Medical students in England will receive full student finance for the duration of their degrees, regardless of course length, from 2027.

Undergraduate medical students studying for five years, or graduate-entry medical students who spend up to seven years in higher education, see their entitlement to student loans drop off after four years.

This means medical students in their final year of undergraduate degrees face a funding drop of up to £3,979. This drop happens from the second year onwards for graduate-entry medical students.

Details of plans to ‘transform’ the student finance system have been published on the Government’s website. The plans meet the demands made by the BMA medical students committee in its ‘Stop the Drop’ campaign.

It says that, from January 2027, all courses funded by the current undergraduate student finance system will be funded by the new LLE (lifelong learning entitlement).

LLE is a new student finance system, which will provide eligible students with the equivalent of a four-year student loan of up to £38,140 as well as maintenance funding to use over their working lives.

Longer courses, including medicine and dentistry, will attract PAE (priority additional entitlement).

Students studying PAE-eligible courses will receive full tuition-fee and maintenance support for the duration of their courses, regardless of the course length and whether they already hold an equivalent level qualification.

This will mean students who choose medicine or dentistry as a second degree will be able to access tuition-fee and maintenance loans in years one to four of their undergraduate courses, and year one of their graduate-entry courses.

The NHS Bursary, a separate, non-repayable grant for specific healthcare students in England, is understood to be unaffected by the changes, meaning it remains accessible from year two of a graduate-entry course and year five of an undergraduate course.

The MSC has been campaigning to ‘Stop the Drop’, and marched on the Department for Education’s Westminster headquarters earlier this year as part of a wider campaign to ‘Fix our Funding’.

At the time, a BMA survey of 3,500 medical students found that nine in 10 (90 per cent) said their financial situation has been detrimental to their mental wellbeing.

Students explained how the system forces them to work long hours on top of their demanding medical education when funding is reduced – with many ending up ‘burnt out before our careers have even started’.

MSC is seeking further, detailed information on the upcoming changes to the scheme.

MSC co-chairs Henry Budden and Elgan Manton-Roseblade, said: 'This policy change has the potential to make a huge difference for medical students, who we know – due to the length of courses, clinical placement requirements, and shortfalls in student finance – struggle to with the cost of living.

'More detail is required to ensure that these changes work best for students, alongside the NHS Bursary. Support is also needed for students in unaffected cohorts prior to 2027, who will still suffer a drop in funding in their final years.

'However, we hope this change will be the first step towards opening medicine up as a career to people from all backgrounds.'

The BMA is making further inquiries about the position of students who undertake intercalated degrees.