Year 12s: what will be the first way you research your future options? >>

Applying for Postgraduate funding when already possessing a masters from abroad

Hi all,

I'm hoping you can help answer my question (publicly or privately) with no judgement nor shame!

in 2019 i moved abroad to the Netherlands to undertake a masters degree, of course, 6 months into the masters, corona hit and I had a pretty bad time but regardless, finished my masters degree. I funded this myself and didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped - I've now figured out what sort of career I would like to do a bit better and it requires doing another masters, this time in the UK.

The conditions for receiving post graduate funding state that you NOT are eligible IF you already have a master’s degree, or a qualification that’s equivalent or higher. Of course, I do have a masters, but again not one I particularly want. I finished it because I felt like I had to, and funded it myself. Does anyone know if this means I would not be eligible for the funding from SFE? and if so, how would they find out that I already have a masters, as it's in another country. I obviously don't want to commit fraud but it sucks that I can only afford a masters with a loan.

I hope you can help me! thanks a lot in advance

Reply 1

Claire SFE

Official Rep

(Original post by username1167547)Hi all,

I'm hoping you can help answer my question (publicly or privately) with no judgement nor shame!

in 2019 i moved abroad to the Netherlands to undertake a masters degree, of course, 6 months into the masters, corona hit and I had a pretty bad time but regardless, finished my masters degree. I funded this myself and didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped - I've now figured out what sort of career I would like to do a bit better and it requires doing another masters, this time in the UK.

The conditions for receiving post graduate funding state that you NOT are eligible IF you already have a master’s degree, or a qualification that’s equivalent or higher. Of course, I do have a masters, but again not one I particularly want. I finished it because I felt like I had to, and funded it myself. Does anyone know if this means I would not be eligible for the funding from SFE? and if so, how would they find out that I already have a masters, as it's in another country. I obviously don't want to commit fraud but it sucks that I can only afford a masters with a loan.

I hope you can help me! thanks a lot in advance

HI there,

To be eligible for SFE PG Funding there is an eligibility rule regarding if the student already has a Masters or ELQ. If they do, they’re ineligible for SFE PG funding regardless if they received SFE funding for the original qualification or not. We would suggest speaking to the university you wish to attend to see if they know of alternative funding options.

Thanks,
Claire