Masters loan - eligibility (Previous study)

Good morning,

I am coming to the end of an Open University BSc in Environmental science, so I am starting to think about my next steps. I wanted to check my eligibility for a postgraduate loan for an MSc in Biodiversity and Conservation at the University of Leeds (1 year full-time or possibly 2 year part-time course) starting in 2024.

I am not clear whether I meet the eligibility criteria for previous study. Specifically, my languages undergraduate degree is from Scotland and so is an MA (rather than a BA) and I also have a PGCE. Other than this PGCE, I have undertaken no other postgraduate study. My understanding from what I’ve read is that I might be eligible but I wanted to double-check this and try to get a definitive answer. Here are my details:

Living in England, 49 years old

1991 - 1996 Undergraduate degree, St Andrews in Scotland (MA Hons in Modern Languages)

1997 - 1998 PGCE Primary Education

2018 - present Open University undergraduate degree in Environmental science (funded with Part-Time Tuition Fee Loan): currently in penultimate year

Many thanks.

Hi there, our 24/25 Postgraduate Loan applications and guidelines won't launch until Summer 2024. I would advise once the applications launch to submit this as soon as possible for the team to review your eligibility for funding. Thanks, Karen

Thanks for your reply Karen. I guess I am trying to start to weigh up different options and routes to make plans over the next year. So, whilst I understand that the guidelines might change for 2024, it would still be useful to know what the situation is for this year of entry (as a rough indication) given my previous study. Is this information available now or will it be available soon?

Many thanks

You should be eligible for funding however until the guidelines and applications launch for the year you are looking to study and the application is fully reviewed by the team we can never confirm eligibility. Once the applications launch you will be able to submit an application and the team will confirm if you are eligible for funding or not. Thanks, Karen

That's helpful and useful. Thank you Karen