New UK Government Postgraduate Loans Scheme
The extension of government-backed loans to postgraduate study should allow promising graduates the funding they require to continue their academic development and get the most from what university has to offer."
A new system of postgraduate loans for Masters degrees to be introduced for the 2016-17 academic year will provide up to £10,000 a year for taught and research Masters courses in all subject areas.
Jon Granger, President of Keele Postgraduate Association, welcomed the government's commitment to loans for postgraduate Masters degrees.
He said: "For many students, securing the finance they require to fulfil their academic dreams is a formidable and often unsuccessful undertaking. Funding is scarce in many academic fields and competition across the sector is fierce.
"From 2016 the extension of government-backed loans to postgraduate study should allow promising graduates the funding they require to continue their academic development and get the most from what university has to offer."
Eligibility Criteria:
All the following eligibility criteria must be met in order to qualify for the postgraduate Master’s loan:
Loan Amount
Individuals, up to the age of 60, will be able to borrow up to £10,000 for the purpose of completing an eligible postgraduate Master’s qualification.
Purpose
The Master’s loan is intended to be a contribution to the cost of an eligible postgraduate Master’s qualification. The borrower will use the loan according to their
individual circumstances as a contribution towards the cost of the Master’s course tuition fees and/or any other costs associated with study, including their living costs.
Individual Eligibility Criteria
Borrowers must be a UK National, or have settled status in the UK, and have been ordinarily resident in the UK for three years on the first day of the academic year of
their course start date. This must have most recently been resident in England and borrowers must not have moved there from elsewhere in the UK and Islands solely
for the purposes of attending the course.
Individuals may be eligible if they are an EU national or family member of an EU national, or if they have the residency status of refugee, humanitarian protection, EEA
migrant worker, child of a Swiss national or child of a Turkish worker.
Individual eligibility will not be based on a means test.
The loans will be administered by the Student Loans Company. Postgraduate loans will be paid back concurrently with undergraduate loans.
For more information: