Social work bursary levels have been frozen for a tenth consecutive year, the Department of Health and Social Care revealed today.
The decision means that payments for students on undergraduate or master's courses are worth between £1,150 and £1,800 per year less than they were in 2014, as measured by the Bank of England's inflation calculator (see table below).
Also, the cap on the number of additional bursaries per year - 2,500 for undergraduate courses and 1,500 for postgraduate programmes - has also been frozen, in this case at a level set in 2013. The caps mean that not every student receives a payment.
As previously, undergraduate bursaries are only available to students in their second and third years, while master's students who are allocated a bursary receive their payments across the duration of their course, alongside a £4,052 contribution to their tuition fees.
In addition, universities’ funding for placements through the education support grant (ESG) will be frozen for a tenth successive year, at £20 per day for practice placements and £10 per day for skills development days.
| Bursary | 2024-25 value | Inflation-adjusted value | Difference |
| Undergraduate - London | £5,262.50 | £7,058.26 | £1,795.76 |
| Undergraduate - outside London | £4,862.50 | £6,521.76 | £1,659.26 |
| Postgraduate - London | £3,762.50 | £5,046.40 | £1,283.90 |
| Postgraduate - outside London | £3,362.50 | £4,509.91 | £1,147.41 |
As a result, universities have not known until today how many bursaries they had been allocated, preventing them from nominating students to take them up.
This meant students had no certainty over whether they would receive a bursary, prompting warnings from academics that disadvantaged trainees would not take up places on their courses.
