Workforce, training and education
East Midlands

Study leave expenses

'Uncapped' budgets

  • As part of the Improving Junior Doctors' Working Lives programme, NHSE have produced a brief video highlighting some of the changes to study budgets; please note that this is only a brief introduction, and the Study Leave Policy details how this is implemented and accessed in NHSE East Midlands

General guidance

  • Claims for reimbursement of expenses must be made to the postgraduate doctor’s local Study Leave Coordinator/GP Programme Office as soon as possible after the leave has taken place, and within 8 weeks of the leave being completed.
  • Claims can only be made against leave that was prospectively submitted using Leave Manager, where the estimated expenses were included on the application, and the leave application has been approved; this applies even when the activity takes place on a non-working day. Applicants are therefore reminded to include costs on their application.
    • If you have difficulty submitting a leave request or forget to include costs on your application, contact the Study Leave Team as soon as possible to resolve this. Retrospective requests for leave requests/expenses to be added will not be accepted unless the Study Leave team has been contacted ahead of the activity.
    • Expenses on leave applications that have not been approved will not be funded by NHSE, even if the expenses are marked as approved.
  • Evidence of attendance, such as a certificate of attendance and evidence of approved expenses, such as receipts, are mandatory for making a claim.
  • International Leave – for any expenses paid in a foreign currency, evidence must be provided of the exchange rate applied at the time of payment. See the International Leave page.
  • Where the required receipts cannot be provided, generally bank statements with a clear indication of the relevant expense can be accepted – for payments made using means other than a debit/credit card.
  • Claims must be made using the appropriate Trust/GP Programme Office process. Late claims will not be reimbursed unless accompanied by a letter setting out the exceptional circumstance that led to the delay.
  • Unless special considerations exist, Trusts should pay all reasonable expenses approved on Leave Manager, in line with applicable rates, without exceeding the amount approved.
  • In the event where a course/activity has been cancelled by the provider, NHSE cannot refund any fees or expenses paid.
    • NOTE: Exceptions may apply for activities cancelled due to COVID-19; please see our dedicated webpage.

Appropriate expenses

As a general rule, the following types of expenses can be claimed in line with the rates specified in Appendix D of the Study Leave Policy:

  • Course/conference attendance fees
  • Overnight accommodation (hotel)
    • A lower rate is available for overnight accommodation when staying with friends or relatives
  • Mileage
  • Public transport costs
    • Where possible, trainees must take advantage of concessionary fares. ‘First class’ and other premium class travel will not be reimbursed.
  • Meals

Expenses that cannot be claimed from the study leave budget include following situations/items. Note that this list is not exhaustive; any expenses not included in the list of appropriate expenses above should be assumed to not be supported:

    • Retrospective applications
    • Examination fees
    • Membership/subscription fees
    • Credit card charges
    • Conventions
    • Ceremonies
    • Equipment, including books
    • Publication, abstract submission or printing costs
    • Visas or application fees
    • Any costs where evidence of payment cannot be provided (i.e. receipts) except for mileage and friends/family rate accommodation.
    • Costs that do not relate to the period of study leave
    • Interview expenses (interviews are not covered by study leave)
    • Excess mileage/relocation expenses will not be refunded as they are not part of study leave

    Relevant policies/guidance

    How do I add expenses to my leave request?

    Yes – we have a video in the East Midlands Study Leave catalogue on the NHS Learning Hub, "Accent Leave Manager: Applying for leave and expenses": this takes you through the application process, including applying for expenses.

    Please note that you cannot apply for expenses for Private leave, as Private leave must only be used for private exam revision (and as such will not incur expenses).

    The system won’t let me apply – why is this?

    There are a number of rules built into Leave Manager. For example, if you are trying to submit a retrospective application (ie an activity that starts on the day you're applying or before), the system will not allow you to do so as retrospective applications are not permitted; this will give you a validation error as "There are no approvers available for this placement, please select different dates or placement".

    Also, if you try to apply for a course that costs more than your available budget, you won’t be able to apply for the full cost. You should only apply for the amount of money you have left (or less).  The same applies to the number of days you have left.

    In order to apply, you must first be in a post on Leave Manager; your post must have Approvers (eg Rota Co-ordinator/JDA) recorded against it (otherwise the post will show as 'There are no approvers available for this placement, please select different dates or placement.') and finally your entitlement/budget must be recorded (you can check this in the My Entitlements and My Budgets sections of your account).

    If you suspect some of this has not been done, please contact NHSE at England.StudyLeave.EM@nhs.net.

    What expenses can/can't I claim?

