Master's and Doctoral Loans

• You must have been a resident in the UK for at least three years prior to the beginning of your course. You must most recently have been a resident in England and must not have moved there from elsewhere in the UK solely for the purpose of attending the course. Exceptions apply to EU students (see below).
• EU students may be eligible for the scheme. You will need to have been a resident in the EU for at least three years prior to the beginning of your course. Periods of residency that are purely for the purpose of education will not count towards this three-year requirement.
• You must be under 60 years of age.
• Individual eligibility will not be based on a means test.
• The loan is open to those who do not already hold a Master's or integrated Master's (e.g MEng/MComp/MBio) qualification.

Course Eligibility Criteria

Your course must:

• be provided by a university or college in the UK (including the Open University)
• lead to a postgraduate Master's degree
• be taught or research-based and studied full-time over one or two years, part-time lasting two to four academic years (no more than twice the length of the equivalent full-time course), or part-time for three years (where no equivalent full-time course exists).

Those who wish to study by distance learning can also apply.

For full eligibility criteria, please visit https://www.gov.uk/masters-loan/eligibility.

• Repayments are based on 6% of annual income over £21,000 and will be made alongside undergraduate loans
• Repayments will be due to commence in the April after course completion, subject to meeting the annual income threshold
• The loan repayments will be deducted directly from your salary by HMRC. The Student Loan Company (SLC) will recover loans directly from individuals who are outside of the UK and its tax system
• The loan interest will be calculated at RPI+3% and interest will accrue from the date the first loan instalment is paid by the SLC to the borrower
• Any outstanding postgraduate Master's loan balance will be written off 30 years after the date the borrower's loan balance becomes due for repayment.

These terms are subject to change in line with Goverment policy. For further information, please visit the gov.uk website.

Whether you qualify depends on:

• your course
• your age
• your nationality or residency status

You will not be able to get a Postgraduate Doctoral Loan if:

• you’ve received or will receive Research Council funding (for example, studentships, stipends, scholarships and tuition fee support)
• you’re already getting a social work bursary
• you’re already getting an Educational Psychology bursary and your course starts on or after 1 August 2020
• you’re eligible to apply for an NHS bursary (even if you’re not receiving it)
• you’re already getting payments from Student Finance England for another course that you’re studying
• you’ve received a Postgraduate Doctoral Loan before (unless you left your course due to illness, bereavement or another serious personal reason)
• you already have a doctoral degree, or a qualification that’s equivalent or higher
• you’re receiving a doctorate by publication
• you’re behind in repayments for any previous loans from the Student Loans Company

Full eligibility criteria can be found on the Government website at https://www.gov.uk/doctoral-loan/eligibility. 

Doctoral Loan repayments currently begin when your income is over £403 a week, £1,750 a month, or £21,000 a year (before tax and other deductions).

For the latest information on repayment terms, please visit the Government website at https://www.gov.uk/repaying-your-student-loan/what-you-pay/.