Support for nursing and midwifery students in Scotland 2018-2019

Expenses For Clinical Placement

Clinical placement is the part of the course that consists of supervised practice in clinical areas. You can claim expenses for some extra travel and reasonable accommodation costs so you are not out of pocket. Educational or observational visits that are part of the general academic costs of the course should be paid for by your institution.

Students can apply for advanced payments of expenses through their university.

Travel

As there is £5 included within the bursary for daily travel already, you can only claim for placement travel if the cheapest method of public transport exceeds £5 per day, unless claiming for patient visits only.

You are expected to use student offers, season passes and zonecards wherever possible. If your claim is more than the cheapest fare available, your claim will be restricted to the cheapest fare. If public transport is available but you choose to use your own car, expenses will be restricted to the cost of public transport.

If nearby public transport is unavailable for your shift times, you must seek agreement in advance from your institution to use your car. The use of your car may also be authorised if you are using it to reach nearby public transport or are on a community placement and have used your car for patient visits. You will be reimbursed at the current motor mileage rate of 45p per mile. Motor cycle allowance is 24p per mile.

Airfares can be paid where your institution is satisfied they are justified. You should always seek your institution’s agreement in advance if you want to have airfares paid.

If you expect your travel costs to exceed £35 you should seek local accommodation wherever possible.

You will not be reimbursed for taxi fares, tips, sleeper berths, carriage of luggage or bicycles, parking costs and
any travel not directly related to the practice placement.

Accommodation

You can claim for reasonable accommodation costs if you have to live away from home or a term time address whilst on placement.

You should seek authorisation from your university before you arrange the accommodation. If you incur costs for staying with friends or family, we will reimburse you up to a maximum of £15 per night. The cost of all meals, food etc. during placement that are not included in accommodation costs (i.e. bed & breakfast) must be met from your personal allowance.

Applying for clinical placement expenses

You should apply for placement expenses as soon
as possible after your placement. Should you require an advance payment, please contact your university finance department to apply.

Give your completed expenses form to your institution. They will assess each claim on its merits, deciding the most appropriate method and costs of travel, before passing the approved claim to SAAS who will arrange for payment to your bank account within two weeks of receiving the approved claim.

All claims must be received by SAAS within six months of your placement end date.