Allied Health Professions

Route comparison

How to train as a paramedic: which route?

There are 4 routes to registration as a paramedic: undergraduate degree, pre-registration master’s, integrated master’s and degree apprenticeship. 80 approved courses in total — 61 BSc, 6 MSc pre-reg and 11 Apprenticeship. All of them end in the same place: band 5, from £32,073. What each one costs, how long each takes and which fits your situation.

BScMSc pre-regMSciApprenticeship
4 Routes to registration BSc, MSc pre-reg, MSci and Apprenticeship
80 Approved courses Across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
£32,073 Band 5 starting salary England, 2026/27 — identical whichever route you take
£5,000 Non-repayable grant Learning Support Fund training grant, per academic year, England

What you are actually choosing between

Every route on this page leads to the same place — the register held by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), and the same first post. What differs is how long you study, what you have to have before you start, and who pays. A newly qualified paramedic in England starts on band 5, at £32,073, rising to £39,043 at the top of the band. That figure does not change according to how you qualified.

The undergraduate degree is the route with the most places and the fewest preconditions: no previous degree, an application through UCAS, and placements built in from the first year. The regulated placement requirement of around 2,300 hours has to be met whichever route you take, which is why none of them is much shorter than it looks. You borrow the tuition and the living costs, and in England a non-repayable grant takes some of the edge off.

The pre-registration master’s exists because many people reach this decision holding a degree in something adjacent — psychology, sport and exercise science, a biomedical subject. It is the same regulated content delivered faster, not less of it, so expect a heavier week and shorter holidays. The funding is where people lose money: the award on the certificate does not decide which student finance system pays for it, and this dataset does not record the designation for this profession, so confirm it with Student Finance England before you treat it as an ordinary master’s.

The apprenticeship inverts the economics. You are an employee, you are paid, and you contribute nothing towards the training. The catch is supply, not eligibility: an employer has to create and fund the post before you can apply for it, so the number of places is small and most go to people already working in the service as support workers or assistants. If you are in one of those posts already, this is the strongest route on the page. If you are not, treat it as a possibility to watch for rather than a plan.

Route by route

BSc

Undergraduate degree

A full-time undergraduate degree with supervised practice placements built into every year. You register at the end of it with nothing further to complete.

Who it suits
School and college leavers, Access to Higher Education students, and career changers without a degree.
You apply to
The university, through UCAS.
Typical length
3 years
Course lengths published
3 years (31)
Approved courses
61
Universities
48
Nations
England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

From 31 courses that publish a length.

See the 61 BSc courses

MSc pre-reg

Pre-registration master’s

The same regulated curriculum and the same placement requirement as the degree, compressed for people who already hold one. Intense rather than easier, and shorter.

Who it suits
Graduates, usually in a related subject, who want the shortest route to registration.
You apply to
The university directly, or through UCAS, depending on the provider.
Typical length
2 years
Course lengths published
2 years (2)
Approved courses
6
Universities
6
Nations
England

From 2 courses that publish a length.

See the 6 MSc pre-reg courses

MSci

Integrated master’s

An undergraduate application that runs straight through into master’s-level study without a second admissions round, so you leave with a master’s award and eligibility to register.

Who it suits
Applicants coming straight from school or college who want to finish at master’s level.
You apply to
The university, through UCAS.
Typical length
4 years
Course lengths published
4 years (1)
Approved courses
2
Universities
2
Nations
England

From 1 course that publish a length.

See the 2 MSci courses

Apprenticeship

Degree apprenticeship

A job with a degree attached. An employer recruits and pays you, and releases you to study; the training cost comes out of the apprenticeship levy rather than out of you.

Who it suits
People already working in health or care, and anyone who cannot stop earning for the length of a degree.
You apply to
An employer with a funded vacancy — not the university.
Typical length
3 years
Course lengths published
3 years (1)
Approved courses
11
Universities
10
Nations
England
Apprenticeship standard
Paramedic (level 6)

Typical duration in the Paramedic standard.

See the 11 Apprenticeship courses

What you pay, and what you get paid

Amounts are those published in the funding schemes that name this profession. Where a scheme sets no fixed figure, the mechanism is described instead of a number being invented.

