Hi, I'm a bit late but hopefully someone can still answer this:
I'm currently studying Architecture at Newcastle University. Architecture courses are structured in a different way than most, we have a 3 year BA, a year out as part of RIBA's accreditation process, then a MA (or MArch, depends on the uni) for 2 years then a final year out before becoming Architects. The years out are paid work, we pay about £800 tuition a year which I think basically pays for use of university email, subscribed services like blackboard and digimap, etc etc. but basically we're self funded. The course years we study full-time and due to the workload few people can manage a job on top.
My question is, am I entitled to funding during the Master's degree and if so what am I entitled to? It will be a full-time 2-year course, hopefully starting in academic year 2015-16, and I won't have time to work during the course so I will probably need a maintenance loan as well as a tuition loan. It's different from most Masters degrees as it's not really optional.
Also since I applied for student finance before the fee rise, I am paying about £3k a year at the moment for tuition (which I have a loan for). I heard that if I reapply to the same university for the Masters degree within 2 years of finishing the bachelor's, I should still be paying £3k. However applying for a different uni for the Masters may mean I pay £9k. Any help on this? I have a friend who's just finished his BA and he has to work for two years on his year out instead of one, whilst saving for his masters degree, because he's not entitled to any loans for Masters - he's Bulgarian though, I was wondering if it's the same for UK students?
Thanks for any help you can give.
-Tom