New Funding Proposals for Welsh Postgraduates

It's been a busy year for postgraduate funding across the UK, but Welsh students have had reason to feel unfairly overlooked - until now.

A new review into higher education in Wales has put forward plans for funding to be made available to all taught Masters degrees - and for a system of scholarships to be set up for Welsh PhD students.

These proposals are part of the Independent Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance Arrangements in Wales, lead by Professor Ian Diamond and known as 'The Diamond Review'.

We've taken a close look at the new funding suggestions and put together the following introduction for prospective Masters and PhD students.

Bear in mind that these are proposals, not policies. The Diamond Review will now be considered by the Welsh Government and its recommendations may be subject to change.

If confirmed, the new Masters and PhD funding will not be available until at least 2018.

Welsh students are currently excluded from the English postgraduate loans scheme, unless they are ordinarily resident in England.

The new funding proposals would remedy this by introducing support for Welsh-domiciled students. This is similar to the plans for postgraduate loans in Northern Ireland (confirmed for 2017) and Scotland (still under consideration).

However, the Welsh proposals differ from other postgraduate funding schemes in two key ways:

Firstly, they won't just consist of loans. The full package of funding will include both means-tested and non-means-tested maintenance grants as well as a tuition fee loan.

Secondly, this funding will be available to undergraduates and taught postgraduate Masters students on the same terms.

Funding amounts

The Diamond Review proposes that all Welsh-domiciled postgraduate Masters students would be entitled to the following:

• A Tuition Fee Loan of up to £9,000 per year. This would be based on the cost of a student's course.
• A Non-means-tested Maintenance Grant of £1,000 per year. This would be available to all students, regardless of family income or loan support.
• A Means-tested Maintenance Grant or Loan of up to £8,100 (outside London) or £10,125 (inside London). Grants would be available based on household income. Loans would be offered to students unable to receive grants, or to those wishing to top-up a grant.

The exact amount available to any one student would vary, but the Review estimates that the average student would be eligible for a total maintenance grant of up to £7,000, plus a loan for their tuition fees.

Part-time students would be eligible for this funding on a pro-rata basis.

Eligible students

The proposed funding would be made available to Welsh students (those ordinarily resident in Wales). Students from elsewhere in the UK would continue to be eligible for loan schemes confirmed or proposed in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

It isn't yet clear whether EU students would be eligible for loans or grants. Current EU membership terms would probably require the tuition-fee loans to be available, at a minimum.

However, the new funding will not be introduced until at least 2018. By this point the UK is likely to have begun the process of leaving the EU. The future of postgraduate funding (and fees) for EU students in the UK will depend on the terms of 'Brexit'.

Eligible courses

This funding will be available to Welsh students on all taught courses, at undergraduate and postgraduate level. This will include most Masters degrees.

The funding will be portable, meaning that Welsh students can receive grants and loans to study in all parts of the UK. Uniquely, the Diamond Review also proposes that funding be available for Welsh students studying elsewhere in the EU, subject to the terms of the UK's Brexit arrangements.

Repayments

Grants will not need to be repaid. Welsh Masters loans will be repaid on the same terms as undergraduate loans across the UK (9% of income over £21,000 per year).

The Review has suggested that incentives may be offered to Welsh (post)graduates who go on to work and pay tax in Wales. This could involve a partial debt cancellation, similar to the proposals put forward in Scotland.

The new postgraduate loans and maintenance grants will only apply to taught students, but the Diamond Review also proposes a new system of support for postgraduate research. This would be available to PhD students as well as those on research Masters courses (such as the MPhil).

Funding amounts

The new postgraduate research funding would take the form of a scholarship, covering fees and maintenance.

The exact amount for this has not been set, but it would be intended to cover the cost of a research degree, with no repayment.

Up to 150 of these scholarships would be made available, each providing support for a minimum of three years.

Eligible students and courses

Eligibility terms for the Welsh postgraduate research scholarships have not been set. However, this funding is intended to support research training in Wales. It is therefore likely to be restricted to Welsh universities and / or students.

This is similar, in some respects, to the eligibility for English PhD funding being introduced in 2018. The Welsh proposals would offer a scholarship, rather than a loan, but would be available to a smaller number of students overall.

The Diamond Review will now be considered by the Welsh government. Its reforms will not be implemented until 2018 at the earliest.

In the meantime, we'll be following the development of postgraduate funding across the UK - just as we have done since the first announcement of English postgraduate loans back in 2014.

You can stay updated via our newsletter.

Other postgraduate loans

Don't forget that Welsh students who are ordinarily resident elsewhere in the UK may already be eligible for postgraduate funding offered in other countries.

For more information, see our guides to:

• Postgraduate loans in England - available up to £10,000 and introduced for 2016-17
• Postgraduate loans in Northern Ireland - available up to £5,500 and to be introduced in 2017-18
• Postgraduate loans in Scotland - proposed value of up to £9,000, not yet confirmed

English students will also be eligible for PhD loans of up to £25,000, available from 2018.

Read the full Diamond Review

We've been through the Diamond Review and examined its key details for postgraduates, but you can also read the full document and its supporting materials online.