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Postgraduate Master's loans

If you’re ordinarily resident in the UK, you may be able to apply for UK Government postgraduate funding to support your study at Cardiff University.

Please note that all figures quoted below are based on the 26/27 figures. These are pending regulations being made and therefore may be subject to change.

Postgraduate loans are separate to undergraduate funding and any undergraduate funding you previously received is not linked to your access to a postgraduate loan.

The postgraduate loan available to you will depend on where you are ordinarily resident before you start your course and the course you plan to study. Previous study on a postgraduate course could impact the postgraduate loan available to you.

Some postgraduate courses attract specific funding. Please find information below specific to the following courses:

Please note, if you are a current undergraduate student in Wales and intend to progress immediately to a postgraduate course after graduation, you will need to apply to the funding body based on where you were living before you started your undergraduate course.

Please check the funding information for the country you are normally resident in:

If you ordinarily live in Wales and intend to start a Master's course then you can apply to Student Finance Wales for postgraduate funding.

What funding is available?

All eligible students who are ordinarily resident in Wales before starting their course, and who will be studying an eligible course, could receive a non-means tested loan up to a maximum of £19,635 over the length of their course to help meet the cost of tuition fees and general living costs.

This funding is paid directly to students in instalments. The number of instalments will depend on the length of your course. The first instalment is normally released to you within 3-5 working days after you have completed enrolment and collected your ID card. Therefore it is important to arrive at the university with funding for at least two weeks available to you.

Unlike undergraduate funding, there is no specific tuition fee loan available and payment of tuition fees need to be made directly to the University.

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.

Additional funding from Cardiff University

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.

If you ordinarily live in England and intend to start a Master's course then you can apply to Student Finance England for postgraduate funding.

What funding is available?

All eligible students who are ordinarily resident in England before starting their course and who will be studying an eligible course could receive a non-means tested loan, up to a maximum of £13,206 over the length of their course to help meet the cost of tuition fees and general living costs.

This funding is paid directly to students in instalments. The number of instalments will depend on the length of your course. The first instalment is normally released to you within 3-5 working days after you have completed enrolment and collected your ID card. Therefore it is important to arrive at the university with funding for at least two weeks available to you.

Unlike undergraduate funding, there is no specific tuition fee loan available and payment of tuition fees need to be made directly to the University.

If you will be studying on an eligible part-time course then funding will be split across the academic years of your course.

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, including any time registered on an integrated masters course
  • if you are receiving other funding, such as an NHS bursary or Social Work bursary

More details about the eligibility criteria can be found via 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 England 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.

Additional funding from Cardiff University

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.

Information on how to apply is available on the Student Awards Agency Scotland website.

Information on how to apply is available on the nidirect government services website.

Student Funding and Advice team

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