You’ve decided to study for a postgraduate qualification, but now you need to fund it. Not sure where to start? We’ve put this blog together to help you apply for your postgraduate student finance.

Find out if you’re eligible

If you meet the following criteria, you should be eligible for a postgraduate loan from Student Finance England (SFE), but we recommend checking the government website for the latest updates and for full terms and conditions:

You’re a UK national or you have settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme or indefinite leave to remain so there are no restrictions on how long you can stay
You normally live in England
You’ve been living in the UK for 3 years in a row
You might also be eligible if you’re a UK national (or family member of a UK national) and you’ve been living in the UK, the EU, Gibraltar, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein for the past 3 years
You’re under 60.

Your SFE application

You can apply to SFE for a master’s loan to help with course fees and living costs. You only need to apply once for your master’s loan.

To complete your application, you’ll need:

Your passport (if you have a valid UK passport)
Details of your university and course
Your bank details
Your National Insurance number
Details of the master’s course you have a place on
Contact details for two additional contacts.

What you’ll get

You can apply for a loan of up to £12,471. Your loan will be split evenly over the length of your course, and you’ll get 3 payments for each academic year. This will be paid directly into your bank account. You get the first payment after your course start date.

You can also get extra support if you have a disability through the disabled student’s allowance (DSA). You can apply for DSA whilst completing your application for funding through SFE.

If you’re applying for a doctoral loan, you could get a loan for up to £28,673. The loan will be divided equally across each year of your course.

Paying your tuition fees and living costs

The loan is paid directly to you. Unlike your student loan for your undergraduate degree, you’ll need to pay the University directly for your tuition fees. The rest of your loan can be used to cover living and study costs.

The loan will be divided equally across each year of your course and will be paid in 3 instalments of 33%, 33% and 34% each year. After your application has been approved, you’ll be sent a letter with your payment dates, or you can check them in your online account with SFE.

We will be in touch with the payment dates for your tuition fee.

Paying it back

You’ll be charged interest on your loan from the day you get your first payment. This will continue until you’ve fully repaid your loan, or your loan is cancelled after 30 years – whichever comes first.

You’ll have to repay the loan, but only when you’ve left university and your income is over £21,000 a year.

You’ll repay 6% of your income per year (over £21,000) towards your postgraduate master’s loan. So, if you’re paid monthly and earn £2,500 a month before tax, you’ll repay 6% of the difference between what you earn and the monthly threshold.