Postgraduate Masters Loans 2019/2020
***Please note this information relates to students ordinarily resident in England, for information about the rules for Scottish, Welsh and Irish students please contact the Advice Centre directly***
From Academic Year 2019-20 new applicants will be able to borrow up to a maximum of £10,906 per student for stand-alone postgraduate Masters Courses.
This is a non-means tested loan, and is a contribution toward course costs, rather than specifically for fees or maintenance. The loan will be paid directly to the student and it is at the students’ discretion as to how they choose to use the funds.
If you are a lone parent, have a disability or are in receipt of certain benefits, up to 70% of the new postgraduate student loan can be disregarded for the purpose of claiming means tested benefits.
To be eligible for a loan, your programme of study must have started after the 1st August 2016, and be delivered by a university or college within the UK. You must be aged under 60 when starting the course, have not previously studied at Masters or PhD level and not be eligible for any other government funding, such as NHS Bursary.
Nationality or residency criteria.
A student may be eligible for the Postgraduate Loan if they:
- are a UK national or have ‘settled status’ i.e. no restrictions on how long they can stay
- normally live in England
- have been living in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for 3 years before starting their course
- They may also be eligible if they’re an EU national and both the following apply:
- they’re living in England on the first day of the first year of their course
- they’ve normally lived in the European Economic Area or Switzerland for the past 3 years
A student could also be eligible if their residency status is one of the following:
- child of a Swiss national
- child of a Turkish worker
- refugee or relative of one
- EEA or Swiss migrant worker, or relative of one
- Humanitarian protection or relative of someone who has been granted humanitarian protection
- satisfy the new long residency category (being 18 or over and having lived in the UK for at least 20 years or at least half their life)
There are different eligibility criteria for Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland domiciled students undertaking postgraduate study from 2018-2019 onwards.
If you would like to discuss whether or not you are eligible for this funding, please contact the SU Advice Centre.