Postgraduate student loans in England

CONTENTS

1. Postgraduate master’s loans in England 2023/24

2. Are you eligible for a master's loan in England?

3. Is your course eligible for master's funding?

4. Postgraduate finance for EU and international students

5. How to apply for a postgraduate loan in England

6. Repaying your loan

Postgraduate master’s loans in England 2023/24

If you’re from England, from August 2023 you can get a loan of up to £12,167 to study a full master's degree.

You can use this money for your tuition fees as well as your living costs. That said, some master’s tuition fees cost a lot more than the full amount of the master’s loan. If that’s the case, you’ll need to fund the difference yourself.

The master’s loan covers your whole course, split between the number of years’ study. The money is paid directly to you three times a year after your attendance on the course is confirmed.

Master's loans in England don't take your household income into account. You can borrow as much or as little as you want, up to the maximum amount. However, if you receive benefits and plan to study part-time, your benefits may be affected.

Unlike undergraduates, you can’t apply for the adult dependents’ grant, parents’ learning allowance or childcare grant. You can still apply for Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) if applicable – the support for postgraduate students is the same as for undergraduates.

If you’re already repaying an undergraduate loan, payments will only be taken if your income is above the threshold. Your new loan doesn’t count as income for previous loan repayments.

Are you eligible for a master’s loan in England?

You must meet the following criteria to be eligible for a master’s loan from England:

• Be a UK national, Irish citizen or have settled or pre-settled status, with no restriction on how long you can stay in the UK
• Normally live in England. Moving to England to study isn’t considered 'ordinarily resident’
• In general, you must prove you’ve lived in the UK, Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for the three years before your course starts
• Be under 60 years old when you start your course; if you change course after this, you’ll lose your eligibility for the loan

After Brexit, residency is complex and there are exceptions to the above. We cover some of these in our page on student finance eligibility.

Your personal eligibility also depends on your previous studies and funding:

• It must be your first postgrad loan, unless you had to drop out of a previous course for personal reasons
• You won't get a master’s loan if you already have a qualification at this level or above. This applies even if you funded it yourself or it wasn't from a UK university
• You won’t get a master’s loan if you’re behind on payments for a previous student loan
• You won’t get a loan if you currently get a student loan for another course
• You won't get a loan if you get other public money, such as a social work bursary (unless it's just for travel)

Some undergraduate degrees confer an MA, such as degrees from Scottish unis, Cambridge, Oxford or Trinity College Dublin. These degrees aren’t considered to be equivalent to a master’s qualification.

On the other hand, if you studied an undergraduate degree with an integrated master’s, such as an MEng, MMath or MBiol, this is an equivalent qualification and you can’t get a master’s loan.

If you have a postgraduate certificate or diploma, you can’t get a master’s loan unless you paid for the course yourself. The exception is if you get a loan to study a teaching PGCE.

Is your course eligible for master’s funding?

Your course must be a taught or research master’s degree of at least 180 credits. This includes MSc, MA, MPhil, MRes, LLM, MLitt, MFA, MEd and MBA courses. It must also be run by an eligible uni or college in England, Northern Ireland, Wales or Scotland.

You won’t get a master’s loan from England for any of the following:

• Top-up master’s degrees
• Master's degrees integrated into an undergraduate course (undergraduate loan)
• Master’s degrees integrated into a doctoral course (doctoral loan)
• Postgraduate certificates and diplomas
• Graduate-entry healthcare courses (including pre-registration Nursing)

Graduate-entry healthcare degrees are eligible for undergraduate student finance from England. This applies even for pre-registration healthcare degrees that lead to an MSc.

Intercalated master’s

You can apply for a master's loan if you’re taking a year out of an undergraduate degree course to study a separate master's degree. This is termed an intercalated master’s, rather than an integrated master’s. If you do this, you may not be eligible for undergraduate funding on returning to complete your original course. The exception is if you’re studying to become a doctor, dentist or certain other professions.

Distance learning

You can also use the loan for master’s degrees studied by distance learning. You must live in England on the first day of the first academic year of your course. You may also have to study the whole course in England, depending on your personal eligibility. There are exceptions for students in the armed forces who are serving overseas, or their dependent relatives.

Course duration

Eligible courses can be one or two years long if studied full-time, or double that if studied part-time. A three-year part-time course may still qualify for a master’s loan if there’s no full-time equivalent.

Postgraduate finance for EU and international students

After Brexit, students from the EU are unlikely to get a student loan from the UK. Rules around this are complex, so it’s best to see our page on student finance eligibility for details.

International students are unlikely to be eligible for a postgraduate loan. Exceptions include those given the right to remain permanently in the UK, such as refugees. However, there are often scholarships for postgraduate international students. Check with your university to see what might be available.

How to apply for a postgraduate loan in England

You apply for a master's loan online through Student Finance England, or by post.

You only apply once, even if your course lasts more than a year. You don't have to apply right away – the deadline is nine months after the first day of your final academic year. You also don't need to have a confirmed place, as you can change or update your details later.

You must provide evidence of your identity, such as a valid passport. You also need three years address history, to prove where you lived.

Repaying your loan

You’ll repay your postgraduate loan at the same time as any other student loans you may have. As with undergraduate loans, repayments are based on your income. 

Master's loans from England are repaid if your annual income goes above the threshold. This is currently £21,000. Unlike undergraduate loans, there’s no annual change to this repayment threshold. You repay 6% of anything above this amount.

For example, if your annual salary is £30,000, that’s £9,000 above the annual postgraduate loan repayment threshold. 6% of this works out at £45 per month.

If you have an undergraduate loan, you only repay this if your income is over the relevant threshold for that loan. If your income is more than this, you’ll make repayments on both your undergraduate and master’s loan.

The master’s loan is also charged interest. The interest rate is normally based on the cost of living as measured by the retail price index (RPI) and is set at RPI plus 3%. This changes each September, based on the RPI from the previous March.

However, after inflation increased the RPI to 9% in March 2022, the government announced a cap of 7.3% until the end of August 2023. There may also be short-term reductions in interest, depending on the market rates for personal loans.

Repayments begin in April the year after you complete your course, but only if your income is above the threshold. After 30 years, if you haven't paid off your loan in full, the remaining amount will be written off.