9 Things Irish Students Should Know About Masters Study in England

Although Brexit may have made it more expensive for many EU students to study in the UK, these changes won’t necessarily affect you if you’re from the Republic of Ireland. That’s because Irish nationals are separately covered by the Common Travel Area arrangement, which lets you pay the same fees as a UK student and access most of the same funding.

This blog will focus on what Irish postgraduates should understand about studying a Masters in England (with some extra detail on the other nations in the UK).

#1 Finding and applying for a Masters is pretty simple

The first step is to find your perfect Masters in England – we list over 18,000 of them on our website!

Applications for Masters courses in England are open all year round, so there’s plenty of time to apply if you want to begin one this autumn (we don’t recommend leaving things until the last minute, of course). You’ll usually need to provide the following documents:

Personal statement
Academic transcripts
References

In most cases, you should apply directly to your prospective university. UCAS (the application system for undergraduate degrees in the UK) does provide a postgraduate service, but only a handful of universities use it at the moment.

#2 English Masters aren’t that different to those in Ireland

The postgraduate system in England (and the UK) is pretty similar to Ireland’s, with both following the Bologna process (Europe’s higher education standardisation policy).

Most Masters programmes in England take one year to complete, including a dissertation of around 15,000 words. If you’re particularly passionate about research, it’s also possible to do a two-year MRes or MPhil, involving an extended research project (and perfect preparation for a PhD).

#3 SUSI funding can’t be used in England

Unfortunately, you can’t receive a student grant from Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) to undertake postgraduate study in England, Scotland or Wales. This type of funding is only available for students at approved institutions in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

#4 But Irish students are eligible for postgraduate student finance in England

The Common Travel Area between the UK and Ireland means that Irish nationals can also get a Masters loan from Student Finance England as long as you’ve lived in Ireland or the UK for the past three years. You’ll also need to be living in England for the duration of your course.

These are the other eligibility requirements you’ll need to fulfil in order to get a Masters loan:

You must be 59 or younger on the first day of your programme
You must be studying your first Masters (you can’t already hold a Masters or PhD qualification)
Your Masters must be a full Masters (i.e. not a PGDip or Postgraduate Certificate)

You can also study on a full-time or part-time basis. Distance learning Masters are also eligible, but you’ll need to be living in England during your studies.

#5 Irish students are still eligible for cheaper domestic fees

Similarly, the Common Travel Area means that Irish nationals are still eligible for tuition fees paid at the cheaper ‘domestic’ rate – as long as they’ve lived in the UK or Ireland for the past three years. To give you an idea of how much this amounts to, the average fees for a local student doing a classroom-based Masters in England are currently £8,740.

That’s a bit more than the average price of an Irish Masters (roughly €9,000) but it’s a lot cheaper than international students pay for a UK Masters (including other EU students).

#6 You can receive up to £12,167 through the Masters loan

The value of an English Masters loan is £12,167, paid in equal instalments over the duration of a programme (though you don’t actually have to claim the full amount if you don’t want to). Whatever you borrow is intended as a contribution towards your living costs and tuition fees – there isn’t a separate maintenance element.

These loans aren’t means-tested, so it doesn’t matter what your income is during the application process.

As we mentioned above, the average tuition fees for a classroom-based Masters in England are £8,740. Unfortunately, this does mean that the Masters loan only leaves a relatively small amount for your living costs. We’ve suggested some alternative sources of finance in our guide to postgraduate funding from charities.

#7 You only start repayments once you’re earning a certain amount

You’ll only need to begin repaying your Masters loan once you earn above £21,000 per year. Repayments work out at 6% of what you earn above £21,000 and are calculated on a monthly basis. Interest on the loan is linked to inflation rates and there isn’t a repayment deadline – it’s cancelled after 30 years.

You can find out more in our guide to postgraduate loan repayments.

#8 Applications for Masters loans open soon

Masters loan applications usually open in June for the following academic year.

The application process is fairly simple and can be done entirely online. You’ll need a Student Finance England account and to supply the following documents:

Your prospective university and Masters programme (you don’t need to have received an offer when applying)
Passport details
Address history
UK bank details (if you don’t have a UK bank account, you can provide this information later)

Our guide to applying for a Masters loan has more information on what to expect.

#9 Each nation in the UK has its own postgraduate student finance system

For the purposes of this blog we’ve focused on the English postgraduate student finance system, but the other nations in the UK each have their own way of helping students finance their Masters.

Irish nationals can also access student finance in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland under the terms of the Common Travel Area if they’ve lived in the UK or Ireland for the past three years. You’ll need to be studying at a university in the respective nation if you want to use that particular student finance.

These are the basic figures for each nation:

Scotland – Up to £11,500 for Masters and PGDip courses
Wales – Up to £18,770 for Masters courses
Northern Ireland – Up to £6,500 for Masters, PGDip and PGCert courses

The terms and conditions for each system vary quite widely, so we encourage you to read the relevant guides if you’re interested in studying a Masters elsewhere in the UK.