Postgraduate Master's Loans 2022-23

Award details

The Postgraduate Master's loan is administered by Student Finance England (SFE).

Funding for postgraduate loans is different if you normally live in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Applications open in early summer, usually in May/June and can take between 6-8 weeks to be assessed by student finance, we recommend all students make their applications as soon as possible in order to have all funding in place by the start of term.

Once your application has been assessed you will receive an entitlement letter - please make sure all amounts are as you requested.

Please visit the Student Finance England website for further information and to apply online.

How and when do I receive my loan?

Payments are made to your bank account in three equal instalments over the course of the academic year (usually September, January and April).

Once you have fully enrolled at King’s the Student Funding Office will confirm your registration to SFE which will trigger the release of the first instalment to you.

The total loan will be divided equally across each year(s) of your course.

You must have a UK bank or building society account in your own name.

I wish to use my loan cover part / all of my tuition fees

Where you intend to use your loan to cover part or all of your Tuition Fees for 2021/22 then you will be required to email a copy of your entitlement letter to Credit.Control@kcl.ac.uk quoting your name and student ID number. For further information on this please visit the credit control web page.

Repaying your student loan

Repayments are made through automatic salary deduction when you earn above £21,000.

The repayment rate is 6%of gross earnings above £21,000.

If you are self-employed, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will calculate how much you must repay based on your annual self-assessment tax return.

Interest will be charged from the day of the first payment until the loan is repaid in full or cancelled. The interest rate is Retail Price Index (RPI) + 3%. This is updated in September each year using the RPI from March of that year.

Any outstanding debt will be written off 30 years after the date on which the loan became due for repayment.

Undergraduate and postgraduate loans are paid simultaneously. If you have a Master's and a Doctoral loan you will pay back a single postgraduate debt.

What if I need to interrupt or withdraw from my course?

Please see this guide by Student Finance England.

You should ensure you speak to a Student Advisor or the Student Funding team at King's too.

How and when do I receive my loan?

Payments are made to your bank account in three equal instalments over the course of the academic year (usually September, January and April).

Once you have fully enrolled at King’s the Student Funding Office will confirm your registration to SFE which will trigger the release of the first instalment to you.

The total loan will be divided equally across each year(s) of your course.

You must have a UK bank or building society account in your own name.

I wish to use my loan cover part / all of my tuition fees

Where you intend to use your loan to cover part or all of your Tuition Fees for 2022/23 then you will be required to email a copy of your entitlement letter to Credit.Control@kcl.ac.uk quoting your name and student ID number. For further information on this please visit the credit control web page.

Award value

How much could I receive?

• £11,836 if your course starts on or after 1 August 2022
• £11,570 if your course started between 1 August 2021 and 31 July 2022
• £11,222 if your course started between 1 August 2020 and 31 July 2021

The Postgraduate Master's Loan operates in much the same way as your undergraduate student loan for maintenance.

You can apply for a non-means tested loan up to £11,570, and these funds can be used for both tuition fees and living costs.

Eligibility criteria

Am I eligible?

To be able to apply for a Master's loan you must:

• be aged under 60 on the first day of the first academic year of your course.

You can apply for the Postgraduate Master’s Loan if all of the following are true:

• you’re a UK national or Irish citizen or have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme or indefinite leave to remain so there are no restrictions on how long you can stay
• you normally live in England
• you’ve been living in the UK, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or Ireland for 3 continuous years before the first day of your course, apart from temporary absences such as going on holiday

Students may also qualify under other residency criteria. For more information about nationality, residence and your eligibility, see the government's Postgraduate Master's Loan eligiblity pages.

You cannot get a Master's loan if:

• you are eligible for an NHS bursary or have been awarded a Social Work Bursary

• you have successfully completed an equivalent level qualification, regardless of whether it was self-funded, or undertaken abroad.

Note on previous study: If you have either, studied at an equivalent level but did not achieve the qualification and did not take out the loan, or did take out the loan but did not achieve the qualification due to compelling personal reasons, then you may still be eligible for funding.

Is my chosen course eligible?

To receive a Master's loan, your course must:

• be full standalone master's course not a ‘top up’ from a lower-level qualification

• be worth 180 credits

• have started on or after 1 August 2016

• be provided by a UK university

The course can be taught or research-based and one of the following:

• Full-time, lasting 1 or 2 academic years

• Part-time, lasting 2 to 4 academic years - no more than twice the length of the equivalent full-time course

• Part-time for up to 3 years, where no full-time equivalent exists

• distance learning but only if you are living in England on the first day of the academic year and stay living within the UK for the full duration of the course

Examples of postgraduate master’s qualifications include:

• MSc (master of science)

• MA (master of arts)

• MPhil (master of philosophy)

• MRes (master of research)

• LLM (master of law)

• MLitt (master of letters)

• MFA (master of fine art)

• MEd (master of education)

• MBA (master of business administration)

Note on Integrated master’s: The Postgraduate Loan is not available for any integrated master’s course. You should apply for undergraduate funding instead.

Award conditions

Disclaimer

The College has tried to give students an early opportunity to begin their research of student funding. Although every effort has been made to ensure that information provided is both helpful to prospective candidates and accurate at the time of its publication, it is possible that some information may be outdated or superseded before the start of the 2022-23 academic year.

Application process

Please visit the Student Finance England website for further information and to apply online.

I am trying to apply for a postgraduate student loan and cannot find my course:

If you are applying for a part-time programme, the programme will be listed as 'equivalent to 1 year full-time'. If you are still unable to locate your course, please contact the Student Funding Office. We can check that the course has been made available.