Postgraduate Master's Loan

• Nationality and residency

  To apply for a Postgraduate Master’s Loan, you must:

  • be a UK or Irish Citizen or have ‘settled status’ under the EU Settlement Scheme or indefinite leave to enter or remain so there are no restrictions on how long you can stay in the UK
  • normally live in England
  • have been living in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for 3 continuous years before the first day of your course, apart from temporary absences such as going on holiday. You can also have been living in the UK, Islands and/or Ireland, or the UK, Islands and/or the specified British Overseas Territories

  If you’re an EU national or a family member of an EU national, you may be eligible if all of the following apply:

  • you have pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme (Irish citizens do not need EU Settlement Scheme status but need to have been living in the UK by 31 December 2020)
  • you’ve normally lived in the UK, Gibraltar, the European Economic Area, Switzerland or the Overseas Territories for the past three years (this is also known as being ‘ordinarily resident’)
  • you’ll be studying at a university in England

  You may also be eligible if you’re a UK national (or family member of a UK national) or an Irish citizen who either:

  • returned to the UK on or after 1 January 2018 and by 31 December 2020 after living in the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein
  • was living in the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein on 31 December 2020 and has been living in the UK, the EU, Gibraltar, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein for the past 3 years

  You can apply for funding if:

  • you’re a UK national (or the family member of a UK national) and living in the EEA or Switzerland on 31 December 2020 or living in the UK on 31 December 2020 after returning from the EEA or Switzerland on or after 1 January 2018
  • you have Gibraltarian status as an EU national or family member
  • you are resident in Gibraltar as a UK national or family member

  You may also be able to apply for a Postgraduate Master’s Loan if your residency status is one of the following:

  • refugee (including family members)
  • humanitarian protection (including family members)
  • migrant worker from the EEA or Switzerland (including family members) with settled or pre-settled status
  • a family member of a UK national and living in the UK and Islands for three years
  • child of a Swiss national and you and your parent have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme
  • child of a Turkish worker who has permission to stay in the UK - you and your Turkish worker parent must have been living in the UK by 31 December 2020
  • a stateless person (including family members)
  • an unaccompanied child granted ‘Section 67 leave’ under the Dubs Amendment
  • a child who is under the protection of someone granted ‘Section 67 leave’, who is also allowed to stay in the UK for the same period of time as the person responsible for them (known as ‘leave in line’)
  • granted ‘Calais leave’ to remain
  • a child of someone granted ‘Calais leave’ to remain, who is also allowed to stay in the UK for the same period of time as their parent (known as ‘leave in line’)
  • you, your parent or step-parent have been given settled status (‘indefinite leave to remain’) as a victim of domestic violence
  • you, your parent or step-parent have been granted indefinite leave to remain as a bereaved partner
  • you or your family member have been granted leave under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) or the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS)
  • you or your family member have been granted leave to enter or remain in the UK under the Ukraine Family Scheme, the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme or the Ukraine Extension Scheme
  • you’re a person of Chagossian descent and have British citizenship

  You could also be eligible if you’re not a UK national and are either:

  • under 18 and have lived in the UK for at least seven years
  • 18 or over and have lived in the UK for at least 20 years (or at least half of your life)

  You must have been living in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for three continuous years before the first day of your course.

• Age

  You must be under 60 years of age on the first day of the first academic year of your course to get a Postgraduate Master’s Loan.

  The academic year starts on:

  • 1 September, if your course starts between 1 August and 31 December
  • 1 January, if your course starts between 1 January and 31 March
  • 1 April, if your course starts between 1 April and 30 June
  • 1 July, if your course starts between 1 July and 31 July

• Previous study

  You can only get a Postgraduate Master’s Loan if you don’t already have a master’s qualification, or a higher-level qualification such as a PhD. If you already hold a qualification that is equivalent to, or at a higher level than, a master’s level qualification, you won’t be able to get a Postgraduate Master’s Loan.

  MAs from Scottish universities, the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, or Trinity College Dublin are at a lower level than a postgraduate master’s qualification. If you have an MA from one of these universities, you may be able to get a Postgraduate Master’s Loan.

  You won’t be able to get a Postgraduate Master’s Loan if you’ve previously had Government funding for a postgraduate course unless you only got Disabled Students’ Allowances. But if you had to withdraw from your course for compelling personal reasons, such as illness, you may still be able to apply for another Postgraduate Master's Loan.

