Postgraduate Doctoral loans
If you’re ordinarily resident in the UK, you may be able to apply for a doctoral loan to support your study.
Please note that all figures quoted below are based on the 26/27 figures but are pending regulations being made and therefore may be subject to change.
The doctoral loan available to you will depend on where you are ordinarily resident before you start your course. Please check the funding information for the country you are normally resident in:
If you ordinarily live in Wales then you may be eligible to apply for a postgraduate doctoral loan from Student Finance Wales.
What funding is available?
If you meet the eligibility criteria then you could get a loan up to £29,705 over the length of your course to help meet the cost of tuition fees and general living costs.
Payment of this loan will be divided equally across each year of your course. Each year’s entitlement is then paid directly to you in three instalments; one at the start of each term.
Eligibility
Whether you can receive postgraduate funding from Student Finance Wales will depend on:
- your nationality and residency
- your course
- your university or college
- your age
- your previous study
- if you are receiving other funding, such as an NHS bursary or Social Work bursary
More details about the eligibility criteria can be found at Student Finance Wales.
Additional funding from Student Finance Wales
Depending on your personal circumstances there may be additional funding available to you via the Disabled Students Allowance if you have a disability or long-term health condition. Please visit Student Finance Wales for more information.
How to apply for funding
The application process for students who are ordinarily resident in Wales and who intend to start a course in September 2026 is not yet open. Please check Student Finance Wales to keep up to date with when applications for 2026 entry open.
You can apply for the loan in any year of your course but if you apply after your first year, you might not get the maximum amount.
Additional funding
Repaying a postgraduate loan
You can find out more information about how postgraduate loans are repaid.
If you are repaying any undergraduate loans (tuition fee loan and/or maintenance loan), the postgraduate loan repayments will be taken in addition to undergraduate loan repayments. This means you could be repaying both your Undergraduate and Postgraduate loans simultaneously if you earn above the repayment threshold.
If you ordinarily live in England then you may be eligible to apply for a postgraduate doctoral loan from Student Finance England.
What funding is available?
If you meet the eligibility criteria then you could get a loan up to £31,122 over the length of your course to help meet the cost of tuition fees and general living costs.
Payment of this loan will be divided equally across each year of your course. Each year’s entitlement is then paid directly to you in three instalments; one at the start of each term.
Eligibility
Whether you can receive postgraduate funding from Student Finance England will depend on:
- your nationality and residency
- your course
- your university or college
- your age
- your previous study
- if you are receiving other funding, such as an NHS bursary or Social Work bursary
More details about the eligibility criteria can be found at Student Finance England.
Additional funding from Student Finance England
Depending on your personal circumstances there may be additional funding available to you via the Disabled Students Allowance if you have a disability or long-term health condition. Please visit Student Finance England for more information.
How to apply for funding
The application process for students who are ordinarily resident in Wales and who intend to start a course in September 2026 is not yet open. Please check Student Finance England to keep up to date with when applications for 2026 entry open.
You can apply for the loan in any year of your course but if you apply after your first year, you might not get the maximum amount.
Additional funding
Repaying a postgraduate loan
You can find out more information about how postgraduate loans are repaid here.
If you are repaying any undergraduate loans (tuition fee loan and/or maintenance loan), the postgraduate loan repayments will be taken in addition to undergraduate loan repayments. This means you could be repaying both your Undergraduate and Postgraduate loans simultaneously if you earn above the repayment threshold.
Contact us
If you have any questions about funding your postgraduate course please get in touch with the Student Funding and Advice Team:
Student Funding and Advice team
- +44 (0)29 2251 8888
- Website:
- Submit an enquiry
We currently have a number of studentships available through our Doctoral Training Programmes.
