It is important to explore your funding options before you start your course to ensure you have funds for your living costs, study needs and money to pay your course tuition fee. Information about course tuition fees is available on the individual course pages.
Working out your budget and calculating your costs for your year/s of study is essential. This may be a weekly or monthly assessment of your outgoing costs and the money you have or will have available to meet the costs. If there is a shortfall, you need to look into ways of increasing your income before you start your course to avoid falling into financial difficulty during your course.
This information on this page outlines possible sources of funding. Most of the suggestions here will not normally be relevant if you are in the UK on a visa, including a Student Visa, you can visit the International Funding page instead.
How to pay your tuition fee
For courses starting in the academic year 2024-25
As a postgraduate student, you can apply for a Government Postgraduate Masters Loan through Student Finance England and receive up to £12,471 to support your course starting in 2024–25.
The total amount you borrow will be paid evenly over the length of your course. For example, if you apply for the maximum amount of the Postgraduate Masters Loan and study over two years, you'll receive £6,235.50 in each year of your course. You must meet the eligibility rules to qualify.
SFE funding information
This is a one-off loan which means once you receive a Master’s Loan for a course, you cannot get this again for another course. The exception being if a postgraduate course could not be completed because of compelling personal reasons. If you transfer to another course, you may be able to transfer your remaining loan entitlement. Always get advice on your individual circumstances first to check if this is possible.
If you already hold a qualification equivalent to or higher than a Master’s level qualification you will not be eligible for a Master’s Loan for a new course. This applies even if the qualification was not obtained in the UK.
Courses must be stand-alone at postgraduate Master’s level and can be taught or research-based. Eligible courses include MA, MSc, LLM, MBA, MRes, Mlitt, MFA, Med and MPhil. You cannot receive a Master’s Loan for a Postgraduate Certificate or a Postgraduate Diploma course.
MArch (RIBA Part II, Architecture) and integrated masters courses do not normally qualify for the postgraduate loan because they attract the SFE funding for undergraduate study instead. Visit our undergraduate funding page for more information.
Eligibility
Student Finance England will assess your eligibility to receive the Master’s Loan after you apply.
There are different ways to qualify depending on your nationality, immigration/settled status, residence in the UK, residence in the EU (or EEA but get further advice if this applies) previous study and qualifications obtained so far.
The eligibility rules can be complex. SFE provide a summary of the eligibility rules, which includes residence, previous study and university and course eligibility.
Residence: If you live in the UK, you must also normally be ordinarily resident in England on the first day of the first academic year of your course (relevant date). For courses that start in September the relevant date is 1 September and for January start courses it is 1 January. You will not be eligible for SFE funding if you have moved to England from another part of the UK for the sole purpose of study. For example, if you moved to England from Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland to study an undergraduate degree course and intend to start a postgraduate level course immediately after completing this, contact Student Advice to discuss your circumstances as you may not be eligible for the SFE loan and may be eligible for funding from SF Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland instead.
Previous study: You must not already hold a qualification at the same level or higher even if you funded this yourself or obtained the qualification outside of the UK. Eligibility is not affected by lower-level qualifications such as Postgraduate Diplomas.
Age: You must be aged under 60 on the first day of the first academic year of your course.
Previous loans: You must not be in arrears or in default of repaying any previous SFE student loan. You must not have previously received the Master's Loan (unless the CPR exception applies).
Evidence: If you believe you meet the eligibility rules, always make sure you have evidence to prove how you meet the requirements as SFE will usually require this at some point. Depending on your circumstances this could be:
- Original valid immigration documents/proof of immigration status
- Proof of residence in the UK for three, five, or more years, whichever is relevant to the qualifying category
If you cannot provide evidence quickly when requested, it can severely delay your application being assessed. If you cannot provide the evidence requested SFE can refuse funding, withdraw funding and/or ask for money to be repaid.
Having previously received SFE loans and grants for an undergraduate course does not automatically qualify you for the Master's Loan. Your eligibility for the Master's Loan will be assessed again and documents and evidence must be provided again. Your eligibility can be affected if your circumstances have changed since completing your undergraduate degree course e.g. you have lived in another country for a period or your immigration status has changed.
If an issue arose with your SFE funding while attending an undergraduate course which was never resolved, this can also affect your eligibility to receive a Postgraduate loan.
Contact Student Advice if you are unsure about your personal eligibility to receive this loan, or if have further questions about applying for it.
EU/EEA nationals
This information explains about SFE funding entitlements for EU, EEA and Swiss nationals who are coming to the UK to study or who already live here and are starting a course in September 2024. It also applies to some family members, for example children and spouses. Please also read our general information for EU students.
The UK Government confirmed that EU students who are continuing a course that started prior to September 2021 will remain eligible for home fee status and for SFE financial support even if the course ends after 31 December 2020.
If you are an EU/EEA national and you have pre-settled status or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, you may qualify for student finance if you are starting a course in September 2023. The type of support you will receive will be dependent on how long you have lived in the UK or EEA, and/or whether you or a family member have been working in the UK.
