Can't Get a Masters Loan? 6 Alternatives

If you're reading this blog, you're probably considering a Masters. And if you're considering a Masters you've probably heard plenty about the new UK postgraduate loans. We've covered them on our website and already written about them several times on this blog.

Well, this post isn't about the postgraduate loans.

Don't get me wrong - the new scheme is great news. But not for everyone. If you're a UK student living outside England, or if you want to study abroad, postgraduate loans won't help with your Masters.

But there's more to postgraduate funding than the new loans. And, whilst I can't change the eligibility criteria for you, I can help you get started looking for an alternative.

This post gathers up six of your best options. Some are old (after all, the loans haven't replaced any funding). Others have snuck in more recently whilst everyone was looking the other way.

• Maximum value: £10,000 (in Scotland)
• Ideal for: UK students living outside England; EU students looking to study outside England.
• Bear in mind: Only Northern Ireland and Scotland have confirmed loans for 2017. All plans are subject to change.

OK, I said we wouldn't be covering postgraduate loans in this post, but it's worth breaking that rule slightly.

The loans being introduced in 2016 are provided by Student Finance England. This is why they're restricted to English-resident students (and EU applicants living and studying in England).

Our UK countries are considering their own loans - and these aren't just carbon copies of the English scheme.

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has confirmed postgraduate loans for its own residents (and EU students) from 2017. You'll be able to borrow up to £5,500 for fees in all postgraduate courses up to Masters level. Unlike the English loans that includes postgraduate certificates and diplomas.

Scotland

UPDATE

Scotland has confirmed its plans for postgraduate loans in 2017. Scottish-resident students will be able to borrow up to £10,000 for a taught postgraduate course at a Scottish university.

Wales

UPDATE

When this blog was first published, Wales was the only UK country not to have put forward plans for new postgraduate funding. That's all changed now.

Following the publication of an extensive review into its student funding, Wales can now claim to be promising the UK's most generous support package. In fact, that's exactly what it is claiming.

We've covered all the details in our guide.

• Maximum value: €18,000 (c.£15,000)
• Ideal for: Anyone looking to study abroad in Europe.
• Bear in mind: Loans are only offered by French or Spanish banks this year. See our guide for more details.

Don't want to study in the UK? Well, thanks to the Erasmus+ programme, you could borrow up to €18,000 to study a Masters abroad in Europe.

We've covered the new Erasmus Masters loans quite recently on this blog, as part of a round-up of Erasmus Masters funding in 2016. They're definitely worth considering if you're interested in international study, whether or not you're eligible for a UK loan.

Better yet, the scheme has since been expanded, with the UK now participating through Future Finance.

So, at the moment loans are available for postgraduates studying abroad in Spain, France or the UK and for students of those countries studying a Masters elsewhere in Europe. Other countries are likely to join the scheme in future.

And no, Brexit doesn't make any difference to this. If you're a UK student, you can apply for an Erasmus Masters loan for 2016-17.

• Maximum value: £10,000
• Ideal for: Anyone studying a professional or vocational subject; UK students outside England.
• Bear in mind: Interest rates are much higher than for student loans and eligibility is more restrictive.

There was a time, back in 2015, when postgraduate loans were yet to be confirmed. There was even a time, back in 2013, when postgraduate loans weren't even on the table. What did Masters students do in those dark ages?

Some of them took out Career Development Loans. And they still can.

Professional and Career Development Loans (to give them their full title) haven't been replaced by the new Masters loans and are available alongside them in 2016.

The two loan options even have the same value (a maximum of £10,000) but that's about where the similarities end.

PCDLs are offered by banks, rather than the government. They also have stricter lending criteria and eligibility requirements. On the other hand, there are no residency restrictions for UK applicants and loans can be available for courses below Masters level are.

You can read more in our guide - or just go straight to a comparison of Career Development Loans and Masters Loans on this blog.

• Maximum value: Full fees and maintenance.
• Ideal for: Students looking to progress to a PhD.
• Bear in mind: Funding at Masters level is limited.

OK, enough loans. What about grants? Well, one of the biggest sources for postgraduate grants and scholarships (at least in the UK) is the network of seven Research Councils.

Their job is to support UK research. One of the ways they do this is by funding the training of new postgraduate researchers. Like you (potentially).

Unfortunately, most Research Council funding these days is directed towards PhD students. But some support is available for Masters degrees - particularly if you intend to study a doctorate in the future, or if your programme leads directly into a PhD. Our introduction to Research Council Funding for Masters degrees is a good place to start looking.

• Maximum value: How long is a piece of string?
• Ideal for: Anyone with the time and commitment to manage lots of funding applications.
• Bear in mind: See above.

Yes, I am suggesting that a charity might help fund your Masters. No, I'm not mad.

There are a huge number of charities, charitable foundations and other small societies with money available to support their causes. Many of those causes benefit from new research and scholarly work. You can see where I'm going with this.

There are also plenty of educational charities or similar groups looking to support people from particular backgrounds.

Causes can be very obscure and the range of organisations out there is huge.

• If your Masters will have an impact on local history or heritage, a charity might help fund it.
• If your Masters will help address a social or political problem, a charity might help fund it.
• If your Masters seems so obscure that noone other than you and your tutors could possibly care about its outcomes, a charity might still help fund it.

The best place to start looking is our guide to alternative Masters funding. Why? Because the author funded an entire PhD with charitable grants.

• Maximum value: Varies - from fee waivers to full fee and maintenance scholarships.
• Ideal for: Anyone, but students who can demonstrate academic excellence or who are from widening participation backgrounds are most likely to be funded.
• Bear in mind: The number of scholarships can be limited and will vary across departments and subjects.

Really, this should be higher up the list. In fact, your university should probably be your first port of call for postgraduate funding.

Many have their own scholarships for particularly exceptional students or for those from difficult financial backgrounds. It's likely that you'll have been made aware of these opportunities as you apply, but if you haven't, make sure you double check.

The problem, of course, is that there isn't really a way to generalise about postgraduate scholarships from universities - or search for it all in one place.

Some institutions will simply offer fee waivers. Others will provide bursaries for maintenance. A few will do both. The best way to start looking is to (ahem) find a Masters that interests you and (politely) inquire with the institution. Many have scholarships listed prominently on their websites.