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Posted on 21 Jan '25
Masters Loans in England and Wales: 2025 Updates
The UK and Welsh Governments have announced that the maximum Masters loan amounts in England and Wales will be increased to £12,858 and £19,255 respectively for the 2025-26 academic year. If you’re a new student applying for a course starting in 2025, you’ll be eligible for the new loan amounts.
The government have also said that the maximum Disabled Students’ Allowance in both countries will be increased, and we’ve pulled all these recent changes together in this blog for you.
The 2025 English and Welsh Masters loan amounts
Keeping in line with forecasted inflation, the maximum English Masters loans will be increased by 3.1% to £12,858 for new students starting a course in 2025-26.
The Welsh loans are also increasing to £19,255 for students applying to courses starting on or after 1 August 2025.
These changes apply to the English and Welsh loans only. This means you have to be ordinarily resident in England or Wales (you can’t have moved there to study) depending on the loan you're applying for. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own Masters loan schemes.
These are the maximum amounts you can borrow in both cases. You can choose to borrow less if you like. Since this loan is paid directly to you and there is no separate maintenance payment at Masters level, you can choose to put it towards your tuition fee or your living cost. You’ll only start repaying the April after your course finishes and only after you earn above a certain threshold.
We’ve got more information on the English and Welsh Masters loans, payments, repayments and some frequently asked questions in our complete guides.
Increase in Disabled Students’ Allowance
Along with the loans, the maximum Disabled Students’ Allowance for postgraduate students in England will also be increased by 3.1% to £27,783 for 2025-26. In Wales, the maximum DSA will be increased to £34,000
This is the maximum amount a student can receive but most students usually receive less. If you’re studying a part-time course, your DSA will be calculated pro rata.
The DSA is additional help for students with a physical disability, chronic illness, mental health condition or a specific learning disability. You can normally receive DSA alongside other funding, and it does not need to be repaid.
We’ve got more information on the Disabled Students’ Allowance, who qualifies and how to apply for it in our complete guide.
Changes to residency rules in England
Bereaved partners and children of Gurkhas and Hong Kong military veterans discharged before 1997 who’ve been granted indefinite leave to remain or enter will no longer need to meet the three-year residency requirement to apply for an English loan. Instead, they will only need to be ordinarily resident in England on their course start date.
Generally, students have to be ordinarily resident in England and have lived in the UK for three years to be eligible for the English loans. If you’re ordinarily resident elsewhere in the UK, you need to apply to the loan scheme specific to your country of residence.
We’ll keep you updated on any further developments. You can sign up to our newsletters to stay up to date with everything postgraduate funding and more.
If you’d want your funding and postgraduate loan questions answered in person, come and see us at a Postgrad LIVE study fair near you.
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