Postgraduate funding

Information about student funding for the 2025/26 academic year for new students. The figures are subject to parliamentary approval.

Master's loans

Postgraduate students living in England and Wales may be eligible for a student loan. Unlike undergraduate student finance, postgraduate loans are a contribution to the cost of your study and expenses.

Student Finance England

Postgraduate Master's Loans (PGMLs) of £12,858 are available from Student Finance England to study a master's course in the 2025/26 academic year.

Student Finance Wales

Postgraduate Master's Loans (PGMLs) of £19,255 are available from Student Finance Wales to study a master's course in the 2025/26 academic year.

Scotland, Northern Ireland and some British Crown Dependencies have their own Postgraduate Master's Loan schemes for students who want to study in England.

View details of the 2025/26 postgraduate funding schemes

Bank loans

High street banks may offer a loan to support you with further study. Contact banks directly to find out what type of loans they have on offer and whether it would be suitable for your needs. It is important that you check all the terms and conditions and ensure that the repayments are affordable before committing to a bank loan.

You might also want to speak with an independent financial adviser about your options.

Employer sponsorship

You may be able to get paid leave for study, funding for some or all of your tuition fees and other course-related costs from your employer. However, this may only be possible if your course is directly relevant to your work.

Trust funds, charities and scholarships

Several trusts and charities provide awards for students. There may be very particular qualifying criteria, and it can be difficult to meet the award criteria. The following websites are good places to start looking for funds:

Research council funding

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) brings together the seven disciplinary research councils, which offer funding and support across all academic disciplines. Please note that competition is strong and only a small percentage of candidates are successful.

Doctoral Loans

Postgraduate Doctoral Loans (PGDLs) are available from Student Finance England and Wales if you wish to study a PhD course.

PhD students starting courses in the 2025/26 academic year, aged under 60 can access a loan of up to £30,301 from Student Finance England or up to £29,130 from Student Finance Wales in total for PhD courses lasting between three to eight years. The loan is spread evenly over each year of the course.

PGDLs will not cover the costs of both tuition fees and living expenses, so you will need additional funding to cover those costs.

Further information

Find out more about PGDLs from Student Finance England.
Find out more about PGDLs from Student Finance Wales.
Student Finance Northern Ireland and Student Awards Agency Scotland do not currently offer doctoral loans to students undertaking PhDs in England. Students from British Crown Dependencies should discuss potential options with their relevant student funding body.

PGCE and teaching bursaries (including PGCE – school based)

If you are a UK resident, you may be eligible to apply for a full-time Tuition Fee Loan and Maintenance (living costs) Loan from Student Finance in the same way as undergraduates. See the undergraduate funding information to find out more.

If you are an EU student, your eligibility for student finance funding will depend on your residency status. Find out more about EU student undergraduate funding.

If you have children, a disability or an adult dependant, you could be eligible for further support from Student Finance; see Get into Teaching.

You can use the Student Finance calculator to estimate the amount of Tuition Fee and Maintenance Loans that may be available to you, as well as any additional support.

Finance for part-time PGCE programmes

Part-time PGCE students will be covered by the funding arrangements for part-time undergraduate students with access to a part-time maintenance loan and tuition fee loan.

New part-time students already holding a qualification equivalent or higher than their PGCE remain eligible for this support. Please see more details of part-time undergraduate funding.

Finance for iPGCE programmes

Unfortunately, iPGCE courses do not receive funding from student finance.

Training bursaries

UK students on eligible PGCE courses who are entitled to support under the student finance criteria (who are not employed as a teacher), may be eligible to apply for training bursaries. The amount of bursary will be based on the teaching subject and degree classification. Visit Get into Teaching for more detailed information and conditions.

How to apply

There will be a link to the application form within the joining instructions which will be sent to you via the Welcome portal over the summer. The bursary is paid in ten instalments from October.

Trainees with degrees from outside the UK

If you hold a degree from outside the UK, please contact UWE Bristol Admissions to help determine your bursary eligibility. You will need to check whether your qualification is comparable to a British bachelor (honours) degree standard. Alternatively, you can find information on Get into Teaching.

Training scholarships

Trainees in maths, physics, chemistry, computing and languages (French, German and Spanish only) are able to apply for a teacher training scholarship with the appropriate professional body. Each body sets its own criteria and scholarships are awarded in place of a bursary. For more information see Get into Teaching.

Students from Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland

To receive a bursary or scholarship, students from Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland will need to be eligible for financial support from their country’s student finance body. Please contact Student Finance Wales, Student Awards Agency Scotland or Student Finance NI to find out about your eligibility for funding.

Student loans and Sharia Law

Due to faith or conscience some students may be deterred from taking out the UK Government's student loans due to the interest payment system.

UK Government Student Finance loans

Student Finance postgraduate loans incur interest on repayments set at the Retail Price Index (RPI) + 3%.

Alternative sources of funding

If you do not wish to take out Student Finance loans you will need to source alternative funding to cover both living costs and tuition fees. The following websites may be useful:

Other options

Other options to consider are:

studying part time so that you have more time for paid employment or possible eligibility for welfare benefits such as Universal Credit.
studying on a degree apprenticeship which is fully funded by your employer and you will earn a salary whilst studying.