    In line with the Study Leave policy (and NHS Terms & Conditions of Service) you can claim the following expenses:

    • Course/Conference fees
    • Public transport (at standard rate)
    • Mileage (at NHS Terms & Conditions of Service Reserve Rate)
    • Parking (at standard rate)
    • Overnight accommodation (in line with NHS Terms & Conditions of Service rates)
    • Subsistence (in line with NHS Terms & Conditions of Service rates)

    The rates (including links to the relevant NHS Employers pages for NHS Terms & Conditions of Service) are specified in the Study Leave policy.

    No other expenses can be claimed through study leave as standard. Below are examples of excluded expenses, but the list is not exhaustive:

    • Retrospective applications
    • Examination fees
    • Membership/subscription fees
    • Credit card charges
    • Conventions
    • Ceremonies
    • Equipment, incl. books
    • Publication, abstract submission or printing costs
    • Visas, application fees
    • Any costs where evidence of payment cannot be provided (i.e. receipts)

    Please note that whether costs can be claimed or not is not affected by whether it is a standard (pre-approved) or Exception request; the above list applies regardless.

    There's no Expenses section when I'm applying for leave!

    Please check your Leave Type; remember that Private Leave can only be used for private exam revision (eg at home) and should not incur any expenses, so you cannot apply for expenses on Private Leave requests. Please change the Leave Type to Study or Exam as appropriate.

    If you have selected either Study or Exam leave and no Expenses section appears, please send a screenshot of the application screen to England.StudyLeave.EM@nhs.net.

    I missed adding expenses/there's an error on my leave request; what should I do? Should I cancel the leave?

    Cancelling leave requests should only be done when you are no longer planning to attend the activity you applied for.

    Leave requests can no longer be edited once they have been submitted on Leave Manager as they are under review/have been approved by your approvers on the basis of the information you have provided.

    If there is something wrong with/missing from your leave request, please contact NHSE (England.StudyLeave.EM@nhs.net) with the details you need changing (including the breakdown of expenses, e.g. course fees, public transport, accommodation, mileage), and we may be able to amend/add to your leave request as appropriate.

    I've cancelled a leave request but the days/money is still coming out of my entitlements!

    Cancellations must be acknowledged by your leave approvers before they are released back to you. If you need the time/budget back urgently and your leave approvers are not responding, please contact NHSE (England.StudyLeave.EM@nhs.net).

    Cancelling leave requests should only be done when you are no longer planning to attend the activity you applied for. If there is something wrong with/missing from your leave request, please contact us, and we can amend/add to your leave request as appropriate.

    How do I claim expenses for activities while I'm on annual leave/on weekends/bank holidays/other non-working days?

    To claim expenses from your study leave budget, you must have submitted a leave request with expenses on Leave Manager. 

    For study leave taken over weekends, bank holidays and days when you would not otherwise be working you can either take time off in lieu or not declare those as time off in the application process (by entering 0 for study leave days when submitting the leave request). If you wish to take time in lieu, you must apply for the original leave date (on weekends/bank holidays/non-working days) prospectively on Leave Manager. Arrangements for taking the time off in lieu should be discussed with employers prior to taking the initial study leave.

    You can then include your expenses as normal before submitting your application.

    Please remember when adding expenses to Leave Manager to click ‘Save’ after entering every line of expenses (even the first one); expenses are not saved until and unless you click the button. To check that the expenses have saved when you’re applying, make sure that the expense appears as a line under Expenses section of the application.

    Can I check my associated expenses?

    Once you've logged into your Leave Manager account, go to My Budgets (for your study leave budget, https://accent.hicom.co.uk/LeaveManager/Live/Web/MyBudgets/Index). Look for the current training year (this will normally be at the top of each section).

    As a reminder, the study leave year runs from changeover date in August to the changeover date the following August except for programmes with nationally agreed start dates in September, where the leave year is September to September. This applies regardless of individual trainees’ progression dates.

    I am LTFT/on maternity leave/started part way through the year/post-CCT/OOP - how does this affect my study leave entitlement?

