2023 Postgraduate Funding in Wales: Masters Loans and Grants

Thee Welsh government is also offering Masters bursaries of between £1,000 and £2,000 to people studying eligible courses, as well as £4,000 to those aged 60 or above.

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If you’re beginning a Masters in the 2023-24 academic year, you could receive up to £18,770 towards your tuition fees and living costs.

The funding combines a non-means-tested loan and a means-tested grant. The size of the grant you get depends on your household income – the remainder of the £18,370 will consist of a postgraduate loan from Student Finance Wales.

Here are two examples from opposite ends of the spectrum:

• If your household income is £18,770 or less, you’ll get the maximum grant of £6,885 and a loan of up to £11,885
• If your household income is £59,200 or more, you’ll get the minimum grant of £1,000 and a loan of up to £17,770

If your household income falls between these two examples, the size of the Welsh Masters grant you receive will be based on a sliding scale. The table below illustrates some typical amounts.

If you don’t want your household income to be taken into account, you can choose to receive the £1,000 grant and the postgraduate loan of up to £17,770.

You can also choose how much of the postgraduate loan you’d like to request, as long as your total amount of funding (including the grant) is not more than £18,770.

How is household income calculated?

If you’re supported by your parents or a partner, you’ll be treated as a dependent student. This means that the income – both earned and unearned – of your parents / partner will be taken into account when calculating your household income.

You’ll also need to supply details of your own unearned income (this includes interest on savings and earnings from property). It doesn’t include any salary that you’ve earned through full or part-time work.

If you aren’t supported by your parents or a partner, you’ll be treated as an independent student and your household income will only include your unearned income (and not any income you’ve earned through full or part-time work).

These are some of the circumstances in which you’ll be treated as an independent student, not taking your parents’ / partner’s income into account:

• You’ve supported yourself financially for at least three years
• You’re 25 or over on the first day of the academic year of your Masters
• You’re caring for someone who is under 18
• You’re estranged from your parents

Whether you’re a dependent or independent student, your household income will determine how much of the means-tested grant you receive.

It’s worth bearing in mind that any of your own income from full-time or part-time work will never form part of your household income, no matter what your status is as a dependent or independent student.

How will I be paid?

The money is paid to you (not your university) in regular instalments during your course. It’s up to you to use it for tuition fees and living costs, as necessary.

You decide how much you want to borrow through the loan element of the funding (up to the maximum of £18,770, including the grant). This money is divided evenly across your course and paid in three instalments per academic year.

You’ll receive 33% of your annual funding on or near your programme start date (once your university confirms your registration), then two more payments of 33% and 34% over the course of the academic year.

The value of each instalment depends on how much loan you request, how much grant you’re eligible for and how long your course is.

The following table shows approximate instalments for students studying a one-year Masters with a household income of £35,000 who take the full funding amount of £18,770:

If your Masters is longer than one year, your postgraduate funding will be divided across each year of the course. The table below shows the size of the payments you’d receive on a longer programme, assuming that you claimed the full £18,770 through the loan and grant.

Masters bursaries in Wales

In addition to the postgraduate funding and loans offered by the Welsh government, it’s possible to apply for a Masters bursary in select subjects at Welsh universities.

There is a £2,000 Masters bursary for STEMM students on selected postgraduate taught courses in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine at Welsh universities. This funding is available to people who have been ordinarily resident in Wales for the past three years (haven’t moved there for the purposes of study).

It’s really easy to apply for this bursary – it’s awarded on a ‘first-come, first-served’ basis to students who have accepted an offer on an eligible course. For more information, check your prospective university’s website to find out which programmes this bursary is available for.

There’s also a Masters bursary of £4,000 for students aged 60 or above to study a postgraduate course in Wales. This funding is intended to help those who aren’t eligible for the Welsh postgraduate loans and grants described elsewhere in this guide.

Students studying an approved social work Masters degree in Wales may be able to apply for a social work bursary. Each social work programme is allocated a set number of bursaries, and the university will nominate a selection of their students. Nominated students can then submit an official application via Social Work Wales.

Successful applicants will recieve £25,430 (£12,715 a year for two years). Please note that Masters students who recieve the social work bursary will not be eligible for a postgraduate loan.

Finally, if you’re studying a Welsh-language Masters, you could be eligible for a bursary of £1,000.

Frequently asked questions

If you still have some questions about how postgraduate funding in Wales works, we've answered a few FAQs below.

Postgraduate funding in Wales is available to UK students who have lived in the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man for the past three years and are ordinarily resident in Wales (not just living there to go to university).

In addition, you’ll need to:

• Be aged under 60 (59 or younger) on the first day of the first academic year of your course (this will normally be 1 September for courses beginning in the Autumn)
• Not hold a Masters degree (or higher qualification) regardless of how it was funded

Finally, you’ll need to be studying an eligible Masters degree.

