• You must be a UK national, or have settled status with the UK, AND have been resident in the UK for three years before the first day of the academic year of your course (please note this date is 1 September, 1 January, 1 April or 1 July whichever precedes the actual start date of the course)
• You must most recently have been resident in England and you must not have moved there from elsewhere in the UK and Islands solely for the purposes of attending the course
• If you move straight from an undergraduate course to a postgraduate course you must apply to the original awarding authority. For example, if Student Finance Wales funded your undergraduate course you must apply to them for postgraduate funding, not Student Finance England. 
• Postgraduate Masters education provision is a devolved matter for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and therefore those who are ordinarily resident in the Devolved Administrations may be eligible for different loans - see below
• Non-UK EU students with settled and pre-settled status may be eligible for the loan - please contact Student Finance England for clarification.
• Eligibility for the amount of loan will not be based on a means test
• If you already hold a Masters (or higher) level qualification you will not be eligible for the loan
• If you have already studied on an undergraduate integrated Masters course, or a Postgraduate Masters course you may not be eligible for the Masters Loan
• You must be under 60 years of age on the first day of the academic year of the course (eg if you start in September this date will be 1 September)

• The Masters course you are studying must be a standalone, eligible course of 180 credits. Recognition of other Learning (ROL) or Accredited Prior Learning (APL or APEL) credits used towards the Masters course will make you ineligible for the loan, as you will no longer be studying 180 credits. The University will inform the SLC if ROL/APL/APEL is carried into the Masters course
• You will be unable to take out the Postgraduate Loan if you are in receipt of a Bursary from the NHS or Social Work Bursary for your course; if you are 'topping up' a previous postgraduate qualification eg PGDip, or if you are transferring to a new course where you originally started on a Masters course before August 2016.
• You can take out the loan for both full time courses of 1 or 2 years, and part time courses which take no longer than twice as long as the full time equivalent, e.g. 2 or 4 years. Where there is no full time equivalent course a part time course may be completed over 3 years; eg Vet Physiotherapy
• Distance Learning courses are also eligible as long as you live in England while studying, but the course length outlined above also applies. If taking a part time distance learning course where there is a 1 year full time equivalent course, you must intend to complete over 2 years. If your intention is to take the course over 3-4 years it will make you ineligible for the loan. Please check with the School and the Funding & Financial Support Team if you are unsure if this applies to you
• You will be able to apply online from May/June time at www.gov.uk/studentfinance and, if you took out loans for your undergraduate course, make sure you have your Customer Reference Number to hand. Paper forms will also be available to download
• If, when you apply for funding, you are unable to find your course listed, please contact the University to check it's eligibility - br-slc-enquiries@nottingham.ac.uk

Full time courses

• Full time Masters courses are usually one year long, but can be over two years, eg Master of Social Work
• If you are studying on a one year course you will receive the loan amount in three instalments during the academic year
• The first instalment will be released when the University confirms your registration to the Student Loans Company; within 2 weeks of you being fully registered on your course
• The second and third instalments will be paid on or just after the start of Term 2 and Term 3. Please check your payment notification from Student Finance
• If your full time course is over two years the loan will be paid in six instalments over the two years
• 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 are incorrect the University is unable to confirm your registration until they have been amended.

Part time courses

• If you are studying part time over two years, you will receive 50% of the loan in year one (in three instalments) and 50% of the loan in year two (in three instalments)
• If you are studying part time over 4 years (where the full time course takes 2 years), you will receive 25% of the loan in year one (in three instalments) and 25% of the loan in subsequent years (each year paid in three instalments) 
• If you are taking a part time course over 3 years (only allowed where there is no full time equivalent course) payments wil be made over the 3 years
• You can apply for the loan up to nine months from the first day of the final year of your course

• Interest will be calculated at 6.5% (from December 2022) and will accrue from the date the first loan instalment is paid by SLC to you
• Repayment will commence once you graduate (or leave) University and have an annual income of £21,000 or more 
• You will pay 6% of your income above the threshold to the loan. Repayments will be made alongside the repayment of any outstanding undergraduate loan
• Repayments will be due in the April after course completion, or sooner if you are on a part time course, subject to your income being above the threshold. You can make voluntary payments if you wish
• Any outstanding Postgraduate Loan balance will be written off after 30 years

Student Finance Wales

Offering funding of up to £18,770 paid to the student only:

• Combination of loan and grant
• Residence - as per Welsh undergraduates
• EU students - please check with Student Finance Wales for eligibility
• 3 year address history required
• under 60 on first day of the first academic year

Student Finance Northern Ireland (NI)

Offering a loan of up to £6,500 to be paid towards tuition fees only:

• Paid direct to the Higher Education Provider
• Non-income assessed
• no age limit
• NI domiciled students with settled status in the UK
• Ordinarily resident in the UK & Islands for 3 years prior to the start of the course
• Ordinarily resident in NI prior to the start of the course
• EU students please contact SF Northern Ireland to check eligibility
• Instalments split to 25%, 25% and 50%

Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS)

Offering a loan of up to £11,500:

• £7,000 tuition fee loan paid to Higher Education Providers
• £4,500 towards living costs paid to the student (age restriction applies)
• UK nationals ordinarily resident in Scotland
• EU students please contact SAAS to check eligiblity
• All other rules in line with current postgraduate support from SAAS