Postgraduate funding

Postgraduate loans

English domiciled students

Student loans for Masters degrees are available up to help with course fees and living costs

Key features include:

• The loans are available for both taught and research Masters programmes. 
• The loan is non-means tested (not dependent on household income).
• Students aged under 60, on the first day of the academic year may be eligible for Masters loans.
• Following the country’s departure from the EU, new residency guidance comes into force from 1 August 2021. Please check the Student Finance authority website for more information.
• Loans are only available to students studying their first Masters degree.
• Postgraduate loans are available for one year full-time, two year part-time and three year part-time Masters courses, where there is no equivalent full-time course.
• The loan is paid in three instalments during the academic year, directly to you – month one (33%), month four (33%) and month seven (34%).
• Loans are subject to accrue interest from the point that the first instalment is released.
• Repayments are income-contingent and made concurrently with undergraduate loans. Repayment arrangements can differ depending on which plan you are on. Please check the terms and conditions of the loan before taking it out.

Applications can be made via the Student Finance England website.

Welsh domiciled students

Student Finance Wales introduced postgraduate loans and grants up to £17,000 for Welsh domiciled students studying master’s level courses at any UK university in the 2019/20 academic year.  The maximum loan amount has increased to £16,000 in 2019/20.  Key features include:

• The loans are available for both taught and research Masters programmes.  
• The loan and grant are means tested.
• Students aged under 60, on the first day of the academic year will be eligible for Masters loans.
• In order to be eligible you will need to be a UK national for at least 3 years and ordinarily resident in Wales (not solely for educational purposes), or an EU citizen.
• Loans are only available to students studying their first Masters degree.
• Postgraduate loans are available for all one year full-time, two year part-time and three year part-time Masters courses, where there is no equivalent full-time course.  
• The loan is paid in three instalments during the academic year, directly to you – month one (33%), month four (33%) and month seven (34%).
• Loans will be subject to an interest rate of RPI+3%.
• Repayments are income-contingent and made concurrently with undergraduate loans. Rates are set at 6.1% of annual income over £21,000.

Applications can be made via the Student Finance Wales website.

Northern Irish domiciled students

Student Finance Northern Ireland introduced loans for Northern Irish domiciled students studying postgraduate courses at any UK university last year.  Key features include:

• The course fee loan is available for Taught and Research Masters degrees, Postgraduate Diplomas, Postgraduate Certificates.
• Postgraduate loans are available for full-time and part-time courses over one, two or three year’s duration. 

Applications can be made via the Student Finance Northern Ireland website.

Scottish domiciled students

Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) offer postgraduate loans of up to £10,000 for Scottish domiciled students studying at diploma or masters level in 2019/20.  Key features include:

• Tuition fee loan up to £5,500 and a non-means tested living cost loan of £4,500.
• Available for all eligible one year full-time taught postgraduate students.
• Postgraduate loans will be added to a student’s existing undergraduate loan and repaid as a single loan balance.
• Postgraduate loans are offered for full time courses as long as the course is not available in Scotland.
• There is no provision for part-time study undertaken outside Scotland.

Applications can be made via the SAAS website.

Repayments

UK Postgraduate Loan Repayments Compared:

*Postgraduate loans in Scotland and Northern Ireland use the same 'Plan 1' student loan repayment system as their undergraduate loans. If you have both undergraduate and postgraduate loans under these systems, your debts will be combined.

For further information visit the Find A Masters website.

Access to Learning Fund

In addition to the postgraduate scholarships, UK students are eligible to apply for financial support from the University's Access to Learning Fund if they can demonstrate the need for such assistance. Applications can only be made once you have registered as a student.

Disabled Students Allowances (DSAs)

DSAs are grants to help students meet the extra costs of studying they may face as a direct result of a disability or a specific learning difficulty. They are available for postgraduate students whether full or part-time, are not means-assessed (i.e. do not depend on your household income) and do not have to be repaid. The amount you receive depends on your individual circumstances and - if you are part time - the intensity of your course.

You will need to show your local education authority written proof of your disability from an appropriate medical professional. If you have a specific learning difficulty, such as dyslexia or dyspraxia, the local authority may ask you to have an independent assessment carried out to establish this, which you will have to pay for, although you may ask Harper Adams for help towards it through our Access to Learning Fund.

To apply you may either:

• Ask your local education authority to post you an application form, or
• Download the application form DSA1 and the information booklet 'Bridging the Gap' from www.direct.gov.uk

Other sources of funding

Postgraduate funding is not straightforward and may involve some research on your part. The following is a list of suggestions, but you may well find others, depending on your contacts and area of interest.

• Scholarships available through the Development Trust at Harper Adams University
• UK Research Councils (various councils catering for different subjects - UK students only)
• Specialised funding schemes appropriate to rural/land-based study
• Charities and trusts
• Funding through employment including sponsorship by employers, research and graduate teaching assistantships, part-time work, part-time study or research
• Other forms of finance including personal savings, parental/family contribution or loan, Career Development Loans, bank loan, grant from a trust or charity, access funds.

International students should contact The British Council or their country's education ministry for advice on alternative sources of funding.