Cost of each route into paramedic training
  Undergraduate degreePre-registration master’sIntegrated master’sDegree apprenticeship
Typical length 3 years2 years4 years3 years
Approved courses here 61 6 2 11
Tuition Borrowed. A tuition fee loan is paid direct to the university and repaid out of earnings once you are working; the maximum for the coming year is not in this dataset.Borrowed. A tuition fee loan is paid direct to the university and repaid out of earnings once you are working; the maximum for the coming year is not in this dataset.Borrowed. A tuition fee loan is paid direct to the university and repaid out of earnings once you are working; the maximum for the coming year is not in this dataset.None. The apprenticeship funding rules bar the provider and the employer from asking the apprentice to contribute to training or assessment costs — you pay £0.
Living costs A partly means-tested maintenance loan at the ordinary undergraduate rates. The current maxima are not in this dataset.A partly means-tested maintenance loan at the ordinary undergraduate rates. The current maxima are not in this dataset.A partly means-tested maintenance loan at the ordinary undergraduate rates. The current maxima are not in this dataset.A wage. You are an employee from day one, with holiday pay and a pension, and you take on no student debt for the apprenticeship itself.
Money you keep NHS Learning Support Fund training grant of £5,000 a year, not repayable. England only; the other nations run their own schemes.NHS Learning Support Fund training grant of £5,000 a year, not repayable. England only; the other nations run their own schemes.NHS Learning Support Fund training grant of £5,000 a year, not repayable. England only; the other nations run their own schemes.No NHS Learning Support Fund — its rules exclude anyone paid a wage or salary by an employer during the course. You are earning instead.
Schemes that name this route NHS Learning Support Fund (LSF) (England), Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary (PNMSB) (Scotland), NHS Wales Bursary Scheme (Wales) and Department of Health (NI) healthcare bursary for AHP students (Northern Ireland) NHS Learning Support Fund (LSF) (England) and NHS Wales Bursary Scheme (Wales) NHS Learning Support Fund (LSF) (England), Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary (PNMSB) (Scotland), NHS Wales Bursary Scheme (Wales) and Department of Health (NI) healthcare bursary for AHP students (Northern Ireland) Recorded against the closest equivalent route in the dataset. Degree apprenticeship funding (England) (England)
Where it leads Registration with HCPC, and a first post on band 5 — £32,073 in England.Registration with HCPC, and a first post on band 5 — £32,073 in England.Registration with HCPC, and a first post on band 5 — £32,073 in England.Registration with HCPC, and a first post on band 5 — £32,073 in England.

The funding schemes that apply to paramedics

The four UK nations fund these courses in genuinely different ways, and the difference is large enough to change where it is worth applying.

England

NHS Learning Support Fund (LSF)

The NHS Learning Support Fund is extra, non-repayable money for students on eligible pre-registration nursing, midwifery and allied health profession courses at universities in England. It sits on top of the ordinary student loans system rather than replacing it, so you must be eligible for both a tuition fee loan and a maintenance loan from the Student Loans Company to claim any element of it

England2026/27BSc and MSc pre-reg
England

Postgraduate Master's Loan (England)

The Postgraduate Master's Loan is a single contribution towards fees and living costs for a standalone master's degree, paid direct to the student. It is deliberately not the route for most pre-registration AHP master's courses in England: GOV.UK excludes anyone starting a full-time postgraduate pre-registration healthcare course on or after 1 August 2018

England2026/27
Scotland

Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary (PNMSB)

Scotland runs a dedicated non-repayable bursary for pre-registration paramedic science, nursing and midwifery degree students studying in Scotland. It is worth £10,000 a year and, unusually, is not based on household income at all

Scotland2025/26BSc
Wales

NHS Wales Bursary Scheme

Wales pays the full tuition fees and adds a living-costs bursary for students on commissioned healthcare courses at Welsh universities, in exchange for a binding commitment to work in NHS Wales after you qualify. The commitment is two years after a three-year course, or eighteen months after a two-year course, and walking away from it triggers a fixed repayment

