We use cookies on this website to improve the experience we provide. By continuing to use our site you agree to this, or visit our cookie policy to manage your settings.
Take advantage of government-backed loans of up to £12,167 for postgraduate study. The loans are available for any subject and are a contribution to costs including fees and living costs. Worried about repayments? See how much your repayments will be using the calculator.
EU students may also be able to get a postgraduate loan for a Master’s course at an English university or college. You'll need to have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme or indefinite leave to remain, and meet the relevant residency requirements.
Am I eligible?
You can apply for a Postgraduate Loan if you:
are studying a taught or research Master's course and
are under 60 years old at the start of the first academic year of their course, and
normally live in England.
What courses can I use the loan for?
The loans are available for taught Masters and research Masters degrees (but not PhDs which have their own funding options).
The loans are not available for PGCert or PGDip qualifications, nor are they available for our Graduate Diploma in Psychology or Graduate Diploma in Law conversion courses. They are not available for PGCE initial teacher training courses as eligible students are able to apply for loans in the same way that undergraduate students do.
Postgraduate loans will be available for all eligible full-time, part-time and distance learning Master's courses.
If you are not studying full-time, you must be studying at a rate that is at least 50 per cent of the full-time course to be eligible for a Postgraduate Loan. For example, if the full-time course is one year long, you may be eligible for a Postgraduate Loan if you take the course over two years part-time, but you will not be eligible if you wish to take a one-year full-time course over three or four years as you'll be studying at a rate of 33 or 25 per cent respectively, less than the government-required rate of 50 per cent. For more details, please visit the government website.
How will I repay my Postgraduate Loan?
Repayments for postgraduate loans will be 6% of income earned over the threshold. Overseas thresholds are based in Price Level Indices.
Repayments are based on your income, not what you borrow. If you study full time you’ll start making repayments the April after you finish or leave your course.
If you're studying part time, you’ll start making repayments the April two years after the start of your course or the April after you finish of leave your course, whichever comes first.
No repayments towards Postgraduate Loans will be taken before April 2023 and only once your income is over £404 a week, £1,750 a month or £21,000 a year. You'll pay 6% of what you earn over this amount.
If you have loans for your undergraduate course you will also repay these loans. If you are repaying both loans you will have a total deduction of 15% of your earnings above the threshold taken from your salary (6% for the PGL and 9% for the undergraduate loan).
How much will I repay if I already have loans for my undergraduate course?
How much you pay back each month will depend on your income and when you started your undergraduate course.
Students who started their undergraduate course on or after 1 September 2012
These students will repay 9% of their income over £21,000 towards the student loans they took for their undergraduate course and 6% of their income over £21,000 towards their Postgraduate Loan. This means they will repay 15% of their income over the threshold in total.
Income each year (before tax)
Monthly salary
Undergraduate loan repayment
Postgraduate loan repayment
£21,000
£1,750
£0
£0
£25,000
£2,083
£30
£20
£30,000
£2,500
£67
£45
£35,000
£2,916
£105
£70
£40,000
£3,333
£142
£95
£45,000
£3,750
£180
£120
Students who started their undergraduate course before 1 September 2012
If they took a loan for an undergraduate course that started after 1 September 1998 but before 1 September 2012 they will repay 9% of their income over £17,335 towards the student loans they took for their undergraduate course and 6% of their income over £21,000 towards their Postgraduate Loan. This means they will repay 15% of their income over the threshold in total.
Income each year (before tax)
Monthly salary
Undergraduate loan repayment
Postgraduate loan repayment
£17,335
£1,444
£0
£0
£21,000
£1,750
£27
£0
£25,000
£2,083
£57
£20
£30,000
£2,500
£94
£45
£35,000
£2,916
£132
£70
£40,000
£3,333
£169
£95
£45,000
£3,750
£207
£120
Can I get a loan if I already have a postgraduate qualification?
You won't be able to get the loan if you already have a qualification which would be an equivalent level or the Masters you are applying for is at a lower level than a qualification they have already taken (ELQ)
The loan is not available for students who have any of the following:
Integrated Masters
Overseas equivalent
Doctorate
Stand-alone Masters
If you have a PGCE/ PGCert/ PGDip you can apply for the loan if you are applying for taught Masters and research Masters degrees and do not already hold an ELQ qualification.
To check your repayment amount, simply select the country you'll be receiving a postgraduate loan from and input your salary. The calculator will then work out what your repayments will be each month:
The calculator works out your postgraduate loan repayments by subtracting the repayment threshold for your loan from your suggested salary. This gives the amount of earnings you will make repayments on.
The calculator then uses the repayment rate (%) for your loan to work out how much you will have to repay in a year.
Finally, it divides this amount by 12 to give the typical monthly repayment amount that would be automatically deducted from your salary by HMRC.
Things to bear in mind
Please note that the results given by our calculator are meant as a guideline only. Details of repayment rates and thresholds may be changed.
We recommend you double check the details of your postgraduate loan before making repayment assumptions. You can find further details for each UK loan scheme here.
You should also remember that the calculator only gives postgraduate loan deductions.
