Postgraduate research student finance

Here you'll find the latest information about doctoral loans for research students, our scholarships and other sources of funding.

If you have any questions about fees and funding, our Money Advice Service is on hand to offer free, specialist advice. We also run finance talks at our postgraduate Open Evenings.

We also offer information on fees and funding for taught postgraduate students.

Tuition fees

You'll find details of fees on individual course pages, but check our tuition fees page for a general guide.

Eligible students can access a Doctoral Loan to help cover the costs of study. Check the 'Doctoral Loan' section on this page for details.

As well as tuition fees, there may be some extra, course-specific costs. You'll find details in the 'Fees and funding' section of individual programme pages.

Course pages also contain details of part-time fees, which are linked to the full-time fee and may vary depending on the number of course credits you study each year.

If you're studying a postgraduate course and you already hold an equivalent qualification (for example, another PhD), your tuition fees won't vary from those listed on our course pages.

Paying your fees

Students not receiving a Doctoral Loan

You won't need to pay fees until you've accepted an offer to study here. Fees can be paid in three instalments through our online payment system.

Students receiving a Doctoral Loan

You can use part or all of a doctoral loan to pay fees for a PhD or Professional Doctorate.

You won't need to pay fees until you've accepted an offer to study here. Fees can be paid in three instalments through our online payment system.

There are a number of eligibility criteria for the Doctoral Loans: see the 'Doctoral Loan' tab on this page for more details.

Doctoral Loan

If you're an eligible postgraduate research student, you can apply for a Doctoral Loan to cover your course fees and living costs. You can borrow up to:

  • £28,673 if your course started on or after 1 August 2023
  • £27,892 if your course started between 1 August 2022 and 31 July 2023
  • £27,265 if your course started between 1 August 2021 and 31 July 2022

The amount you'll receive is not dependent on your or your family's income. The loan will be divided equally across each year of your course.

You won't start repaying your Doctoral Loan until you're earning more than £21,000 a year.

Find out more, check your eligibility, and apply for a Doctoral Loan at Gov.uk

This information was updated in March 2024 but may be subject to change.

Scholarships and funding

We offer a number of ARU scholarships and bursaries to postgraduate researchers. Take a look at the scholarships and bursaries we offer.

PhD studentships

From time to time, we offer fully-funded studentship opportunities. These are usually advertised on on our postgraduate research page, the ARU jobs website and/or FindAPhD.

These include our Vice Chancellor's PhD Studentships – fully-funded studentships (fees and a stipend), offering the chance to undertake research in a selected range of disciplinary areas. Studentships start in September each year. Find out more about Vice Chancellor's PhD Studentships.

Professional doctorates are another option: they're typically funded by employers. Contact our postgraduate research degree team for information about our range of professional doctorates.

Other sources of funding are available, and you may find the Alternative Guide to Postgraduate Funding useful. Anyone can access it but if you're currently studying at ARU, you can login to the Alternative Guide to Postgraduate Funding for free.

Other options for funding a course include:

Charities, trusts and foundations

Research councils

Graduate loans

Grants and allowances

You may be able to apply for some additional grants, allowances and benefits to support you in your study. Some of these are income assessed.

Options include:

Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA)

Tax credits

Council tax

Help with healthcare costs

Cost of living

We understand it’s a difficult time with the cost of living increasing, so we offer a range of discounts and free resources to our students. 

Read more about cost of living support at ARU.