Funding · Scotland
Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary (PNMSB)
Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary (PNMSB) is administered by Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS). The figures below are the published 2025/26 rates. Adding up every element that carries a published figure, it is worth up to £10,000 per year, if you meet each element’s own conditions. 4 of the nursing career paths on this site qualify.
What it is
The Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary (PNMSB) is Scotland's dedicated financial support scheme for students on NHS-commissioned pre-registration nursing and midwifery programmes, administered by the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS). It pays a non-means-tested bursary of £10,000 a year for years 1 to 3 of the course, reducing to £7,500 in a fourth (honours) year, plus a one-off £60 Initial Expenses Allowance.
The elements below are separate awards under one scheme, and they are conditional in different ways. Some are flat payments made to everyone on an eligible course; some are assessed against household income; some reimburse costs you have already incurred and are worth nothing to you unless you incur them. Reading the scheme as a single headline figure is the mistake that leads people to budget for money they will never see.
Adding every element that carries a published figure gives £10,000 per year . Treat that as a ceiling rather than an expectation: it is what the scheme pays somebody who satisfies every condition attached to every element at once, which very few students do. The arithmetic is set out line by line below so you can strike out the elements that do not apply to you.
- Nation
- Scotland
- Academic year
- 2025/26
- Administered by
- Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS)
- Routes funded
- Undergraduate degree
- Elements
- 3
What each element pays, and on what condition
The amount column is the figure the administering body publishes. Where it is blank, no rate is published — either the award is assessed individually or the guidance sets limits rather than a single sum.
| Element | Amount | Basis | Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
| PNMSB Bursary (Years 1-3) Some professions only | £10,000 | year | Non-means-tested bursary paid for years 1 to 3 of an NHS-commissioned pre-registration nursing or midwifery programme. Applies to adult nurse , mental health nurse , children's nurse , learning disability nurse . |
| PNMSB Bursary (Year 4 / Honours) Some professions only | £7,500 | year | Reduced non-means-tested bursary rate paid in a fourth (honours) year of study. Applies to adult nurse , mental health nurse , children's nurse , learning disability nurse . |
| Initial Expenses Allowance Some professions only | £60 | one-off | One-off, non-means-tested payment to help with the initial costs of starting the course. Applies to adult nurse , mental health nurse , children's nurse , learning disability nurse . |
Work out what you would get
This is arithmetic on the scheme’s own published figures, and nothing else. Elements published on the same basis — here, per year — are added together. Where the scheme publishes more than one rate for the same payment, only the highest is counted, because you can only receive one of them. Elements published on a different basis are listed separately below and not added, because adding a per-claim reimbursement to an annual grant would produce a number that means nothing.
A total appears only where every element in the group carries a published figure. If one does not, the components that exist are still shown and the total is left uncomputed. That is the honest position: an incomplete sum presented as a total is worse than no total at all, because you would budget against it.
Every eligible profession
- PNMSB Bursary (Years 1-3) — £10,000 (published at 2 rates; the highest is counted)
Up to £10,000 per year
The only element with a published figure, payable if you meet the conditions attached to it.
Applies identically to these 4 professions.
Who qualifies
The scheme funds the undergraduate degree route . If you are training by another route, this is not the scheme that applies to you — compare the routes for your profession before you apply.
- Adult Nurse — what the job is · undergraduate degree, pre-registration master’s and degree apprenticeship
- Mental Health Nurse — what the job is · undergraduate degree, pre-registration master’s and degree apprenticeship
- Children's Nurse — what the job is · undergraduate degree, pre-registration master’s and degree apprenticeship
- Learning Disability Nurse — what the job is · undergraduate degree, pre-registration master’s and degree apprenticeship
What does not qualify
No exclusions are published against this scheme in the dataset. That does not mean there are none — check the scheme guidance before you apply.
Exclusions decide more applications than entitlements do. Read them before you commit to a course on the assumption that it is funded.
How this compares with the rest of the UK
The same course can be funded on four different bases depending on where you study. If you are choosing between universities in different nations, this is a bigger financial difference than tuition fee headlines suggest.
The other nations
- NHS Learning Support Fund — England · 2026/27
- NHS Wales Bursary Scheme — Wales · 2025/26
- Department of Health (NI) Nursing Bursary — Northern Ireland · 2024/25
Carry on from here
- All funding schemes — Every scheme across the four nations
- Compare training routes — What each route costs and what it pays
- Every approved course — Filter by nation to see which funding regime applies
- NHS pay bands — What you earn once you are registered
- Degree apprenticeships — The salaried alternative to student funding
- Sources and licensing — Where these figures came from
Where this page’s data comes from
Figures published by Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) for 2025/26. Rules change every academic year — confirm with the scheme’s own guidance before you rely on any figure here.
- Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary (Scotland)Scottish Government (bursary administered by the Student Awards Agency for Scotland, SAAS) · Open Government Licence v3.0 · updated annual · checked 3 September 2026Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- NMC register data reports, pre-registration standards and registration codesNursing and Midwifery Council · NMC website terms and conditions (no open licence; clause 6.3 permits reproducing rules/standards/guidance only) · updated annual · checked 3 September 2026
- Royal College of Nursing membership and professional body informationRoyal College of Nursing · No open licence stated; RCN copyright · checked 3 September 2026
- NHS Health Careers role profiles, pay guide and course finderNHS England (Health Careers) · No open licence stated; NHS England (Health Careers) copyright, all rights reserved · updated on-change · checked 3 September 2026
- Skills England apprenticeship standards (Registered Nurse Degree, Nursing Associate)Skills England (Department for Education); formerly Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education · Open Government Licence v3.0 · updated on-change · checked 3 September 2026Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- NHS Learning Support Fund guidanceDepartment of Health and Social Care (administered by NHS Business Services Authority) · Open Government Licence v3.0 · updated annual · checked 3 September 2026Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.