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Wonkhe SUs · The 2026 webinar box set

Students on health courses

How to make things better for students on health courses – the same student issues, under very different pressures.

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We look at what makes healthcare students the same but different – 37.5 evidenced study hours a week, up to 2,300 placement hours, strict regulation, and funding that varies by nation and profession. We cover medical and nursing finance, the NMC's role and its four-year midwifery problem, the realities of placements, and how SUs can represent and engage students who often have no time for the wider student experience. With Megan Cornes, Health and Society Officer, Salford Students' Union

What we cover

  • The same but different – the familiar student issues, but with evidenced study hours, placement hours and life-or-death regulation on top.
  • Medical student finance – the split between Student Finance England and the NHS Bursary, reduced maintenance loans, and placement costs.
  • Nursing – the UK's most employable degree, the routes in, and the challenges underneath the headline.
  • Allied health professions – the breadth of courses, from paramedics to speech and language therapists.
  • The NMC – who they are, the education standards they set, and why they control the "what" but not the "how much".
  • The four-year midwifery problem – extending training while the mature students the system depends on are already walking away.
  • Placements – assessment and availability, travel and cost, treatment on placement, and students' rights.
  • The policy landscape – more than 32,000 student nurses at risk of dropping out, and what's driving it.
  • "It's not what I thought it would be" – resilience, echo chambers, and the strong peer communities that form.
  • Representation and engagement – how confident is your SU, and what different approach do health students need?

Things to read

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