Postgraduate Master's Loan
If you're studying a full, part-time or distance learning Master's course, you can apply for a loan worth up to 拢12,858 from Student Finance England. All of the criteria and application guidance are provided by GOV.UK but here are some key details:
Eligibility
- Full-time or part-time Master's courses.
- Distance learning courses ().
You can't apply for a Master's loan if:
- You're on a flexible mode course.
- You're studying a PG Cert or PG Dip course.
- You're studying an Integrated Master’s or any top up from a lower level course. Check out Undergraduate funding instead.
- You received a Postgraduate Master’s Loan in the past. Unless you left your previous course due to illness, bereavement or another serious personal reason, you will not receive an extra loan to repeat a part of your course or start a different Master’s. Contact the Student Advice Service for advice.
- You already have a Master’s degree or a qualification that’s equivalent to a Master’s degree or higher.
M ARCH: Architecture
You can only apply for a Postgraduate Master's Loan if you are not eligible for undergraduate funding support. Check with the Student Advice Service if you are eligible for undergraduate funding.
Nationality, residency and immigration status
You can get a Postgraduate Master's Loan if all the following apply:
- You're a UK or Irish national or have ‘settled status’ under the or indefinite leave to remain so there are no restrictions on how long you can stay.
- You normally live in England and didn’t move there just to study.
- You’ve been living in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for 3 years immediately before the first day of the first academic year of your course.*
*The first day of the first academic year of your course is 1 September for courses starting in September or 1 January for courses starting in January.
There are many other ways you can be eligible for the loan so please check the criteria on . You can also contact the Student Advice Service for guidance if you're unsure.
Apply
You can . Applications are currently open for the 2024/25 academic year. Applications for courses that start in 2025/26 are expected to open in the summer of 2025.
Please note that
If you are eligible and applying for a Postgraduate Loan from Student Finance England (SFE) you should be aware that the payment dates of the Loan are different to the standard University tuition fees instalment dates.
Important information for students on courses lasting 4 terms or 15 months:
Student Finance considers an academic year to be 12 months. If your course includes a partial academic year, the total course duration is rounded up to the nearest full academic year and instalments spread over this duration. This means that you may not receive your instalments equally across your course.
For example:
Our 4-term courses starting in September 2025 and ending in December 2026 have a course length of 1 year and 3 months. Student Finance consider these courses as having a duration of 2 academic years and the loan instalments are split as follows:
Year 1 paid in 3 instalments in September 2025, January 2026 and April 2026.
Year 2 paid in 3 instalments September 2026, October 2026 and November 2026*
*When you receive your SLC Master's Loan payment schedule, your payment schedule may initially show termly instalments for the second year of your course which do not match the instalment plan we have listed. Don’t worry – this will change in the summer of 2026 when we let the Student Loan Company (SLC) know our term dates for the 2026/27 academic year.
We’re required by the Student Loan Company (SLC) to set-up payments for courses lasting more than 12 months as 2-year courses. Loan payments for the first year are paid in termly instalments, and payments for the final term are made each month for 3 months.
Paying your tuition fees
Students on Master's courses must:
- pay each year’s tuition fee before they enrol onto that year of the course, or
- set up an instalment plan. Please note, UAL’s payment schedule does not align with the Master’s Loan payment schedule so you will need to be aware of this.
Find out more about how your instalment plan will work if you take out a Postgraduate Master's Loan and contact your college if you have any questions.
Repayment
Detailed .