Postgraduate Master's Loan
If you're studying a full or part-time master's course, you can apply for a loan worth up to £12,167 from Student Finance England. All of the criteria and application guidance are provided by GOV.UK but here are some key details:
Eligibility
- Full time or part-time Master's courses.
- Distance learning courses (if you meet the residency requirements).
You can't apply for a Master's loan if:
- you're on a flexible mode course
- you're studying a PG Cert or PG Dip course
- you're studying an Integrated masters or any top up from a lower level course. Check out Undergraduate funding.
- you received a Postgraduate Master’s Loan before - unless you left your previous course due to illness, bereavement or another serious personal reason. You will not receive an extra loan to repeat a part of your course. Contact the Student Advice Service for advice.
- if you already have a master’s degree or a qualification that’s equivalent to a master’s degree or higher.
M ARCH: Architecture
You can only apply for a Postgraduate Master's Loan if you are not eligible for undergraduate funding support.
Nationality, residency and Immigration status
You can get a Postgraduate Master's Loan if all the following apply:
- You're a UK or Irish national or have ‘settled status’ under the EU Settlement Scheme or indefinite leave to remain so there are no restrictions on how long you can stay.
- You normally live in England and didn’t move there just to study.
- You’ve been living in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for 3 years immediately before the first day of the first academic year of your course.*
*The first day of the first academic year of your course is 1 September for courses starting in September or 1 January for courses starting in January.
There are many other ways you can be eligible for the loan so please check the criteria on GOV.UK. You can also contact the Student Advice Service for guidance if you're unsure.
Apply
You can apply online or by post when the applications system opens which is expected to be in summer 2023 for those starting in the 2023/24 academic year.
Note that:
Student Finance considers an academic year to be 12 months. If your course includes a partial academic year, the total course duration is rounded up to the nearest full academic year and instalments spread over this duration. This means that you may not receive your instalments equally across your course.
For example:
Our 4-term courses starting in September 2023 and ending in December 2024 have a course length of 1 year and 3 months. Student Finance consider these courses as having a duration of 2 academic years and the loan instalments are split as follows:
Year 1 paid in 3 instalments in September 2023, January 2024 and April 2024.
Year 2 paid in 3 instalments September 2024, October 2024 and November 2024.
Paying your tuition fees
Students on master's courses must:
- pay each year’s tuition fee before they enrol onto that year of the course, or
- set up an instalment plan
Find out more about how your instalment plan will work and contact your college Fees Manager if you have any questions.
Repayment
Detailed information about interest and repaying your loan can be found on GOV.UK.