2024 Postgraduate Loans in Scotland

Postgraduate tuition fee and living costs loans in Scotland let you borrow up to £11,500 for a Masters degree or Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) at any UK university. Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) provides the Masters funding to you on behalf of the Student Loans Company. You only pay it back after you graduate and earn over £27,660 a year.

The Scottish Government have made an extra £2,400 available for students from the start of the 2024-25 academic year. Postgaraduate students will be able to borrow up to £13,900.

The Scottish postgraduate loan offers a maximum of £11,500, split into in two parts:

• A tuition fee loan of up to £7,000 is available for UK students of any age on full-time or part-time courses. This is paid directly to your university.
• A living-cost loan of up to £4,500 is available for UK students aged under 61 on full-time courses. This is paid into your bank account.

SAAS (Student Awards Agency Scotland) will split the money evenly across your course as follows:

Each year's loan will be paid to you (or your university) in regular instalments.

The value of your tuition fee loan will be capped at the level of your tuition fees, up to the maximum of £7,000. You can’t request more than your course costs and you can’t borrow extra for a course that costs more than £7,000. You can request less than the maximum if you like (for example, if you’d rather use other funding, income or savings for part of your fees).

It’s up to you how much you borrow for your living cost loan. The money isn’t means-tested or based on your credit history.

If you'd like to find out more about Scottish Masters loan amounts, we've covered a range of FAQs below.

No. You decide how much tuition fee loan and / or living-cost loan you’d like to request, up to the maximum.

The value of your tuition fee loan is linked to your course fees. You can’t borrow more than the cost of your degree and won’t receive any ‘remaining’ money.

You can’t borrow any more than £7,000 with the tuition fee loan, regardless of how much your fees are. You will have to make up the difference with savings, income or other postgraduate funding.

Yes. The living cost loan is paid directly to your bank account. This means you can use the money as you wish, including to top up your tuition fee loan.

The first payment cannot be made till your course has started and you've fully registered with your university.

The first instalment of your living cost loan should also arrive close to the start date for your course. Subsequent instalments will be spread evenly across your degree.

To get a Scottish postgraduate loan you need to be a UK student, studying an eligible course at a UK university. More specific criteria apply to each of the loans.

To get a tuition fee loan you must:

• Be a UK student who has lived in the UK for three years and is ordinarily resident in Scotland
• Not have received government-funding for a previous postgraduate course (exceptions may apply to PhDs)

To get a living cost loan you must:

• Be a UK student who has lived in the UK for three years and is ordinarily resident in Scotland
• Be under 61 (aged 60 or younger) on the first day of the first academic year of your course
• Be studying full time

In order to qualify as ordinarily resident in Scotland you must live there normally (not just when you are at university). Different loans are available for postgraduate students from other parts of the UK.

You may be able to apply if you aren’t a UK citizen, but are:

• An Irish national
• The child of a Turkish worker
• Someone with the right to live in the UK as a refugee or under humanitarian protection
• Someone who has lived legally in the UK for a substantial proportion of your life

Check with SAAS if you aren’t sure about your eligibility criteria. You can also seek advice from the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA).

Brexit and Scottish postgraduate loans

As of the 2021-22 academic year, EU, EEA and Swiss nationals are no longer be eligible for Scottish postgraduate loans or ‘home’ fees.

However, Irish nationals may qualify for tuition fee loans under the Common Travel Area if they’ve lived in the UK or Ireland for three years before the start of their course. In order to qualify for the living cost loan as well, Irish nationals may need to be ordinarily resident in Scotland (i.e. not have moved their for study purposes).

If you’re an EU, EEA or Swiss student that began a Masters in the 2020-21 academic year, you’ll be eligible for Scottish postgraduate finance for the duration of your course.

Want to find out more about eligibility for postgraduate loans in Scotland? We've written several FAQs on what to look out for.

No. Neither the tuition fee loan or the living-cost loan are means tested. Your eligibility isn’t affected by your income and savings (or your parents’).

No. Your personal credit rating will not affect your eligibility for a Scottish postgraduate loan.

However, your application may be refused if you have had a previous student loan and missed repayments that were due. You may also be deemed ‘unsuitable for student finance’ if you have been found guilty of committing fraud in the past.

You can get a Scottish postgraduate loan for a taught or research Masters degree or Postgraduate Diploma in any subject. Previously, only taught Masters were eligible for Scottish postgraduate loans. Funding has been extended to research Masters (such as MRes or MPhil degrees).

You can study full time or part time at any university in Scotland. Or, you can study full-time at another UK university, provided you are ordinarily resident in the UK and your course is not available in Scotland.

As of the 2023-24 academic year, you'll be able to use a Scottish postgraduate loan to finance a full-time Masters at any UK university, even if it's also available in Scotland.

The length of your course depends on whether you study full time or part time:

Part-time courses cannot last for more than twice the length of an equivalent full-time option. Distance learning courses are also eligible.

Here are some answers to frequently asked questions about course eligibility.

You should apply for a Scottish postgraduate loan online at the SAAS website. You’ll need to provide details of the course you’ll be studying as well as your national insurance (NI) number and details of your address history (to show that you meet the necessary residency and eligibility criteria).

The deadline for applications for 2023-24 courses is 1 March 2024.

You can find more information and advice in our postgraduate loan application guide.

If you have another query about applications for Scottish postgraduate loans, we may have answered it in the FAQs below.

You’ll be liable to repay your postgraduate loan from 6 April, the year after you graduate.

Your repayments will be calculated using an income-contingent system. You’ll repay 9% of what you earn over £27,660 a year before tax.

How you repay will depend on your employment status:

• If you are employed in the UK, HMRC will automatically make deductions from your pay on behalf of the Student Loans Company (this will normally happen monthly)
• If you are self-employed in the UK, you will need to make repayments when you complete your annual tax return
• If you are working outside the UK, you must contact the Student Loans Company to arrange direct repayments
• If you are unemployed, you will not make repayments

If you already have a Scottish undergraduate loan your two repayments will be combined (you’ll make one smaller repayment towards a larger loan balance, instead of two equal repayments towards separate balances).

You will pay interest on your loan at a rate linked to inflation. The current rate is 5%. This interest will begin accumulating as soon as your first loan instalments are paid.

Any unpaid loan balance (including interest) will be cancelled after 30 years (following your graduation).

Check out the FAQs about postgraduate loan repayments below.

Do you have a specific question about the Scottish postgraduate loans that you can’t find the answer to in our guide? Get in touch with us by emailing editor[at]findamasters.com and we’ll do our best to help.

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