Pharmacy students given access to placement funding

Eligible pharmacy students will be given financial help with travel and accommodation costs while on clinical placements, following a change in guidance from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

MPharm students in England can now access the Travel and Dual Accommodation Expenses (TDAE) section of the NHS Learning Support Fund (LSF).

The change means that from the 2025 to 2026 academic year, eligible new and continuing MPharm students studying undergraduate pharmacy or pre-registration healthcare science courses will be able to access TDAE – which reimburses travel and accommodation costs associated with attending placements.

Previously, unlike their peers in other healthcare degree programmes such as nursing, midwifery, and medicine, pharmacy students were excluded from the entire LSF, including the TDAE.

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Pharmacy organisations have long been campaigning for this change in policy and have today welcomed the move.

Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) fourth-year student rep for Kingston University, Molly Charlton Chambers, said she was ‘delighted’ that pharmacy students were now eligible.

Ms Charlton Chambers had been involved in the PDA’s Fair Funding Campaign, launched by student members in 2023 to lobby MPs to make the change.

She said the ‘increased demand for clinical placements since the incorporation of independent prescribing has meant many students must travel a considerable distance to attend them, with some needing to stay in temporary accommodation’.

‘The inclusion of pharmacy students in the TDAE scheme means that eligible students will now be able to claim for excess travel and accommodation costs, helping to significantly reduce the financial burden faced by many students,’ she added.

‘It also demonstrates recognition of the importance of pharmacists and the need to support the future of the pharmacy workforce.’

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She added that campaigning should continue to ensure pharmacy students secured the full benefits offered by the LSF, such as the training grant of £5,000 per academic year.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) also welcomed the inclusion of pharmacy students in the TDAE, following joint calls for change with the British Pharmaceutical Students' Association (BPSA) and Pharmacy Schools Council (PSC).

Professor Claire Anderson, RPS president, said: ‘This a very positive step and 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.

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‘Access to the LSF will also help tackle the inequalities that exist within the profession by removing financial barriers to placements and supporting all pharmacy students.

‘With growing demand for pharmacists’ expertise, it is welcome news that this inequity at the very start of their career journey is going to be addressed.’