    Days

    • Entitlements are based on the academic year, regardless of start dates or grade progression.
    • As with annual leave, trainees who start or complete their training part way through the academic year will receive a pro-rata entitlement for that academic year. Similarly, Less Than Full-time Trainees (LTFT) receive study leave days pro-rata to a whole time trainee in any one academic year.
    • If the planned number of study leave days in any one year will exceed the entitlement available, this may be increased on a case-by-case basis subject to written (emailed to StudyLeave.EM@hee.nhs.uk) approval from your TPD/Head of School for specific activities (i.e. you must have a clear plan of how you will use your days, rather than just requesting an additional X days).
    • Entitlement to study leave ends once a trainee reaches CCT and trainees are not entitled to Study Leave days or budget from NHSE during the Period of Grace. Please liaise with your employer regarding any study leave entitlement.
    • Trainees on Out of Programme Experience (OOPE), Out of Programme Research (OOPR) or Out of Programme Career Break (OOPC) are not entitled to study leave for the period they are out of programme.
    • Trainees on Out of Programme Training (OOPT) are normally only entitled to study leave for this period if they are occupying a training post in our region.
    • East Midlands trainees OOPT elsewhere in England will have study leave provided by the NHSE local team supporting their OOPT placement, rather than the East Midlands, in line with national policy.
    • East Midlands trainees OOPT outside of England will not have study leave supported by NHSE. Please liaise with the provider for your OOPT placement regarding any access to study leave and/or funding. This currently applies to East Midlands trainees OOPT in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales as well (as these posts are not funded by NHSE), although we hope to be able to support this in the future.

    Expense

    • If you are in an East Midlands Secondary Care post, you can access the uncapped budget regardless of being LTFT/on maternity leave/starting part-way through the year for as long as you are in that post.
      • Otherwise, your budget entitlement will generally be pro-rata for LTFT trainees/those starting or finishing part-way through the year.
    • Entitlement to study leave ends once a trainee reaches CCT and trainees are not entitled to study leave from NHSE during the Period of Grace. Please liaise with your employer regarding any study leave entitlement.
    • Trainees on Out of Programme Experience (OOPE), Out of Programme Research (OOPR) or Out of Programme Career Break (OOPC) are not entitled to study leave for the period they are out of programme.
    • Trainees on Out of Programme Training (OOPT) are normally only entitled to study leave for this period if they are occupying a training post in our region.
    • East Midlands trainees OOPT elsewhere in England will have study leave provided by the NHSE local team supporting their OOPT placement, rather than the East Midlands, in line with national policy.
    • East Midlands trainees OOPT outside of England will not have study leave supported by NHSE. Please liaise with the provider for your OOPT placement regarding any access to study leave and/or funding. This currently applies to East Midlands trainees OOPT in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales as well (as these posts are not funded by NHSE), although we hope to be able to support this in the future.
    How will I know if my application is approved?

    You will receive an automated email and notification on Accent stating your application has been approved or declined. You will be able to monitor the progress of your request at any time on Accent under the My Applications section. Where provided, approvers’ notes are recorded against their decisions – it is important you read these as there may be some important information for you.

    Why haven't my expenses been authorised?

    Expenses are marked as authorised when they are approved for payment by your Trust/Programme Office (see "How do I claim reimbursement of expenses?" later below). In order to claim expenses, only your leave request (with estimated expenses) needs to be approved 

    How do I claim reimbursement of expenses?

    In order to claim money from your study leave budget the following needs to happen

    1. You need to submit a study leave application on Accent Leave Manager in advance of the study leave taking place and you need to include estimated expenses in your application.
      • Please remember when adding expenses to Leave Manager to click ‘Save’ after entering every line of expenses (even the first one); expenses are not saved until and unless you click the button.
      • To check that the expenses have saved when you’re applying, make sure that the expense appears as a line under Expenses in your application.
    2. The application needs to be approved on Leave Manager.
    3. After the study leave has taken place you need to follow your Trust’s/Programme Office’s process for claiming the expenses within 8 weeks.
      • Please note that NHSE do not pay expenses directly, and this is not done automatically by the Leave Manager system.
      • If you are unsure of your Trust’s/Programme Office’s process, please contact your local Study Leave Coordinator/Programme Office (details on our website) who can support you appropriately. For Clinical Radiology, Lead Employer Model, Primary Care and Public Health reimbursement guidance please visit our resources page.
      • Please remember to submit your leave requests and expenses claims in an appropriate timeframe; forgetting this may prevent you claiming expenses, and exceptions will generally only be made for circumstances beyond your control.
    What evidence can I submit for an online course?

    For reimbursement purposes, any online courses/rescources funded by the study leave budget can be evidenced by providing confirmation of enrollment or purchase. 

    Is there someone I can talk to about my request?

    Each organisation will have a Study Leave Co-ordinator. A full list can be found on our Getting Support page (https://www.eastmidlandsdeanery.nhs.uk/policies/study_leave/GettingSupport).

    Can I appeal this process?

    Yes; please refer to the Study Leave policy on the Resources & Guidance page (www.eastmidlandsdeanery.nhs.uk/policies/study_leave/ResourcesGuidance)

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