Repayment

• When do I start repayments?

  You'll be due to start making repayments the April after you finish or leave your course, and only if your income is over the repayment threshold. The current threshold is £21,000 a year, £1,750 a month, or £404 a week before tax and National Insurance.

  You might be asked to make repayments before you’re earning over the threshold, but only if you’ve been overpaid and Student Finance England can’t adjust your loan payments to correct it.

• How are repayments taken?

  • If you’re employed, your employer will take repayments directly from your salary along with tax and National Insurance. If you stop working or your income drops, repayments will automatically stop until you’re earning over the threshold again.
  • If you’re self-employed, you’ll make repayments at the same time as you pay tax through self-assessment.
  • If you move overseas, you must let Student Finance England know. You’ll repay directly to them.

  You can find out more about repaying your loans at www.gov.uk/repaying-your-student-loan.

• How much will I repay?

  The amount you repay will depend on your income, not how much you borrowed. You’ll repay 6% of your income over £21,000 per year, £1,750 a month, or £404 a week.

  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.

  £2,500 - £1,750 = £750

  6% of £750 = £45

  So your Postgraduate Master’s Loan repayment would be £45 in that month.

  The table below gives some further examples of how much you could repay:

  Yearly income before tax	Monthly income before tax	Monthly repayment
  £21,000	£1,750	£0
  £22,000	£1,833	£4
  £23,500	£1,958	£12
  £25,000	£2,083	£19
  £27,000	£2,250	£30
  £30,000	£2,500	£45

  If your income changes, the amount you repay will change too.

  If you stop working or start to earn below the repayment threshold, you’ll repay nothing at all until your income is over the threshold again.

  You’ll make a repayment if you go over the weekly or monthly threshold at any point during the year, for example, if you get a bonus or work overtime. You can request a refund at the end of the tax year if your total income was below £21,000.

• If you leave your course early

  You’ll still have to repay your loan, but the repayment process might be different.

• If you already have a student loan

  Borrowing a Postgraduate Master’s Loan won’t affect the repayment of any other student loans you already have for an undergraduate course. If you’ve had any other loans from the Student Loans Company, you’ll repay these at the same time.

  How much you’ll repay towards the student loans you already have will depend on when you studied.

  If you started your undergraduate course on or after 1 September 2012 – Plan 2

  You’ll repay 9% of your income over £27,295 towards the student loans you borrowed for your undergraduate course, and 6% of your income over £21,000 towards your Postgraduate Master's Loan.

  This table shows how much you’ll repay towards both your loans.

  Yearly income before tax	Monthly income before tax	Undergraduate loan repayment	Postgraduate loan repayment
  £21,000	£1,750	£0	£0
  £22,000	£1,833	£0	£4
  £23,500	£1,958	£0	£12
  £25,000	£2,083	£0	£19
  £28,000	£2,333	£5	£34

  ---

  If you started your undergraduate course between 1 September 1998 and 1 September 2012 – Plan 1

  You’ll repay 9% of your income over the repayment threshold (currently £19,895) towards the student loans you borrowed for your undergraduate course, and 6% of your income over £21,000 towards your Postgraduate Master's Loan.

  This table shows how much you’ll repay towards both your loans.

  Yearly income before tax	Monthly income before tax	Undergraduate loan repayment	Postgraduate loan repayment
  £19,895	£1,657	£0	£0
  £21,000	£1,750	£8	£0
  £25,000	£2,083	£38	£20
  £30,000	£2,500	£75	£45

  ---

  If you started your course before 1 September 1998

  You’ll continue to repay or defer the loans from your undergraduate course, and you’ll repay 6% of your income over £21,000 towards your Postgraduate Master's Loan. You can’t defer your Postgraduate Master’s Loan. Your repayments will automatically stop if your income falls below the threshold.

• Interest

  Interest is charged on your Postgraduate Master’s Loan from the day Student Finance England makes the first payment to you, until your loan is repaid in full or cancelled.

  Interest will normally be charged at the Retail Price Index (RPI) plus 3%. RPI is a measure of UK inflation, and measures changes to the cost of living in the UK.

  Any Postgraduate Master’s Loan balance remaining 30 years after it has become due to repay, will be cancelled.

  For more information on repayment, visit www.gov.uk/repaying-your-student-loan.