For the latest information on which EU/EEA nationals may qualify for Student Finance in September 2023, please read up to date information on the GOV.UK and UKCISA websites.
You could also be eligible if you are not a UK national and are either:
- Under 18 and have lived in the UK for at least 7 years
- 18 or over and have lived in the UK for at least 20 years (or at least half of your life)
You must have been living in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for 3 continuous years before the first day of their course.
If you are a Ukrainian national who has immigration leave under one of the recent government schemes, please contact Student Advice for further information.
Applications
Apply as soon as possible in order for your money to be approved and in place in time for the start of your course. You can apply online or by completing a paper form. Visit the Gov.uk website. You only apply once, even if your course is two years (or longer).
You must apply no more than nine months after the first day of the first academic year of your course if you’re studying a one-year course. If your course is longer than one year, you need to apply within 9 months of the first day of the last academic year of the course.
Payment and repayment
The loan is not assessed against household income so there is no income assessment. The loan is paid over one year for a full-time course or divided equally over two years for a part-time course. Instalments are paid three times a year; 33% on the course start date, the next 33% four months later and the final 34% seven months after the course start date. The payments are made directly to you, not the University. Unlike SFE funding for Undergraduate courses, a separate tuition fee loan payment is not paid directly to the University on your behalf so make sure you are able to pay your course tuition fee using the loan money paid to you or using other additional funds you have secured yourself.
It is repaid once you complete your course and only if you earn above the earnings threshold of £21,000 per year.
More information about repaying this loan can is available from Gov.uk.
Compelling Personal Reasons (CPR)
If you have previously received a Master's Loan but did not complete the course, you will not normally be entitled to a Master's Loan for another course. However, if compelling personal reasons (CPR) caused you to leave your last postgraduate course without completing it, SFE can consider awarding you one additional year of loan for a new course. This must be an entirely new course with new modules. If you are still enrolled on a course, you must withdraw and start a new course. You cannot carry credits over from a previous course to the new course.
A CPR year of loan can only be awarded once, regardless of how many courses you start. For CPR to be considered you must apply to SFE for the Postgraduate Loan and provide SFE with satisfactory documentary evidence of your circumstances. CPR can include ill health or bereavement, but other issues can also be considered. CPR funding is not guaranteed and is at the discretion of SFE.
CPR cannot be considered if you must repeat a year or part year of your course.
Contact Student Advice if you would like to discuss your circumstances and CPR request.
Disabled Students Allowance (DSA)
SFE also provide a grant called the Disabled Students Allowance to help students with study needs relating to their disability. This allowance is available for full and part-time study. You must meet the SFE general eligibility rules and your study needs must be assessed.
For further information and advice about this grant and support available from the University visit the disability learning support page.
Other available funding
PhD students
If you are starting a PhD from 1 August 2024 you can borrow up to £29,390 from Student Finance England to help pay for your course. The Doctoral Loan is paid directly to you. You can use it for your course fees and living costs. The loan will be divided equally across each year of your course. If you already have a qualification which is equivalent to or higher in level than a doctoral qualification when you will not be eligible for the loan. If you have previously studied at PhD level but did not complete the course, you will not normally be entitled to a Doctoral Loan for another course. However, if compelling personal reasons (CPR) caused you to leave your last doctoral course without completing it, SFE can consider awarding you additional funding.
Contact Student Advice if you would like to discuss your circumstances and CPR request.
The general eligibility rules for the Doctoral Loan are the same as the SFE Master’s Loan rules, but additionally, you will not be eligible if you received or will receive Research Council funding (for example, studentships, stipends, scholarships and tuition fee support).
Professional studies loan
Professional loans are not as available as they used to be, however it may be possible to take out a personal loan for your studies. Some banks may have these. Repayments are likely to begin once the loan has been taken out rather than at the end of the course, and interest rates can vary. It may be difficult to get a personal loan if you have a poor credit rating. We would advise looking at comparison sites to find the option right for you.
Charities and trusts
Charities and trusts offer financial support to people in need. Some assist with non-related study costs but others specifically to help students.
Each one will have its own eligibility criteria and application process. For example, you may need to live in a certain area and/or be under a certain age or have unexpected financial difficulty during your study.
Charities and trusts are a useful option to investigate but should not be viewed as a way to meet all your study needs as the amount of funding offered can be quite small.
The Turn2Us website has a free online trust fund search.
The following sites are useful resources:
If you are a current undergraduate student considering Postgraduate study, Masters Compare has information about funding opportunities for a number of universities.
Funding from the University
University scholarships
In most cases, you must apply before the start of your course. Make sure that you check the eligibility rules, which differ according to the scholarship. Visit the Scholarships page for full information. Pay attention to the application deadlines!
Living Expenses Support Scheme (LESS)
This is a fund to assist with living costs and can only be applied for after you have enrolled on your course and meet the application requirements. See information on all funding available to current students.
Alumni Tuition Fee Discount
Have a look at our Alumni tuition fee discount if you intend to start a Masters or PhD course at Westminster and are either a current Westminster student or have studied with us in the past.