Funding for Postgraduate Study

Postgraduate Tuition Fee Loan

For the 20/21 academic year, the Government will provide a tuition fee loan of up to £5,500* per student for postgraduate study.

This is available for Northern Ireland students who meet the nationality or residency  criteria.

Apply for Tuition Fee Loan now

The Postgraduate Tuition Fee Loan is available for postgraduate courses studied full-time, part-time 'in attendance', or distance-learning full-time or part-time, over no more than three years.

The Postgraduate Tuition Fee Loan for postgraduate study will be:

• Non-means tested
• Available for courses commencing during the 2019/20 Academic Year
• Paid directly to the Higher Education Provider (HEP)
• There is no age limit
• Students can avail of the loan even if they hold an equivalent or higher qualification –
• Students will be entitled to one postgraduate tuition fee loan only.
• Applicants must commence the course in the academic year 20/21 or later (i.e. on or after 1st August 2020)
• The loan will not be available in respect of PhD, Integrated Masters, or Postgraduate Certificate in Education courses.

Applicable Courses

The Postgraduate Tuition Fee Loan will be available for the following postgraduate courses:

• Postgraduate Master’s courses (taught or research)
• Postgraduate Diplomas
• Postgraduate Certificates

Important information for 21/22 Academic Year,  Student Finance NI are currently reviewing their loan provision for the Academic Year 21/22.  This review may impact both eligibility information and the amount available to borrow.

• Eligibility Criteria

  Nationality  or Residency Criteria

  Northern Ireland-domiciled students studying at authority/publicly funded institutions in the United Kingdom, and EU students studying at authority/publicly funded institutions in Northern Ireland

  You could get this funding if you identify as one of the following:

  A UK or  ROI National or someone with settled status in the UK

  • You must:
    • normally live in Northern Ireland
    • have been living in the living in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for the three years before the first day of your first academic year

  An EU National

  • You must:
    • normally live in Northern Ireland
    • have been living in Northern Ireland for the three years before the first day of your first academic year
  • EU Nationals (including ROI nationals) with less than 3 years residency in Northern Ireland may be eligible for EU student funding.

  A UK National who has been living in the EU

  • You must:
    • have normally lived in Northern Ireland before you moved to the EU
    • have normally lived in the EU for the past three years
    • be living in Northern Ireland on the first day of the first year of your course, unless COVID-19 travel restrictions prevent you from doing so

  An eligible exception residency type. can include refugees, those under humanitarian production or their immediate family members.

• Payments

  The maximum loan amount available is £5,500* per course and is capped as follows:

  Payments

  Length of course	Loan amount
  one-year course	£5,500
  each academic year of a two-year course	£2,750
  each academic year of a three-year course	£1,833

  Postgraduate Tuition Fee Loans will be added to the balance of any undergraduate student loans that you have, and repaid under existing Plan 1 income contingent repayment terms.

  As such, you will pay 9% of anything you earn over the minimum income threshold (for Academic Year 2020/21 this is £19,390 per year, £1,616 per month, or £373 per week before tax and National Insurance) towards any loan balance that you have.

  You will become eligible to begin repayment from the start of the tax year (April 6th) after you complete or withdraw from your course.

  Guidance on the Postgraduate Tuition Fee Loan is available from Student Finance NI, and application forms are available, both on the Student Finance NI website and from the Student Finance NI Postgraduate office.

  *Correct at time of print.

  Visit studentfinanceni.co.uk for up-to-date information for 2020/21 entry.