuition fees and this will be paid directly to your university. If you are eligible for the NHS bursary scheme and regardless of whether or not you benefit from it, you’re entitlement to an SF maintenance loan is reduced to approximately 60%. A £1000 maintenance grant is available for all students eligible for the NHS Bursary.

These are the basics of what you are eligible for as a medical student. Having an understanding of what your financial future may look like gives you an opportunity to prepare earlier on. This will hopefully take away some of the stress later down the road.

You may be eligible for other types of funding. The NHS has different grants available depending on your circumstances.

More information can be found here: https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/nhs-bursary-students/medical-and-dental-students

Each university will have different types of support available for students. The University of Nottingham has a range of scholarships and bursaries that you can apply to.

These can be found here: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/studentservices/support/financialsupport/bursariesandscholarships/index.aspx

Once you know how much money you’ll be getting, it’s important to know how to manage your money.

Student Banking:

As a university student, you can apply for a student bank account. A lot of these accounts may come with perks such as railcards or student discount cards. These accounts will also usually make you eligible for an overdraft. An overdraft lets you borrow money through your current account by taking out more money than you have in the account. However, you may be charged extra for using your overdraft, so it’s important to read the terms of your account before using it.

Budget Planning:

Having a budget planner is really helpful to work out how much money to spend. It will allow you to put money aside for your essentials, such as rent and food, and then for other things such as going out, buying clothes, and other recreational things. It’s up to you how you plan your budget. There are apps where you can set a monthly spending limit.

Save the student has a budget planning spreadsheet which you may find helpful: https://www.savethestudent.org/student-budget-worksheet.xls.

Getting a Job:

Before getting a job at university, it’s important to consider if having a job will impact your education and your mental well-being. Only having time for medical school and working won’t be beneficial to your mental health if you have no free time.If you do want to get a job, it's important that it is flexible for you.

The university has a scheme called Unitemps which allows you to find work that fits around your studies: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/studentservices/services/unitemps.aspx

Sites such as MyTutor allow you to choose how many hours that you work. Throughout the year, paid student ambassador positions at the university may also be available.

Meal Planning:

Planning out what you’re going to eat can make your food shopping cheaper! It means that you don’t have to rely on last-minute takeaways or deal with any food waste. Online shopping can be more convenient, but it may come with additional delivery costs that can end up making your shopping more expensive. Looking around for the cheapest prices can save you money in the long run.

Credit Cards:

Student credit cards are a great way to build up your credit score and help you spread payments over a longer time. However, they are not risk-free. You have to pay back any money that you spend on a credit card, and missing a payment can put you in debt and negatively affect your credit score. It’s really important to consider how you use a credit card or overdraft.

Creating debt for yourself can cause a lot of anxiety - if you find yourself in this position, it’s important to ask others for help.

Travel Costs:

Sometimes, travel costs may be unavoidable. Luckily, students are eligible for many discounts, such as a railcard if you travel by train regularly. Nottingham City Transport (NCT) offers discounted bus travel for students, with options for both the academic (£259) and calendar (£279) year.

Student Discounts:

Finally, many websites offer student discounts. These can be found through apps such as UniDays or Student Beans. It's always worth googling to see if you can save yourself a bit of money!

Hopefully, after this guide, you feel more confident and clear about your finances in medical school. This is not an exhaustive list, and it's always worth doing some research to find other things that may work for you.

Although money management may seem like a lot of hard work, with a little bit of time, you can save yourself a lot of stress by planning your finances out.

As always, if you want to share any of your experiences at medical school with us, email us at welfarehub.nottsmed@gmail.com. If you’re struggling with any other issues, have a look at our website to find some resources that may help you.