Master's loan

The UK government has introduced a new Master's Loan, which allows you to borrow up to £11,222 towards your tuition fees and cost of living during your postgraduate studies. The loan is available to both full-time and part-time students, and is paid directly into your bank account in three annual instalments once your course has commenced.

The Master's loan is provided by Student Finance England.

Eligibility criteria

• You must be enrolled on a taught or research Master's course*
• You must be under 60 at the beginning of your studies
• Your normal place of residence must be  England**
• You would still qualify if you are studying by distance learning
• If you are in receipt of a Social Work or NHS bursary you will not be eligible for the tuition fee loan

* For a part-time course to be eligible, it should be no more than twice the length of the full-time equivalent. If you would like to check if the part-time course you're interested in is eligible for a tuition fee loan, please contact our student finance office.

** EU nationals are still eligible to apply even if they don't normally reside in the UK as long as their Master’s course is in England. Following the recent EU Referendum results, the UK Government has confirmed that new students who are starting courses in September 2018 will also be eligible to receive the funding package available to EU students until they complete their studies, regardless of any changes to the UK membership of the EU. Please note that the UK Government has not yet confirmed funding entitlements for EU students wanting to defer their place until 2019.  If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact the Student Finance Office at sfo@hud.ac.uk or on + 44 1484 472210.

What can I get?

If your full-time Master’s course is two years long, then you can receive up to 50% of your loan in year 1 and the remainder in the following year.

For students with disabilities, including a mental health condition or learning disability, such as dyslexia or dyspraxia, you might be eligible for Disabled Students’ Allowance.

Repayments and interest rate

Although you do need to pay this loan back, you don't need to do so until after you’ve finished your course and are earning over £21,000 a year. Your repayments will be determined based on what you earn, not what you borrow.

The interest rate that applies is based on the Retail Price Index (RPI) plus 3% and is calculated from the first day when the first instalment is transferred to you until your loan is repaid in full.

First repayment

Full-time students: the April after you finish or leave your course.

Part-time students: the April two years after the start of your course or the April after you finish or leave your course, whichever comes first.

Facts and figures

As an example, if you are earning £2,500 a month before tax, you will repay 6% on the difference between your earnings and the threshold, which in this case is £750. (£2,500 - £1,750 = £750). This works out at £45 a month, which will be your monthly postgraduate loan repayment.

If you already have a student loan from your undergraduate study you will need to repay both loans simultaneously. For example, if your undergraduate study started after 1 September 2012, you will repay 9% of your income over £21,000 towards your undergraduate loan and 6% of your income over £21,000 towards your postgraduate loan. That's 15% in total. The table below will gives examples of monthly repayments based on income:

Income each year (before tax)	Monthly salary	Undergraduate loan repayment***	Postgraduate Loan repayment
£21,000	£1,750	£0	£0
£25,000	£2,083	£0	£20.00
£30,000	£2,500	£37.50	£45.00
£35,000	£2,917	£75.00	£70.00
£40,000	£3,333	£112.50	£95.00
£45,000	£3,750	£150.00	£120.00

*** If you're repaying a student loan for your undergraduate course that started on or after 1 September 2012.

If your income is not consistently over £21,000 but goes over this threshold by working overtime or receiving a bonus, you will need to make payments on those earnings.

Any loan remaining 30 years after you’re due to start making repayments will be written off.

This information is courtesy of Student Finance England. When it's time to apply search for postgraduate loans at www.gov.uk/studentfinance for more information.