The Student Room Group

Masters funding

Hi everyone,

I have just finished my first year at Uni, and am thinking ahead for applying to Masters Programmes.

I have a question about funding - an issue which is a bit of a concern for me.

How are tuition fees paid for Masters? Are there loans available from SFE?

I am currently at a top 5 UK Uni, and in my first year my overall mark was 65.

Are there any scholarships that are available, either on academic merit, disability grounds or low income grounds? (I lost my Dad when I was very young, and my mum is unable to work due to illness, so I don't have parents who could fund the tuition fees for me).

If there are any sources of funding available, please could you advise me of them/send me the link?

Also, are there any other students on here who have applied for, or are currently studying for their Masters who could please share their experiences?

:smile:
Just spotted this as I'm heading out of the office. Will reply when I'm back at home. :smile:
Reply 2
Avatar for Tomm98
Tomm98
OP
16
Original post by Roving Fish
Just spotted this as I'm heading out of the office. Will reply when I'm back at home. :smile:


Thank you so much! :smile:
Reply 3
Avatar for S27
S27
18
This information may be a little out of date but was true when I did mine.

Masters funding is very rare (PhD funding is far more common and still very competitive).

However, you should still try, and worse case scenario you can go to SFE for funding, which is a £10,000 loan. You pay back once earning above £21,000 just like your undergrad loan, however it is an additional 6%
Original post by Tomm98
Hi everyone,

I have just finished my first year at Uni, and am thinking ahead for applying to Masters Programmes.

I have a question about funding - an issue which is a bit of a concern for me.

How are tuition fees paid for Masters? Are there loans available from SFE?

I am currently at a top 5 UK Uni, and in my first year my overall mark was 65.

Are there any scholarships that are available, either on academic merit, disability grounds or low income grounds? (I lost my Dad when I was very young, and my mum is unable to work due to illness, so I don't have parents who could fund the tuition fees for me).

If there are any sources of funding available, please could you advise me of them/send me the link?

Also, are there any other students on here who have applied for, or are currently studying for their Masters who could please share their experiences?

:smile:


I think that you should definitely wait until you're in your third year to fully consider a masters.

Funding is usually through Student Finance England and works like your undergraduate loan, however it stacks on to your repayments. So instead of £20/month, you'd be paying £40/month at £25k salary. (You wouldn't start paying until the £21k threshold, as per your undergraduate loan).

You usually get a fee discount from the university that you do your undergraduate degree at. Usually around 10%. Other than that, you don't really get scholarships unless it's for research.

Here's some info on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/funding-for-postgraduate-study

Personally I'm in the fortunate position of my business sponsoring my masters, in return I have to stay employed with them for a period of time after I graduate.

Hope that helps!
Original post by Tomm98
Hi everyone,

I have just finished my first year at Uni, and am thinking ahead for applying to Masters Programmes.

I have a question about funding - an issue which is a bit of a concern for me.

How are tuition fees paid for Masters? Are there loans available from SFE?

I am currently at a top 5 UK Uni, and in my first year my overall mark was 65.

Are there any scholarships that are available, either on academic merit, disability grounds or low income grounds? (I lost my Dad when I was very young, and my mum is unable to work due to illness, so I don't have parents who could fund the tuition fees for me).

If there are any sources of funding available, please could you advise me of them/send me the link?

Also, are there any other students on here who have applied for, or are currently studying for their Masters who could please share their experiences?

:smile:


Student finance England now offer up to £10,000 for English/rest of EU students only to go towards the cost of studying for a masters. Please note this is the only payment they offer, there is no separate maintenance loan so in many cases you would have to put some of your own money in.

Most universities offer a handful of scholarships for masters degrees, usually awarded on the basis of excellent results at undergraduate level. As an example at the university I did a masters at there were 2 masters scholarships offered for Home/EU students in our department, I know one of the recipients- they got a first at undergraduate level. Each university will set out what scholarships they offer and what they are looking for on their postgraduate finance pages. Universities don't offer guaranteed bursaries based on household income for postgraduates like they do with undergraduates.

If you can't afford it straight away, there is no harm in taking a year or so out, working and saving up to do a masters. Also do think how a masters fits into your overall future plans. Doing a masters on its own doesn't necessarily increase employability.

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