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A Northern Irish postgraduate tuition fee loan lets you borrow up to £5,500 towards the cost of your UK Masters degree, Postgraduate Certificate or Postgraduate Diploma. The loan is provided by Student Finance Northern Ireland on behalf of the Student Loans Company. You only repay it once you finish your course and earn over £19,390 a year.
Coronavirus information: Student Finance Northern Ireland plans to open postgraduate loan applications as normal this summer. See our FAQ for more information about coronavirus and postgraduate study.
| Overview: | Tuition fee loans for full-time, part-time and distance learning postgraduate courses. |
| Value: | Up to £5,500. |
| Eligibility: | UK and ROI nationals resident in Northern Ireland. |
| Location: | Any UK university. |
| Repayment: | 9% of annual income over £19,390. Interest at 1.1%. |
| Application: | Opens now for 2020-21 courses. Applications for 2021-22 will open in summer 2021. |
You can borrow up to £5,500 with a Northern Irish postgraduate loan. You can request less than this if you like, but you can’t borrow more than the fees for your course. If your course costs more than £5,500 you will have to make up the difference using income, savings or other postgraduate funding.
The total available loan amount will be spread evenly across your course (for up to three years of study). You can’t borrow less in one year and carry the remaining money over to subsequent years.
Each year’s loan will be paid in three instalments of 25%, 25% and 50%. This means the maximum individual payments for your loan will be as follows:
| Course length | 1 year | 2 years | 3 years | |
| Annual amount | £5,500 | £2,750 | £1,833 | |
| First instalment | £1,375 | £688 | £458 | |
| Second instalment | £1,375 | £688 | £458 | |
| Third instalment | £2,750 | £1,375 | £917 | |
| Based on maximum loan value, with figures rounded to the nearest £1. | ||||
You’ll need to make a new application for your loan each year, stating how much you want to borrow. You can request less than the total for any given year, but you can’t carry over any ‘unused’ loan.
Whatever you request, Student Finance Northern Ireland will pay the loan directly to your university for tuition fees (not to your bank account). There is no additional postgraduate maintenance or living-cost loan.
The loan isn’t means-tested or based on your credit history. You can borrow the same amount regardless of your financial circumstances.
We've answered a selection of FAQs about Northern Irish postgraduate loans below.
No. These loans are just for tuition fees and are always paid directly to your university. It isn’t possible to borrow anything extra for living costs.
No. You decide how much loan to request, up to the cost of your course, or the maximum loan value of £5,500 (whichever is lower).
The amount you can borrow will be capped at the cost of your postgraduate course. You won’t receive any ‘extra’ money if this is less than £5,500.
Unfortunately, you’ll have to make up the difference yourself – but there’s lots of other postgraduate funding out there to help you do that.
No. The amount you can borrow isn’t based on your income and savings (or your parents’).
Provided you apply early enough, your loan payments should reach the university at the start of each term - in time to pay your fees.
Yes. Because the loan only covers tuition fees, it is expected that students will ‘top up’ their student finance with other postgraduate funding. This could include:
If you receive funding from the NHS or another public body (such as the UK Research Councils) you should check whether it affects your eligibility for a postgraduate loan.
UK and ROI students need to have lived in the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man for the past three years and be ordinarily resident in Northern Ireland (this means that Northern Ireland is where you normally live when you aren’t at university and you haven’t moved there just to study).
There are no age restrictions for Northern Irish postgraduate loans. You can also apply for up to one loan even if you already have a postgraduate qualification. (However, you can’t have previously had any UK postgraduate loan).
You may also be able to apply for a loan as an international student if one of the following applies:
UK students who aren’t ordinarily resident in Northern Ireland should apply for a different UK postgraduate loan.
There are funding guarantees for EU, EEA and Swiss students beginning courses in 2020-21, but the Northern Irish government has not yet announced what the situation will be in the 2021-22 academic year. The other UK governments have announced that EU, EEA and Swiss nationals will no longer be eligible for student finance unless they have EU settled status in the UK.
Below you can find the answers to several common questions about eligibility for a Northern Irish postgraduate loan.
No. Your personal credit rating doesn’t affect your ability to borrow a postgraduate student loan.
The only exception concerns arrears to the Student Loans Company (for repayments you were eligible to make, but haven’t). Your application may also be refused if you have previously been convicted of fraud and deemed ‘unfit for support’.
Yes. If you qualify for postgraduate DSA you can receive it from Student Finance Northern Ireland in addition to your postgraduate loan.
Yes. You can have a loan for a new postgraduate course, even if you already have a Masters degree, PhD or other postgraduate qualification.
However, you can only ever have one student loan for postgraduate study. You won’t normally be able to apply for a Northern Irish postgraduate loan if you’ve already had one, or if you’ve received a different UK postgraduate loan.
No. You don’t have to be a certain age to apply for a Northern Irish postgraduate loan. Note that this is different to other UK postgraduate loans.
You’ll need to be ordinarily resident in Northern Ireland to apply for a Northern Irish postgraduate loan as a UK-resident student.
This means that Northern Ireland is where you normally live and you haven’t moved there just to study at university. You’ll normally count as being ordinarily resident if any or all of the following are true:
If you think you are ordinarily resident in another part of the UK you should apply for a loan in England, Wales or Scotland instead.
You will still count as being ordinarily resident in Northern Ireland (living elsewhere to study doesn’t affect your residency).
You will still count as being ordinarily resident in the country you lived in before you went to university and should apply for a different UK postgraduate loan.
