Postgraduate loans in other UK nations
If you live in Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland, the way you get financial support may be different. Follow the links below for SAAS, SFW, and SFNI:
Postgraduate Loans
If you’re starting a full-time or part-time taught or research master’s course, you could get a Postgraduate Master’s Loan. If you’re starting a full postgraduate Doctoral course, you could get a Postgraduate Doctoral Loan.
What's on this page?
Postgraduate Master's Loan and Doctoral Loans are to help with your course and living costs while you’re studying, and have to be paid back. The amount you can get doesn’t depend on your household income.
What's available?
Postgraduate Master’s Loan
You could get a Postgraduate Master's Loan of up to:
- £13,206 if your course starts on or after 1 August 2026
- £12,858 if your course started between 1 August 2025 and 31 July 2026
- £12,471 if your course started between 1 August 2024 and 31 July 2025
Your loan payments will be spread out across all the academic years of your course. For example, if you apply for the maximum loan amount in 2026 to 2027, and are studying over two years, your payments would be around £6,603 in each academic year. The loan is then paid in three instalments throughout the academic year.
Part-time study
If you’re studying a part-time master’s course, your payments will be spread out over the full course duration.
If your part-time course doesn’t have a full-time equivalent, it can only be a maximum of three years in length.
Postgraduate Doctoral Loan
You could get a Postgraduate Doctoral Loan of up to:
- £31,122 if your course starts on or after 1 August 2026
- £30,301 if your course started between 1 August 2025 and 31 July 2016
- £29,390 if your course started between 1 August 2024 and 31 July 2025
Your loan payments will be spread out across all the academic years of your course and is paid in three instalments at the start of each term.
You can apply for a Postgraduate Doctoral Loan amount in any year of your course, but if you apply after the first year, you might not get the maximum amount.
Disabled Students’ Allowance
If you have a disability, including a mental health condition, long-term health condition, or specific learning difficulty, such as dyslexia, you might be able to get Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA). These don’t have to be paid back, and you don’t have to be getting a Postgraduate Loan to apply.
Eligibility
To get a Postgraduate Master’s or Doctoral Loan, you must meet certain criteria on your course, nationality and residency, age, and previous study. Visit the GOV.UK website for details:
How to apply
Postgraduate Master’s applications will open on Monday 20 July.
You can apply for the full Postgraduate Loan in any year of your course on the GOV.UK website:
Evidence
If you don’t have a UK passport, you may have to send Student Finance England evidence, such as a non-UK passport, or a copy of your UK birth or adoption certificate.
Changing your details
- Use your online account to make changes to your personal details before or after your course has started
- To update any other details, such as your university or course, send Student Finance England a completed postgraduate 'Change of circumstances' form. You can download this from www.gov.uk/masters-loan or www.gov.uk/doctoral-loan.
What happens next?
Once Student Finance England has assessed your application, you’ll get a Notification of Entitlement in your online account. This confirms how much Postgraduate Loan you’ll get and will also show the dates it will be paid to you.
Repaying your loan
You’ll start repaying your loan from the April after you finish or leave your course, as long as your income is above the repayment threshold. Find out more about repayment thresholds.
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.
Find out more about repaying your loan on the GOV.UK website.