This information explains the funding available from Student Finance England for a postgraduate taught or research programme.
Where eligible, Student Finance England postgraduate funding consists of a single study loan and a grant called the Disabled Students Allowance. There are no additional funds available for children, childcare or for other dependents.
Some students don’t feel able to take Government Student Finance loans for faith reasons, due to the interest payment system. If this applies to you, please read our information about Shariah-compliant Loans.
If you normally live in Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales please see the later section on this page as the funding available may differ.
There are a number of eligibility categories. For full details about the eligibility categories, visit the SFE practitioners site and in the box underneath the Policy Document heading choose the Guidance Chapter for the relevant academic year and from the list of guidance chapters choose: Guidance Chapter - Assessing Eligibility Guidance.
Eligibility depends on a number of factors and can include: nationality, immigration status, residence in England on the first day of the first academic year of the course, in most cases (but not all) residence in the UK or EEA for the 3 consecutive years prior to the first day of the first academic year. Student Finance England do not publish separate personal eligibility guidance for postgraduate and undergraduate student funding. Instead, they rely on the Undergraduate Eligibility Guidance for both as the eligibility requirements are are broadly the same.
However, although the eligibility rules are broadly the same, postgraduate funding and undergraduate funding are different. This can be confusing when looking at the Student Finance England eligibility guidance because the guidance mentions the Maintenance Loans and Tuition Fee Loan for undergraduate study. However these are not available for Postgraduate study. Instead a single Postgraduate Loan is available. A separate Tuition Fee Loan is not available so often students choose to use the Postgraduate Loan to pay their fees. The Disabled Students Allowance is available to eligible Postgraduate students but there are no other additional funds available for Postgraduate study
To be eligible for a Postgraduate Loan under the personal eligibility requirements you must meet the criteria of one of the Student Finance England eligibility categories. It does not matter which one.
However, to be eligible for the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) you need to be eligible under one of the categories that allows full undergraduate funding ( the Tuition Fee Loan and the Maintenance Loan) to be awarded. If the guidance indicates that only a Tuition Fee loan will be available (for undergraduate study) then DSA will not be available either. For example, an EU national with Pre-settled status may be eligible for the Postgraduate Loan but not be eligible for DSA.
If you are unsure of your eligibility please contact a Welfare Adviser to discuss your circumstances.
If you are an EU/EEA/Swiss student, we have summarised three of the main eligibility categories in which you might qualify for government Student Finance in England in the eligibility sections of our funding information for Undergraduate students.
As well as meeting the Student Finance England personal eligibility requirements, whether you qualify for student finance also depends on the following:
This should be a university, college or other institution that offers a qualifying course.
If a course normally requires attendance, Student Finance England normally require a student to be resident in England/UK while attending their course.
If your course is distance learning you need to be living in England on the first day of the first academic year of your course. You will also need to continue to live in the UK for the duration of your course. If you subsequently move to an address which is elsewhere in the UK, you will continue to be eligible for student finance until the end of your course. However if you move outside the UK, you will cease to be eligible for support from the date on which you move
There are some exceptions for serving members of the armed forces and family members.
If the qualification you are studying for at Queen Mary, is equivalent to or higher than a qualification (ELQ) that you already hold, your eligibility for Student Finance will be affected and the Postgraduate Loan will not be available to you. The ELQ rule applies whether you obtained your qualification in the UK or in any other country, and regardless of whether you studied at a publicly or privately funded institution.
If you received postgraduate funding from Student Finance England or another UK Government, you will not be eligible for the Student Finance England Postgraduate Loan for a second course, even if you did not complete that course. This is because Postgraduate Loans are usually only available once. However, if you can demonstrate that you were unable to complete the previous course due to compelling personal reasons then SFE has discretion to award one further Postgraduate Loan or Doctoral Loan for a new programme. This can only be awarded once, and as it is discretionary, it is not guaranteed. Therefore it is advisable to apply for funding for your new course as early as possible to allow SFE time to consider your circumstances and reach a decision before you enrol onto your new course. Also see the section above about previous study on an integrated masters course as study on this can also affect eligibility for the Masters Loan.
For Student Finance England to consider this you must be studying the new course in its entirety and not be carrying any credits over.
Our understanding is that this provision would also apply if you were re-starting the same course.
Academic performance alone or disliking a course will not usually constitute a compelling personal reason, although each case is considered individually. For example ill health and bereavement are often acceptable reasons but many other reasons can be considered. SFE will normally require evidence to consider your request.
Contact a Welfare Adviser if you failed to complete your most recent previous course because of compelling personal reasons (for example medical reasons or serious personal or family issues)and would like advice about making an application to SFE for discretionary funding.
Eligible students must be aged under 60 on the first day of the first academic year (AY) of the course, which is defined as:
1st September, where the AY begins on or after 1st August and before 1st January 1st January, where the AY begins on or after 1st January and before 1st April
If you received any Student Finance England (SFE) loans for a previous course, for example, an earlier undergraduate degree course, and you have defaulted on your loan repayments, SFE will usually refuse any further loans. If you have defaulted, SFE may require the loan to be paid in full before releasing further funding. So, it’s very important to make sure you keep up to date with any repayments and keep in contact with the Student Loan Company. If you are up to date with your repayments, you do not need to have repaid the loans in full.
