30.06.20
Extension for universities to bid on healthcare course places
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has agreed to extend the timetable for universities to apply for extra places, in order to meet the previously-announced additional 5,000 ring-fenced places for nursing, midwifery and allied health courses in England.
Healthcare courses have been met with an unprecedented demand, with the announced changes allowing for more students to have the opportunity to apply for relevant university courses.
Universities will now have until July 17, 2020 to apply for extra places, and to cover additional bids over the initial 5,000, after the government agreed to an extension of the current timetable. The extension will allow them to bid for places with the confidence there will be clinical placement capacity.
The additional ring-fenced places were announced by the Education Secretary back in May 4, 2020 as part of a series of new measures to further protect students and universities and support the country’s vital public services.
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Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said: “Following the fantastic news last Thursday that we have over 12,000 more nurses working in our NHS compared to last year, we have seen huge demand from universities for the additional places we’ve made available on nursing, midwifery or allied health courses.
“This pandemic has demonstrated just how important our healthcare professionals are, and the demand for places shows that there are thousands of prospective students looking to train for rewarding careers in our NHS.”
Significant demand has so far been seen for additional places across a range of healthcare courses, including adult, mental health and learning disability nursing, midwifery, paramedicine and radiography.