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 Information on Doctoral Loans from Student Finance 

Please note that international students are not eligible for this loan

The Government, through the Student Loans Company (SLC), is offering Postgraduate Doctoral Loans of up to £29,390 for eligible students who are studying a standalone taught or research Doctoral course that start between August 2024 and July 2025.

For students who started their course between August 2018 and July 2024 the loan offered is less.

The loan is a contribution towards the costs associated with completing a Doctoral degree and can be used towards tuition fees or living costs as you decide. The loan is non means tested and will be paid directly to you, the student, rather than the University. While providing a substantial contribution, the loan is very unlikely to be sufficient to cover both your tuition fees and livings costs. Therefore it is important that you source funding in addition to the loan, to ensure you can cover all costs before starting your course.

Important information

The University has to confirm your registration to the SLC to release your Doctoral Loan. However, due to the data checking that is required by the SLC, this confirmation can take up to three weeks from when you are fully registered with us for your course and from the start date of your course/year. Payment will not be made until after the start date the SLC have recorded for your course/year.

Where data provided by the SLC doesn't match what is in your University record, or the University identifies any other information affecting your eligiblity, registration will not be confirmed until these issues are resolved. 

Eligibility Criteria

    The information below is for guidance only:
  • The course you are studying must be a standalone, eligible course. Recognition of other Learning (ROL) or Accredited Prior Learning (APL or APEL) credits used towards the Doctoral course will make you ineligible for the loan, as you will no longer be studying on a full course. The University will inform the SLC if ROL/APL/APEL is carried into the Doctoral course
  • You will be unable to take out the Doctoral Loan if you are:
    • in receipt of Research Council funding, NHS Bursary, Social Work Bursary or other public HE funding for your course (including Research Council fees only awards);
    • if you are 'topping up' a previous postgraduate qualification or are transferring to a new course when you originally started the course before August 2018.
  • You can take out the loan for both full time (3 or 4 years long) and part time courses (up to 8 years long)
 

Applying for the loan

 

How and when will I receive the loan?

  • Loans will be paid in three instalments per academic year, so how much you receive is determined by the length of your course and the amount of loan borrowed
  • There is a cap on the amount of loan you can receive in an academic year which is eqiuvalent to the full Masters Loan
  • The first instalment will be released when the University confirms your registration to the Student Loans Company; generally within 3 weeks of you being fully registered on your course
  • The University has to confirm your Registration to the SLC to release the payments to you in a similar way as for undergraduates. However, we also have to verify that the course information held by the SLC matches with the course you have commenced at the University as well as other data checks. If these additional checks show incorrect data the University is unable to confirm your registration until the necessary changes have been made.
 

Please note: If you move straight from an undergraduate course to a postgraduate course you must apply to the original awarding authority e.g. If Student Finance Wales funded your undergraduate course you must apply to them for postgraduate funding.

Further funding information

If you are not eligible for the loan please ensure that before signing up for a course you investigate other funding available, for example through Research Councils, Studentships and charitable trusts. 

 More funding information for postgraduate courses