Your course must be a qualifying course. It must be a full, standalone masters or research course (not a top-up course). It can be taught, or research based.
For information about doctoral courses visit the Doctoral Loan eligibility information on Gov.uk.
For information about which masters level courses qualify, visit the Masters Loan eligibility information on gov.uk. You cannot get a Postgraduate Master’s Loan for a postgraduate certificate or diploma.
Postgraduate programmes with an Integrated Pre-Masters (Graduate Diploma) are not eligible for the Master’s Loan. This is because the pre-masters is not at Level 7 so therefore the whole programme is not eligible for a Postgraduate loan. Anyone wishing to take a pre-masters, who requires a Master’s loan for the main masters part of their study, will need to take non-integrated versions of the programmes and self-fund the pre-masters. When they have passed the pre-masters, they will need to re-apply for the main masters programme.
If you are unsure of your eligibility, or your application is refused please contact a Welfare Adviser who will be able to advise you about your individual situation. They can advise you about your eligibility and appeal rights and can help you make your appeal, where appropriate.
The Welfare Adviser will need to see a copy of any letters you have received from SFE so they can check whether SFE’s decision about your eligibility seems correct. If it appears to be an incorrect refusal, the Welfare Adviser can advise you about appealing against it and can usually write a letter to send with your appeal.
If you have not received a written decision, it is helpful to contact SFE on 0300 100 0031 to request one so you can appeal the decision if you need to. Download SFE’s 'How to Appeal’ guide and the SFE appeal form.
gov.uk has information about the Masters Loan and the Doctoral Loan
You can also read the more detailed Student Finance England Masters Loan Guidance , Doctoral Loan Guidance and Assessing Eligibility guidance.
If you are unsure of your eligibility for Student Finance England loans you can a contact Welfare Adviser to discuss your circumstances.
You may be eligible to get a Student Finance England Master's Loan or Doctoral Loan to study in England if you meet the eligibility requirements including place of residence. Our current understanding is that you must satisfy Student Finance England that your current and most recent place of normal residence is England. Therefore:
If you are normally resident in another part of the UK, you may be eligible for funding from Student Finance Wales, the Students Awards Agency for Scotland, or from Student Finance Northern Ireland. Your package of government Student Finance will be different. You need to contact the funding authority in your home country.
This single loan is a contribution towards the cost of study. It is paid directly to you, not to the University. You can choose to use it for tuition fees costs, or living costs, or for another cost. However, many students use it as a contribution towards their tuition fees.
Unlike the funding available to students attending an undergraduate degree course, there are no additional loans or grants available to cover personal maintenance costs, pay course tuition fees, support children or other dependents or to pay childcare costs.
The Master's loan is not based on household income.
*Advanced Learning Loans and tuition fee loans are not available for postgraduate study.
Eligible students can borrow up to a maximum of:
This is the maximum available for the full duration of the course. If the course is longer than one year, the total loan amount will be split across the number of years of the course, for example, on a two-year course starting in September 2023 you would get up to £6083.50 per year.
If you initially choose to borrow less than the maximum but later decide that you need to borrow more, you can ask SFE to amend the loan amount. You need to complete a ‘loan request form’ which you can download under the 'change an application' section (you cannot make this request online). If your course is one year long the deadline for doing this is the end of May in the first academic year. If your course is more than one year long the deadline is the end of May in the second academic year.
The following figures are the maximum amounts available for the duration of the course:
Although applications can be made in any year of a course, the amount available will be reduced if an application is made after the first year.
The Loan is paid and divided equally across the years of the course. It is a contribution towards the cost of study. It is paid directly to you, not to the University. You can choose to use it for tuition fees costs, or living costs, or for other costs. However, many students use them as a contribution towards their tuition fees.
There are no additional separate loans or grants available to pay course tuition fees, support children, pay childcare costs or to support other dependents.
The loan is not based on household income and is not income assessed.
Payment will be released into your bank account once Queen Mary has confirmed to Student Finance England that you are fully enrolled and attending your course.
The total loan will be divided equally across each year of your course.
The amount of loan you can receive each year will be split into three instalments and payments will be spread across the year. After your application has been approved, you will be sent a letter with your payment dates, or you can check them in your online account.
For courses with a normal duration of one academic year, the Master's Loan is paid in three equal instalments over the academic year.
For courses with a normal duration of two academic years (full-time or part-time), the Master’s Loan is divided across both academic years and 50 per cent paid in three equal instalments over year one and 50 per cent paid in three equal instalments over year two.
For example, for courses that begin in September the payments dates are as follows:
For one-year courses that start in September payments are normally made in late September, at the start of the Semester 2 in January and at the start of Semester 3, normally end of April/start of May.
For one-year courses that start in January payments are normally made in January, May and September.
For nine month courses that start in January payments are normally made in January, May and August.