Funding sometimes be available to international students if one of the following criteria applies:

• You are an Irish national
• You have EU settled status in the UK
• You are the child of a Turkish worker
• You or a family member have been granted refugee status or humanitarian protection in the UK

It’s best to check with Student Finance Wales if you think you may qualify for funding as a non-EU national, but aren’t sure.

You won’t normally be eligible for Welsh Masters funding if you’re a UK student who normally lives in another part of the UK. However, separate postgraduate loans are available for students from Northern Ireland, England and Scotland.

Brexit and eligibility for Welsh postgraduate funding

If you’re an EU, EEA or Swiss national beginning a Masters in Wales from August 2021 onwards, you will only be eligible for postgraduate funding if you have EU settled status.

In order to apply for EU settled status, you’ll need to have been living in the UK before 31 December 2020.

If you’re an EU, EEA or Swiss national studying a Masters in the 2020-21 academic year, you will be eligible for Welsh student finance for the duration of your programme. However, you may need to apply for a student visa if you’re arriving in the UK to begin a Masters in January 2021.

We've answered some frequently asked questions about eligibility for funding from Student Finance Wales.

Welsh postgraduate funding is available for taught and research Masters degrees in all subjects, provided they meet the following criteria:

• Your course must award a Masters, not a shorter Postgraduate Certificate or Diploma or a doctorate (such as a PhD)
• Your course must be a postgraduate programme, not an integrated Masters or other undergraduate course
• Your course must be for a full 180 credit degree, not a short period of study to ‘top up’ an existing qualification to Masters level

Courses can be studied full time, part time or by distance learning:

• Full-time courses can last for 1-2 years
• Part-time courses can last for 2-4 years, but not for more than twice the length of an equivalent full-time course (or three years if no full-time equivalent exists)
• Distance learning courses can be full time or part time, but you must be living in Wales on the first day of your course and the rest of your Masters must be studied from within the UK (UK-resident students) or Wales (EU students)

UK-resident students can study at any UK university, but Irish students coming to the UK for their degree can only use Welsh postgraduate funding to study in Wales.

Here are the answers to several FAQs about course eligibility.

Applications for Welsh postgraduate finance are now open for Masters beginning in the 2023-24 academic year.

The quickest way to apply is online via your Student Finance Wales account, although it’s also possible to apply via post.

You’ll need to provide details of your identity and the course you plan to study, plus your National Insurance number (if you have one). You’ll also need to have a UK bank account.

If you’re applying for the means-tested element of the Masters funding, your parents or partner will need to submit an Assessment of Financial Circumstances Form (PGPFF) with details of your household income. This form can be downloaded from your Student Finance Wales account once you’ve submitted the rest of the application.

If you’re an independent student, you’ll be asked to supply your expected taxable unearned income for the academic year that you’ll begin your course in. This includes things like interest on savings and income from property, but doesn’t include any earnings from full-time or part-time work.

If you already have an account with Student Finance Wales you should use it for your postgraduate funding application.

The deadline for applying is quite relaxed: you must submit your application no later than nine months from the beginning of your final year.

This will normally be:

You only need to apply once for a postgraduate funding but you can change the amount you wish to borrow later in your course.

You can find more information and advice in our postgraduate loan application guide.

These are a couple of FAQs concerning the application process for postgraduate funding in Wales.

Your repayments will begin in the April after you finish your programme, provided you’ve graduated (or left your course).

The amount you repay is linked to your income: you’ll only repay 6% of what you earn over £21,000 a year (£1,750 a month).

How you repay depends on your employment circumstances:

• If you are employed in the UK, your repayments will be taken automatically from your salary by HMRC (at the same time as your income tax and national insurance)
• If you are self-employed in the UK, HMRC will collect your repayments as part of your annual tax return
• If you work outside the UK you will need to contact the Student Loans Company to arrange your repayments
• If you are unemployed you won’t need to make repayments

If you also have an undergraduate loan you will make two concurrent repayments as follows:

• 6% of earnings over £21,000 a year for your postgraduate student loan
• 9% of earnings over £25,000 a year for your undergraduate student loan

You will also pay interest on your postgraduate loan and this will begin accumulating from the date of your first payment. The rate is linked to inflation using the Retail Prices Index (RPI) and changes each year. It is currently 4.5%, but this changes every year.

Any remaining loan (including interest) will be written off 30 years after you become eligible to make repayments.

Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions about repaying a Welsh postgraduate loan.

Got a more specific question about postgraduate funding in Wales, or looking for something you can’t find on the page?

We’re always adding to our guides based on information from the Student Loans Company and feedback from students at our postgraduate study events. If we haven’t answered your question, get in touch with us by emailing editor[at]findamasters.com and we’ll do our best to help.