Wales2026/27BSc and MSc pre-reg
Northern Ireland

Department of Health (NI) healthcare bursary for AHP students

Northern Ireland keeps the old-style bursary model for allied health professions. If you study a first primary AHP degree at a university in Northern Ireland, the Department of Health pays your tuition fees in full and you can apply for a means-tested healthcare bursary towards living costs, plus a reduced-rate maintenance loan that is not income-assessed

Northern Ireland2026/27BSc
England

Degree apprenticeship funding (England)

A degree apprenticeship is a job, not a student place. Your employer pays you a wage from day one and the cost of the training and end-point assessment is met from the employer's apprenticeship levy funds or from government co-investment, up to the funding band maximum for the standard

England2026/27Apprenticeship

How the apprenticeship route really works

A degree apprenticeship is a job, not a student place. Your employer pays you a wage from day one and the cost of the training and end-point assessment is met from the employer's apprenticeship levy funds or from government co-investment, up to the funding band maximum for the standard. The apprenticeship funding rules explicitly forbid a provider or employer from asking the apprentice to contribute financially, so there is no tuition fee and no student loan - but equally no NHS Learning Support Fund.

Degree apprentices do not take out student loans for the apprenticeship: there is no tuition fee to borrow against and no maintenance loan, because the apprentice is a salaried employee. This also rules out the NHS Learning Support Fund, whose rules exclude anyone paid by their employer for time off to attend their course or in receipt of NHS salary support during any part of the course.

Approved apprenticeship standards for paramedics
Standard Level Typical duration Funding band maximum
Paramedic ST0567 Level 6 3 years £27,000

The funding band maximum is what the employer’s levy account can pay the training provider. It is not a cost to the apprentice and not a salary.

Which route fits you

You do not have a degree yet

The undergraduate degree is the route to plan around. You apply through UCAS, you need no previous degree, and it is the route with the most places — 61 approved courses here.

See the undergraduate degree courses

You already have a relevant degree

The pre-registration master’s covers the same regulated curriculum in 2 years. How it is funded is the part to check first — see the funding section on this page. 6 approved courses here.

See the pre-registration master’s courses

You need to keep earning while you train

The apprenticeship pays you a wage from the first day and charges you nothing for the training. The standard is Paramedic at level 6, typically 3 years. You apply to an employer, not to a university, which is why the places are scarce.

Read the apprenticeship standard

You cannot move to study

Approved courses are listed in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Placements are allocated around the university, so where you study largely decides where you spend your placement weeks. In England, travel and dual accommodation costs for placements are reimbursed through the Learning Support Fund.

Find courses by nation and region

Common questions

How long does each route to becoming a paramedic take?

Undergraduate degree, 3 years, pre-registration master’s, 2 years, integrated master’s, 4 years and degree apprenticeship, 3 years. Each route leads to the same registration, so the difference is how long you are studying and how you are paying for it, not what you can do at the end.

Is a pre-registration master’s in paramedic funded by the Master’s Loan?

In England, designated pre-registration postgraduate healthcare courses are funded through the undergraduate student finance system rather than the postgraduate Master’s Loan. This dataset does not yet record the position for paramedics specifically, so confirm it with Student Finance England before you apply.

Do the routes lead to different jobs?

Yes. the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) approves the programme, not the route, so every course on this page meets the same standards and leads to the same entry on the register. Newly qualified paramedics in England usually start on band 5, from £32,073 in 2026/27, whichever route they took. Employers recruit on registration and on your placement experience, not on the letters after your name.

What does it cost to train as a paramedic?

On the degree and master’s routes you borrow the tuition and repay it out of earnings once you are working, in England you also get the £5,000 a year Learning Support Fund training grant, which you keep and on the apprenticeship you pay nothing at all and are paid a wage while you train. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland fund these courses differently again — the schemes that apply to this profession are listed on this page.

Is there a paramedic apprenticeship?

Paramedic (level 6) is an approved standard leading to registration, with a funding band maximum of £27,000 paid to the training provider by the employer’s levy account, not by you. You apply to an employer that has a funded vacancy, which is the hard part: the standard existing does not mean a post exists near you.

More on becoming a paramedic

Route comparisons for related professions

Where this page’s data comes from

Course counts and durations are taken from the approved-programme records; every amount comes from the published funding scheme for the year it states. Funding rules change annually — confirm with the scheme before you apply.