Fit to Place and Placement Support

All students at the University of Essex are required to comply with the regulations of the University regarding conduct.

Students enrolled on courses which have a practical professional placement have additional responsibilities placed on them as outlined in relevant regulatory and/or professional body codes of practice. Failure to meet these responsibilities can lead to the Fitness to Practise Procedure being invoked. Students will be notified on registration if their course of study is subject to the terms of this procedure.

Students who require Occupational Health clearance for their programme will receive an email with instructions prior to their course commencing. Please refer to the Student Placement Health and Safety Guidance or email studentoh@essex.ac.uk if you need support.

For Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy, Oral Health Science and Social Work we have a Practice Education Management System (PEMS) which allows you to view and update the practice education elements of the programme. You will have received log-in details of this by email - should you have trouble with this, please contact us at hscplacements@essex.ac.uk. We also have a handy 'how-to' guide for Placement Organisation users.

The NHS LSF provides additional funding for eligible healthcare students. It is supplementary financial support to the mainstream student loans system and is intended to support students whilst they train and gain professional registration.

It is made up of the following allowances: 

• Training Grant (non-income assessed) 
• Specialist subject payment (non-income assessed)
• Parental Support (non-income assessed) 
• Travel and Dual Accommodation Expenses (non-income assessed) - Reimbursement of excess travel and temporary accommodation costs incurred as a result of attending a practice placement. 
• Exceptional Support Fund (non-income assessed) - for students who find themselves facing unexpected financial hardship.

Please visit NHS Learning Support Fund (LSF) | NHSBSA for current information and more details on how to claim.

We understand university life can be demanding, the challenges of learning in clinical practice can increase demand for students in the school of healthcare. At Essex, we offer a range of services to support students to manage these demands and be successful as well as achieve their goals.

Full details of the support offered can be found on student wellbeing and inclusivity page.