Masters courses

Hey guys just wondering for anyone doing a masters - do you get a maintenance loan as well?

Just wanted to check

Thanks!!

Hey guys just wondering for anyone doing a masters - do you get a maintenance loan as well?

Just wanted to check

Thanks!!

You can get the postgraduate loan, which is paid directly to you and you decide what you spend it on (i.e. tuition fees, living costs etc.). There is no tuition fee or maintenance loan.

As @PhoenixFortune has said, in the UK you can apply for the governments Masters Loan - more details available at https://www.gov.uk/masters-loan, which can be used for both fees and maintenance.

For the 2020/21 academic year, you could apply for up to £11,222 (you can apply for less), and is paid in three instalments throughout the academic year. It isn't dependant upon income however there are a few eligibility requirements that are explained on the website. The Masters Loan works in a similar way to your student loan - it's managed by Student Finance England and you pay back the loan from your earnings once your begin earning a certain amount. There are also some information pages about the loan on The Student Room at https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/student-finance/postgraduate/ that you might find helpful.

Other than that, your funding options for Masters are going be limited to any scholarships and bursaries that your university offers or, depending on what course you are looking at, charitable or industry funding pots. It is always worth looking into these as they often offer small but useful pots of money that can help support you.

At Keele, for example, we offer fee discounts to alumni, as well as access and excellence scholarships. There's some postgraduate funding advice and information on our website at https://www.keele.ac.uk/study/postgraduatestudy/tuitionfeesandfunding/postgraduatefunding/ - you'll probably find that your university has something similar.

Hope that helps!

Amy

Thank you is the postgrad loan paid in instalments? 😊

If your masters degree is 1 year long, it'll be paid in 3 (relatively equal) instalments.

Perfect does this apply to Northern Irish and UK universities?

If you ordinarily live in England, yes. If not, it may vary by which Student Finance branch you apply to.

See I'm from Northern Ireland but have got an unconditional offer for Liverpool for January for MA in History and apparently they offer the PG loan to help with fees and rent etc.

However, NI I don't think there is a maintenance loan for an MA course just the tuition which goes straight to the university. So just wasn't sure, thanks so much for your help! 😊

Take a look here: https://www.studentfinanceni.co.uk/types-of-finance/postgraduate/northern-ireland-student/

The postgraduate loan is offered by Student Finance; Liverpool might offer their own scholarship, but there don't offer a loan directly.

I was doing primary Teacher training but left the course - have got an unconditional offer for Liverpool Hope University for January for my Masters. I rang student finance and they said I can still receive tuition fee funding for the Masters. So that should be fine right? Sorry just want to make sure!

Hm, it depends on how much funding you got at that time, and whether that course was part of the exception group (which I think teaching is).

Thanks for replying! I got the maintenance loan which was paid at the start of Sept, but dropped the course at the start of October, I am paying most of the maintenance back as request by Student Finance. They said on the phone I can get funding for the MA course even if my repayment for the maintenance was not paid yet, but I set up a repayment plan for the maintenance.

Do you think I should get funding then? They did say but just want to ask

Thanks for replying! I got the maintenance loan which was paid at the start of Sept, but dropped the course at the start of October, I am paying most of the maintenance back as request by Student Finance. They said on the phone I can get funding for the MA course even if my repayment for the maintenance was not paid yet, but I set up a repayment plan for the maintenance.

Do you think I should get funding then? They did say but just want to ask

If you need funding, then SF is the best option. If you don't need it, then there's no need to get it.

No I would need funding for the MA so do you think it is fine for me to get funding even though I dropped out of the pgce?

No I would need funding for the MA so do you think it is fine for me to get funding even though I dropped out of the pgce?

Oh I see what you mean. Normally you can't get another loan for a masters level course until you have evidence of mitigating circumstances, so you may not be able to. It's best to apply and/or see what SF say.