Postgraduate student finance

Here you'll find the latest information about postgraduate and doctoral loans for Master's and 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.

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 postgraduate or doctoral loan to help cover the costs of study. Check the 'Postgraduate loans' 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 course 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 Masters), your tuition fees won't vary from those listed on our course pages.

Paying your fees

Students not receiving a postgraduate 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 at the following times:

  • if you're starting in January: one third of the remaining fees at registration, a further third in April, and the final third in June.
  • if you're starting in September: one third of the remaining fees at registration, a further third in November, and the final third in January.

Students receiving a postgraduate 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.

Please note: if you're studying a Masters course that lasts longer than 12 months, your loan payments will be spread across the full course duration. Our repayment plans can be adapted in these instances to suit your needs, but please discuss your case with our finance team. You can contact us at [email protected]

There are a number of eligibility criteria for the postgraduate loan: see the 'Postgraduate loans' tab on this page for more details.

Doctoral loans

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 doctoral loans: see the 'Postgraduate loans' tab on this page for more details.

Postgraduate loans

Eligible students can access a postgraduate loan to study a Masters degree, or a doctoral loan to pursue a doctoral qualification such as a PhD.

The Master's Loan

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

  • £11,836 if your course starts on or after 1 August 2022
  • £11,570 if your course started between 1 August 2021 and 31 July 2022
  • £11,222 if your course started between 1 August 2020 and 31 July 2021

The amount you'll receive is not dependent on your or your family's income. If your course lasts for more than a year, the loan will be divided equally across each year of your course.

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

Find out more, check your eligibility, and apply for a Master's Loan at Gov.UK

The Doctoral Loan

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

  • £27,892 if your course starts on or after 1 August 2022
  • £27,265 if your course started between 1 August 2021 and 31 July 2022
  • £26,445 if your course started between 1 August 2020 and 31 July 2021

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 October 2022 but may be subject to change.

Scholarships and funding

We offer a number of ARU scholarships and bursaries to postgraduate students and researchers. Take a look at what's on offer.

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.

Options for funding a course include:

PhD studentships

Charities, trusts and foundations

Research councils

Social work funding

Physician Associate funding

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.