Masters Loan

If you’re starting a Masters course you could get a Masters Loan to contribute towards your course fees, living costs or both. Masters Loans are available for many of our postgraduate taught degrees and are provided by Student Finance. These loans don't usually need to be paid back until you have graduated and your income is over £21,000.

Please note the details for students starting in 2024 have not yet been release in full by the UK government. All figures and eligibility criteria on these pages refer to those who started in 2023, unless stated otherwise, and will be updated when further information is available (expected Spring 2024).

Applying from outside of England

Masters Loans are subject to different financial arrangements and eligibility criteria depending on whether you live in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland or in the EU. As our campuses are based in England, the information on this pages applies to eligible students from England only.

Find out more about applying from outside of England

Entitlement

If your course starts in academic year 2023/24 you'll be able to apply for a loan of up to £12,167 from Student Finance England. You don't need an offer of a place to apply and you can even apply if you have an existing undergraduate loan.

You do not have to borrow the full amount. It’s possible to borrow a smaller amount to cover tuition fees or living costs. There is no minimum loan request amount and you can amend the amount requested, providing it's not less than has already been paid to you, up to one month before the end of the academic year.

The loan will be paid directly into your bank account in three instalments. If your course is taught over one year it’ll be paid over the following dates:

Course start date
Course start date plus 4 months
Course start date plus 7 months

You’ll receive your first payment within 3-5 working days of the University confirming to the Student Loans Company that you have started your course.If your course is taught over 2, 3 or 4 academic years, payments will be split equally over the duration of your course.

Alumni discount

If you've previously completed a Staffordshire University undergraduate or postgraduate taught degree (excluding HND and foundation degrees) you may be entitled to a discount of up to 25% off your course fees.

Eligibility

To be eligible for a Masters Loan, both you and your course must meet a series of eligibility criteria. You don't need an offer of a place to apply and you can even apply if you have an existing undergraduate loan. Masters Loans aren’t means-tested, meaning you can apply regardless of your existing income or savings.

Personal criteria

You can apply for a Masters Loan if you:

Are studying a taught or research Masters course such as an MA, MSc or MBA
Are under 60 years old (59 or younger) at the beginning of your course
Are ordinarily resident in England
You do not already hold a masters or higher qualification. Holding a PGDip or PgCert will not affect your eligibility, providing you're studying a full masters and not topping up.
You are not carrying credits forward from any previous study, which would mean you are not studying the full masters.

Course criteria

Most full and part time masters courses are eligible for a postgraduate loan, but if you are not sure on a specific course's eligibility please contact us.

You can apply for funding if your course is:

A full-time course that lasts for up to 2 academic years (24 months)
A part-time course, lasting 2 to 4 academic years, which is no more than twice the length of an equivalent full-time course.
A part-time course which lasts for 3 years, where no equivalent full-time course exists.

You won't be able to apply for funding if your course:

Makes you eligible to apply for an NHS Bursary (whether or not you are awarded one)
You are on a course covered by existing student support provision, such as a PGCE or integrated masters.
Does not lead to a masters qualification, such as a Postgraduate Certificate or Postgraduate Diploma.

Loans aren’t available for shorter postgraduate courses such as postgraduate certificates or postgraduate diplomas. They're only available for full Masters degree programmes. These courses are usually worth 180 credits and include a dissertation or equivalent individual project.

How to apply

You can either apply online through the Student Finance website or download and print the application forms to send by post. You’ll only need to apply once, even if your course is longer than a year.

The deadline for applying is nine months after the first day of either:

Your first academic year if you’re on a one-year, full-time course
Your second academic year if you’re on a two-year, full-time course or a three or four-year, part-time course.

Start your application

Repayments

The earliest you’ll start repaying your loan is the April after you finish or leave your course, and only then if your annual income is over the minimum threshold (currently frozen at £21,000).

You'll repay 6% of your annual income over £21,000. If your salary is £30,000 per annum, the 6% repayment would apply to £9,000, meaning you'd repay around £45 per month. If your income falls below £21,000 a year, for any reason, repayments will stop until your income rises above the threshold again.

For further details, including how much you’ll repay and how interest on the loan is calculated visit Student Loan Repayment.

Applying from outside England

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland offers postgraduate loans for a wide range of courses including Masters degrees, PgDips and PgCerts, but only to cover tuition fees. There’s no additional support for living costs, but you may be eligible for the tuition fee loan even if you already have a postgraduate qualification.

Up to £6,500 towards tuition fees (paid direct to the university)
Open to UK applicants ordinarily resident in Northern Ireland for study anywhere in the UK (as long as the course is not available in Northern Ireland)
Pay back 9% of your annual income when it is more than £22,015

Apply online through the Student Finance NI portal, or go to findamasters.com for further information.

Scotland

Scotland offers separate loans for postgraduate tuition fees and living costs. As well as full Masters degrees, postgraduate diploma courses may also be eligible for funding.

Up to £7,000 towards tuition fees (paid direct to the university)
Up to £4,500 towards living costs (paid to the student)
Open to UK applicants ordinarily resident in Scotland for study anywhere in the UK (as long as the course is not available in Scotland)
Pay back 9% of your annual income when it is more than £27,660

You can apply online through the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) website or visit findamasters.com for more information.

Wales

Welsh-resident students will be able to apply for a combination of a loan and grant of up to £18,770 for courses studied at UK universities, which you can use towards your course and living costs.

Open to UK nationals resident in Wales / people with EU settled status or indefinite leave to remain, resident in Wales
Pay back 6% of your annual income when it is more than £21,000

You can apply online through the Student Finance Wales portal, or visit findamasters.com for more information.

European Union

.You may be eligible if you're an EU national, or a family member of an EU national. For more information on applying as an EU national, visit findamasters.com.

Got a question?

We're here to help make sense of student finance.

Our enquiries team are on hand to ask any questions you may have about how to apply for a student loan, or other financial matters.