Living and working in a different part of the UK means you aren’t just there to go to university. This can change your residency status.
For example:
If you aren’t sure about your residency status, check with Student Finance NI.
You normally need to have been living in the UK for the past three years in order to qualify for a Northern Irish postgraduate loan as a UK student.
However, exceptions may be made if you’ve been working temporarily or studying abroad. Check with Student Finance NI before you apply.
You may be able to apply for a loan as an international student if you hold refugee status, are subject to humanitarian protection, or have lived in the UK for a long time.
For more information on UK fees and finance for international students, we recommend you check the resources produced by UKCISA.
Remember that you may still be eligible for other international Masters funding, even if you can’t get a postgraduate loan.
No. You can’t get any extra loan to repeat a year and extend the length of your course (even if you haven’t taken the full loan amount).
You can only ever have one Northern Irish postgraduate loan. An exception may be made if you withdraw from your initial course due to compelling personal reasons.
You may be able to take a break from your programme for up to two years and resume your postgraduate loan payments when you restart. However, you will need to discuss this with Student Finance NI.
Northern Irish postgraduate loans are available for taught and research Masters degrees as well as shorter Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert) and Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) courses in any subject. You can also get a loan to top up an existing PGCert or PGDip to a higher-level qualification.
UK-resident students can use a Northern Irish postgraduate loan to study at any UK university.
You can study for up to three years on full-time, part-time or distance learning basis (provided you are living in the UK whilst studying).
Loans aren’t available for a PGCE (or other postgraduate teacher training course), courses eligible for other student finance in Northern Ireland.
Separate PhD loans in Northern Ireland have been considered, but aren't confirmed yet. Our newsletter will let you know if this changes.
These are the answers to some frequently asked questions about course eligibility.
Yes. You can apply for a loan to pay for part of a course you’ve already started (since August 2017). You can also use a loan to ‘top up’ an existing qualification; for example, by completing a dissertation and converting a PGDip into a full Masters degree.
Yes. Funding is available for taught and research programmes, including the Master of Research (MRes) and Master of Philosophy (MPhil).
Yes. You can apply for a loan for a Master of Business Administration (MBA). However, MBA fees are likely to be higher than the £5,500 you can borrow with a postgraduate loan.
Yes. You can apply for a loan for a Master of Laws (LLM). You can also receive funding for a programme that includes a Legal Practice Course (LPC) qualification. However, you can’t get a loan for a standalone LLM (the course has to award a full Masters degree).
Yes. Northern Ireland offers loans for shorter Postgraduate Certificate and Diploma courses.
No. Northern Ireland has considered offering student loans for PhDs, but won’t be doing so this year. Our newsletter will update you as soon as more information is available.
You can apply for your postgraduate tuition fee loan online at the Student Finance NI website (use your existing account, if you have one). Alternatively, you can download an application form to apply by post.
When you first apply you’ll need to provide proof of identity, details for the course you wish to study and information on your residency and address history.
Student Finance NI will review your application and notify you if any further information is required. Once your application has been approved, the Student Loans Company will write to confirm your loan entitlement and payment schedule.
The deadline for applications is nine months from the start of your course. So, if your course starts in September 2020, you’ll have until 31 May 2021 to apply for your loan. However, you should apply as soon as possible in order to make sure your loan is ready for the beginning of your course.
You’ll need to reapply for your loan in the second and / or third years of your course (if your programme lasts longer than a year). This is to confirm your loan request for that year and won’t require as much information.
You can find more details and advice in our postgraduate loan application guide.
Here are the answers to frequently asked questions about applying for a postgraduate loan in Northern Ireland.
Yes. You will need to reapply at the beginning of each year and state how much you wish to borrow for that part of your course (up to the annual maximum).
If you already have an account with Student Finance NI you must use this for your postgraduate loan application.
If you have previously received support from a different provider you should check that you are applying for the right postgraduate loan. If you are eligible for a Northern Irish postgraduate loan you should apply by post.
You’ll be liable to start repaying your postgraduate loan from 6 April in the year after you graduate.
The amount you actually repay is income-contingent: you’ll only repay 9% of what you earn over £19,390 a year.
The repayment process depends on where and how you work:
Your postgraduate loan repayments will be combined with those for your Northern Irish undergraduate student loan (if you have one). This means you’ll make one smaller repayment, instead of experiencing two separate deductions from your salary.
Interest will be charged from the date of your first loan payment, at a rate linked to inflation. This is currently 1.1%.
Any unpaid loan balance (including interest) will be cancelled after 25 years (from the date you became liable to make repayments).
Here are the answers to frequently asked questions about repayments for Northern Irish postgraduate loans.
You won’t start repaying your loan until 6 April after you graduate and will only do so when you are earning over £19,390 a year.
The way your repayments work won’t change – they’ll still be income-contingent. However, the exact threshold and interest rates can change as follows:
We aim to keep this page updated with any changes, but you should always confirm the current details with Student Finance NI before applying for a loan.
Looking for more detailed information on postgraduate repayments? Our full guide includes a range of advice and examples.
Got a question about the Northern Irish postgraduate loans and can’t find the answer in our guide?
We’re always updating this page, based on information from the Student Loans Company and the questions students ask us at our study fairs. So there’s a good chance we’ve answered your question.
If we haven’t, get in touch with us by emailing editor[at]findamasters.com: we’ll do our best to answer your question (and add the information here).
Last updated - 06/01/2021
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