Postgraduate Loans for Master's Degrees

Eligible students can borrow up to £12, 858 (25/26 rate)

You are encouraged to apply as early as possible but you need to apply within 9 months of the first day of the last academic year of the course. 

To be eligible for the loan:

• You're a UK national or have 'settled status', i.e., there are no restrictions on how long you can stay.
• You normally live in England.
• You've been living in UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for 3 years before starting your course.
• Under 60 at the time you register for your Master's.
• Your previous highest level qualification must be below a Master's.
• You must be keeping to the repayment terms of your undergraduate student loan. 
• You may also be eligible if you're an EU national, please see https://www.gov.uk/masters-loan/eligibility for more detail

The following is not included:

• Postgraduate certificates, diplomas and other non-Master's degree options
• Undergraduate/integrated Master's e.g. MEng, MArch.
• Distance-learners not resident in England.
• 3 year part-time courses that are 1 year full-time.
• 4 year part-time courses that are 1 year full-time or that have no full-time equivalent.

Students are not eligible to apply if you:

• are eligible for an NHS bursary
• get a Social Work Bursary - unless you only get a Placement Travel Allowance

We endeavour to provide accurate information regarding Postgraduate Loans, but please always refer to https://www.gov.uk/funding-for-postgraduate-study for up to date information.

 

A Postgraduate Master's Loan can help you with course fees and living costs while you study a postgraduate master's course.
The loans will be available for both taught and research Master's programmes, including MSc, MA, LLM, MBA, MFA, MRES (but not for PhDs). All disciplines and subject areas are eligible. Loans will be available for full-time, part-time and distance-learning Master's programmes (with certain exceptions). The course must be be a full, standalone master’s course (not a top-up course) and be worth at least 180 credits. Eligible part-time courses are those that have a duration of:

• full-time, lasting 1 or 2 academic years
• part-time, lasting 2 to 4 academic years - no more than twice the length of the equivalent full-time course
• part-time for up to 3 years, where no equivalent full-time course exists

The loans are not means tested and are paid directly into your UK bank account in three instalments of 33%, 33% and 34% through the academic year.

The earliest you’ll start repaying is either:

• the April after you leave your course
• the April 4 years after the course started, if you’re studying part-time and the course is longer than 4 years

Repayments will be income-contingent and made concurrently with undergraduate loans. Details on repayment rates and rates of interest are available at https://www.gov.uk/repaying-your-student-loan/what-you-pay.