Postgraduate Master's Loan - 2

Hi,

I would also like to ask whether the Integrated Masters degrees are classed as Postgraduate Master's degrees (PGM), and what the official SFE requirements are in terms of credits for a course to be designated as a PGM course? As from my understanding, there are standalone PGM courses (MSc, MA etc of 180 credits) but I am unsure where the Integrated Master fits in under the PGM course label as they are usually less credits than the standalone PGM. Would it be possible to get a list of courses designated as PGM?
For paragraph 7 here https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2016/606/regulation/3/made, it makes mention of the postgraduate master's degree loan. Does the funding for the final year of the Integrated Masters year count as a postgraduate master's degree loan?
The above document from SFE Practitioners for AY 23-24 mentions Integrated PGMs instead of Integrated Master's on page 31, however I am confused whether this means that an Integrated Masters is classed as a PGM course?

Thanks

Hi there, So we can advise on your situation and check on the previous study we have for you please contact us direct. You can do this by signing into your student finance account and accessing our live chat service where an advisor will be able to assist further. The service is available between 9am and 5.30pm Monday to Friday or by calling us on 0300 100 0031. Thanks, Angela.

Hi Angela,

Thank you for the reply.

I have been in contact with SFE Postgraduate Team multiple times previously over the past 2-3 months and today also, and I am hearing conflicting answers each time I call as some of the advisors mention that I will be eligible for the PGLM because I do not hold a ELQ already and there is no need for CPR because the Masters year of the Integrated Masters was funded by UG Student Finance. However, another advisor mentioned that the laws around this had recently changed, and that withdrawing from the Integrated Masters year would make me ineligible for PGLM without CPR. For me, I do have CPR, and I recently submitted this. However, I am unsure whether I needed to have sent this evidence at all, as I have been today advised to send a cover letter instead for incorrectly answering the question regarding previous funding on the online PGLM application for AY 23-24 (I've mentioned more below on this).

I have been looking through official documents from SFE Practitioners and UK Gov website (linked in the above previous posts) and I am confused what it means in terms of obtaining PGLM for the AY 23-24 when a student has withdrawn from an Integrated Masters in AY 22-23 after attending the course for a short duration and after receiving partial funding for that year, and exited with a lower level qualification (like a BA, BSc with Honours etc) to the standalone postgraduate masters such as the MSc, MA etc. I currently hold a Level 6 qualification (Bachelors with Honours), but was previously on a Level 7 courses (an Integrated Masters).

On the SFE online PGLM application for AY 23-24, the question which asked whether I had received funding for a previous Master's course was answered in the positive by me as I received partial funding for the Integrated Masters year. However, SFE advisors on the phone mentioned that this was a mistake by me as the funding for Integrated Masters comes under UG funding and this has no bearing on the PGLM, and that the question should have been answered in the negative. I have now been advised to send a cover letter mentioning this mistake, and for this to be corrected. Another advisor mentioned the same, and to also submit the paper application for the PGLM alongside the cover letter. However, for the paper PGLM appIication for 23-24, question 2.3 (attached as PGLM-1) asks whether I have previously received undergraduate or postgraduate funding for a previous Master's course that I did not complete.
I am confused as to what to answer for this as the advisor I spoke with today mentioned that this question is worded in a confusing way, and that I should answer it in the negative. However, when looking through the supporting notes for this PGLM paper application, section 2.3 mentions that if previous SFE funding for an undergraduate or postgraduate course that led to a Master's has been received, I am ineligible for PGLM without CPR (PGLM-2). Based on this, I want to ask if the Master's that this question is referring to includes first degrees like the Integrated Master's, or whether it means PGMs such as M-Arch, Intercalated MScs during undergrad etc which are longer in duration than the final year of the Integrated Masters, as that would clear up a lot of confusion?

On the SFE Practitioners guidance document for PGLM 23-24, I am also confused at what section 4.2 is stating (SFE-AY-2324-PG-Masters-Guidance) as from this document https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/media/1926/sfe-assessing-eligibility-guidance-ay-2223-v80.pdf, under the Integrated Masters section, it mentions that Integrated Masters for the purposes of student support, are classed as first degree, at the same level as Honours degrees and should be treated as such when assessing eligibility (please see attachment labelled as SFE-AE-pg112). Based on this and that as the final year of an Integrated Masters (120 credits) is equivalent to a PGDip (which is not a PGM as per the SFE PG Guidance document and is also 120 credits (page 25), does the PGM courses that the SFE PG Guidance document for 23/24 refer to in Section 4.2, include Integrated Masters degrees?

I am also not able to access the live chat feature on my SFE account, because of which I have been calling the SFE PG team directly through phone.
Apologies for the long post, I have been in contact with SFE PG team extensively regarding this, but have been getting conflicting answers.

Thanks

Hi nh136,

From the 23/24 A/Y students who have received undergraduate loan support from SFE/SFW/SFNI/SAAS (i.e. tuition fee loans / loans for living costs) towards any of the following PG master's course types are ineligible for a future PG Master's Loan from SLC (unless they can demonstrate Compelling Personal Reasons for having not completed the previous course).

- Pre-registration PG master’s healthcare courses.
- Initial Teacher Training (ITT) courses – only the ones leading to the award of a master’s qualification.
- Master of Architecture courses.
- Integrated master’s courses.

https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/media/1981/pg-sfe-masters-guidance-ay-2324-v10.pdf Page 26, Section 4.2 Previous Study and Previous PGM Funding. Students who have previously been awarded loan or grant* funding from SFE or another UK administration for a previous PGM course, will, in most circumstances, not be eligible for PGLM for a new course, even where they only received part payment of the loan/grant funding available (regulations 3(3)(i) and 3(3)(k)). This includes any loan support from another UK government administration via SFW, SFNI or SAAS, as well as any loan support provided by SFE towards a PGM course via the Education (Student Support) Regulations 2011 (as amended) such a tuition fee loans and maintenance loans towards a pre-registration healthcare PGM course, or a Master’s of Architecture course. OFFICIAL Postgraduate Loans for Master’s Degrees AY 2023/24 27 *Note that this includes the SFW PGM Grant. However, DSA support (from SFE or any rUK government administration) for a previous PGM course does not affect eligibility for PGLM. However, where the student was awarded PG support for a previous course but did not achieve the qualification due to compelling personal reasons, they may be eligible for PGLM for a second PGM course. See section 4.4 Compelling Personal Reasons for further information. If a student withdraws from a course prior to the start date of the course and receives no payment, they will still be eligible for PGLM for any future course. Furthermore, if a student transfers to another course they will retain their eligibility to PGLM. See section 7.1 Transfers for further information.

Thanks,
Claire

Hi Claire,

Thank you for clarifying this.
I submitted the CPR evidence around 2 weeks back now, and wanted to ask when I should expect to hear back on a decision on it from SFE?

Thanks