Postgraduate student loans in Northern Ireland

CONTENTS

1. Postgraduate loans in Northern Ireland 2023/24

2. Are you eligible for postgraduate funding from Northern Ireland?

3. Is your course eligible for postgraduate funding?

4. Postgraduate finance for EU and international students

5. How to apply for a postgraduate loan in Northern Ireland

6. Repaying your loan

Postgraduate loans in Northern Ireland 2023/24

If you’re a student from Northern Ireland, you could be entitled to a postgraduate tuition fee loan of up to £6,500. Unlike other UK nations, this funding can be used for a postgrad certificate or a top-up master’s. However, there’s no support for your living costs.

This money is for your whole course. Like your undergraduate tuition fees, the money will be paid directly to your university when you start your course.

If your tuition fees are lower than £6,500, Student Finance NI will only pay what your university charges and you won’t get the remaining money. If your course costs more than £6,500, you'll need to pay the difference yourself.

This support isn’t based on your income, and you can apply for other financial help from educational trusts or for university scholarships. If you’re eligible for the Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) grant, it’ll be unaffected by your loan.

If you already have an undergraduate loan that’s eligible to be repaid, repayments will only be taken if you’re earning above the income threshold. Your postgraduate loan doesn’t count as income for loan repayments.

Are you eligible for postgraduate funding from Northern Ireland?

To be eligible for postgraduate funding from Northern Ireland, you must:

• Be a UK or Irish citizen or have settled or pre-settled status i.e. with no restriction on how long you can remain in the UK
• Normally live in Northern Ireland – in which case you can study elsewhere in the UK – or if you’re an eligible EU student, study in Northern Ireland
• Usually, you must have been living in the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man for the three years before your course begins

After Brexit, residency is complex. We cover more about this in our page on student finance eligibility.

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

• You won’t get a loan if you’ve had postgraduate funding before, unless you left your course because of illness or bereavement

Unlike other UK nations, if you previously self-funded an equivalent or higher-level qualification, you are still eligible for this loan.

Is your course eligible for postgraduate funding?

Your course can be a taught or research-based qualification up to master's level. This includes postgrad certificates (PGCert) or diplomas (PGDip) as well as master's degrees such as MBAs (although MBA tuition fees are much more than £6,500).

If you self-funded a lower-level postgrad qualification, you can use the tuition fee support for a 'top-up' master's degree.

Courses that aren’t eligible include:

• Postgrad qualifications such as PGCEs and PGDEs (covered by undergraduate loans)
• Master’s degrees integrated into an undergraduate course (normally undergraduate loan)
• Master's degrees integrated into a doctoral course. There are no loans for doctoral study from Northern Ireland

Intercalated master’s

Some undergraduate courses include an option to complete a separate but related course (an ‘intercalated degree’). If you take a postgraduate intercalated degree, you may be eligible for a postgraduate tuition fee loan. However, it could affect your undergraduate funding on your return to your original degree. Check with Student Finance Northern Ireland for details.

Distance learning

There’s no restriction on whether courses can be studied by attendance or by distance learning.

Length of course

Whether you study full-time or part-time, your course must be completed in three academic years or less.

Postgraduate finance for EU and international students

After Brexit, EU students are unlikely to be eligible for UK student finance unless they're registered under the UK's EU Settlement Scheme or are an Irish national. See our page on student finance eligibility for details.

International students are also unlikely to qualify for a student loan from Northern Ireland unless they have the right to permanently reside in the UK (e.g. having refugee status). However, there are often scholarships and bursaries for international students studying at postgraduate level, so check what your university has on offer.

How to apply for a postgraduate loan in Northern Ireland

You can apply online or by post to Student Finance Northern Ireland.

The deadline is nine months after the course starts. You must apply again for each year of your course, remembering that courses must be completed in three academic years or less.

You'll need evidence of your identity if you’re applying for student finance for the first time. You'll need to send a valid passport or a birth/adoption certificate.

The money is paid directly to the university. If your postgraduate course lasts longer than a year, the loan will be split across the duration of the course.

Repaying your loan

This loan plan is on Plan 1, the same terms as an undergraduate loan taken out with Student Finance NI. If you've already taken out student finance, your new loan will be added to the amount you owe. You'll then make a single repayment each month to pay off the combined debt.

Student loans in Northern Ireland are eligible for repayment when your income is over £22,015 (that’s £1,834 a month or £423 per week). This student loan repayment threshold changes each year.

You’ll repay 9% of your income above this threshold.

For example, if your salary is £30,000 you earn £7,985 more than the Plan 1 annual threshold. You’ll repay 9% of this – a monthly payment of around £60. If you have an undergraduate and a postgraduate Plan 1 loan, you don’t pay any more than this. Instead the amount you pay is split between repayments for both loans.

You’re eligible to begin repayments the April after your course ends, but only once your earnings are above the income threshold. Repayments can be taken if you exceed the monthly or weekly threshold at any time (for example, if you got a bonus or worked overtime). 

The loan itself will be subject to interest. This may change, as interest is based on the Retail Price Index (RPI) or the Bank of England interest rate plus 1%, whichever is lower. 

After 25 years, if you haven’t paid off your loan in full, the remaining amount will be written off.