Student Finance England has confirmed that the loan can only be paid into a UK bank account. If you are eligible for the loan it cannot be paid to you until you provide your UK bank details. You may be unable to open a UK bank account until you have a UK address and can provide evidence of this. This will delay receipt of your loan so you should ensure you can cover your costs, including being able pay your tuition fees, until the loan can be paid to you. Once you have opened a UK bank account, even if this is after the start of your course, the full loan will still be available to you.
SFE may require some students to have a National Insurance Number (NINO) before releasing a payment of loan.
These will be sent to the Department for Work and Pensions for validation and any scheduled payments will be blocked until the NINO validation is complete.
If you do not have a National Insurance number, you can either apply for one before applying for Student Finance, or your application for Student Finance will trigger the DWP to send you a National Insurance Number application pack (to UK addresses only).
You only apply once, even if your course last longer than one academic year. Student Finance England will write to you in the summer to tell you how much you will get in the next academic year.
Applications for the academic year 2024/25 are now open. Apply as early as you can to allow time for your application to be assessed and for your loan to be made available by the start of your course.
If any personal information changes after you submit your application, such as a change of address or bank account details, you can update this information via your online account.
If other changes happen, for example you decide to enrol at a different university or on a different course, you cannot change this online, so you need to download and send in a ‘change of circumstances form’.
To try and ensure that you are paid the first instalment of your Student Finance at the start of the academic year,
You can apply later in your course providing you apply within nine months of the first day of the last academic year of your course.
The easiest way to apply is online via the gov.uk website.
If you have taken a loan our with Student Finance England before you can use that account or set up a new account to apply. Continuing students do not have to re-apply, funding will automatically roll over for the next year.
However, if you prefer, you can apply using a paper application form once available from Student Finance England:
If you are a UK national, you will need to provide your UK passport details on your application form. If you do not have one you will need to send a valid birth certificate. If you need to send this after you have applied, then use the UK passport details form available from the gov.uk website.
If you are a non-UK national you will need to provide your original ID documents.
If you are an EU/EEA National who is required to provide an EUSS Share Code on your application form it is the ‘general code’ SFE need. They cannot accept a Share Code generated for one of the specific purposes as the UKVI will not accept them from SFE. When presented with the options you just need to select ‘another reason’ which should generate the general code.
Other Documents may be required depending on your circumstances. For example, SFE may ask you to provide evidence of your residence prior to the start of your course. If your funding eligibility depends on employment eg to prove you are an EEA migrant worker, you will need to provide evidence of this. We explain how to apply as a migrant worker in our Undergraduate Government funding information. If your funding eligibility depends on a family member eg a parent or spouse, you will be asked for documents relating to them.
Some Students will be required to provide this. The section above 'How loans are paid" has information about National Insurance Numbers and who needs to provide this.
If posting documents, be sure to always include your name and address and your SFE customer reference number if you have one. This is an 11-digit number. You can find it on letters or emails you have had from Student Finance England. You should also use the evidence return form available from the gov.uk website.
Your Tuition Fee Loan and Maintenance Loan will be combined into one Student Finance loan account that is repayable after course completion but only if your income is a certain level or above. The income thresholds for loan repayments are explained on the gov.uk website, as well as how repayments are made.
Your monthly repayment amount is based on how much you earn once you finish studying, not on how much you borrowed. The amount you borrow just affects the total repayment amount and therefore how many years it will take you to repay your loan. If your income stops, or falls below the salary threshold, your repayments should automatically stop.
If you live outside the UK after completing your course, there are different loan repayment thresholds depending on the country.
You will be charged interest on your loans from the day you receive them, until the loan is repaid or written off, whichever is first. The interest is added to the total amount you owe every month. The gov.uk website explains interest rates.
You may also find the Money Saving Expert website useful
The Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) is a support package to help pay the extra costs you may have as a direct result of your disability, long-term health condition, mental-health condition, or specific learning difference such as dyslexia or dyspraxia. DSA can help pay for extra study related costs like specialist equipment or travel costs, or (in some circumstances) a non-medical helper.
DSA is not income assessed. How much support you get is based on your needs. It is non-repayable. However you must meet the eligibility rules to be able to obtain this grant. In many cases, if a students is eligible for the Postgraduate Loan, this will also mean DSA will be available too. However there are some very limited circumstances where the Master's Loan will be available but DSA will not. If you require this grant and are unsure of your eligibility contact a Welfare Adviser to discuss your circumstances, especially if you have not lived in the UK or England for at least the 3 years immediately prior to the first day of the first academic year of your course.
Information about general eligibility, amounts, and how to apply are on the gov.uk website and contact the Disability and Dyslexia Service at Queen Mary for advice about support about your study needs and how to apply.
Also read our webpage about Disability and ill health for advice on possible additional funding including welfare benefits.
You can apply for the DSA if your postgraduate programme (including a distance learning programme) is full-time or part-time and lasts at least one year.
The Student Finance England Policy Guidance explains that a student will not be eligible for DSA if they can to apply for an allowance, bursary or award of similar description made by a Research Council.
You are advised to contact the Disability and Dyslexia Service at Queen Mary for advice about what support is available.
You cannot get DSA if your Queen Mary funding includes equivalent DSA support. For example this may be included as part of a Doctoral award.