What can I get if I'm a postgraduate?

So, you survived three years of undergraduate study and now you’re looking to take on even more? Perhaps you enjoyed your course subject so much you want to spend more time studying it, or maybe your chosen career path requires a higher qualification? Whatever the reason behind your decision to study at postgraduate level, with a one-year course costing roughly £3,000 in tuition fees and £6,000 in living costs and the average graduate already facing roughly £12,000 of debt upon leaving university, chances are money matters are likely to be top of your agenda.

The type of funding you might be entitled to will vary considerably depending on which institution you attend, what discipline you are studying and whether your course is part-time or full-time, taught or research-based. It can be very confusing, but fear not – Student Cash Point is your one-stop shop for postgrad cash!

Professional and Career Development Loans

A Professional and Career Development Loan is a repayable bank loan you can use to gain extra skills and qualifications that improve your future career prospects. It enables you to borrow between £300 and £10,000 and is often used to fund popular and competitive postgraduate courses such as Law, Business Management, and Information Technology. You enter an agreement with a bank to borrow a set amount of money and then you repay this loan once you’ve finished studying. The Young People's Learning Agency (YPLA) pays the interest on these loans whilst you are studying – and for one month after completing your course – and then you have to meet monthly repayments, plus a fixed rate of interest agreed with the bank at the time of taking out the loan.

Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)

All PGCE students will have to pay up to £3,290 in tuition fees, but they may be eligible for a Tuition Fee Loan to cover these costs. There are also tax-free bursaries worth £4,000, £6,000 or £9,000 on offer from the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA), depending on which subject you intend to teach.

For example, maths and science postgraduate trainees can receive a bursary of £9,000, English and other languages can receive £6,000, while arts or social sciences can get £4,000.

Other taxable cash incentives (sometimes called “golden hellos”) worth £2,500 or £5,000 may also be available from the TDA for trainees who complete a postgraduate ITT course and take up a permanent position teaching the subject you trained to teach in. Those eligible would receive this one-off payment at the start of their second year of teaching, after successfully completing their induction period, and subject to eligibility criteria.

A similar incentive is available in Wales, called a Teaching Grant. Eligible trainees are those who have completed four months as a qualified teacher in a maintained school in Wales or England in the following subjects: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, ICT, Design & Technology, or Welsh.

Employer Sponsorship

In certain cases your employer will fund or part-fund the cost of your part-time postgraduate studies whilst you continue to work, so long as the qualification you are undertaking is relevant to your current post and will enhance your ability to do your job. There’s a lot to be said for studying part-time whilst remaining in a job you like and have already chosen – you get a regular income for one and you are almost certainly improving your career prospects because your chosen course is so directly relevant. There are some bad points, though – you may be tied down to working for this particular employer for a number of years in order to ‘work off’ your debt and you may find that holding down a busy, professional post and studying hard is too much.

Government Funding

Currently, government funding in the UK is limited and only a small amount of postgraduate students will receive funding from the government or their Local Education Authority. Students in Scotland perhaps have the best chance under the Postgraduate Students’ Allowances Scheme (PSAS).

Scholarships

These can be few and far between, especially for popular courses in the Arts. Expect a rigorous and competitive application process, with selection often being based on academic record. Scholarships are offered by both professional institutions and Higher Education institutions.

Studentships

Studentships differ slightly from scholarships in that they tend to be offered by Higher Education institutions (and some private companies) in exchange for some kind of ‘fieldwork’, such as part-time teaching. Usually intended to cover the cost of tuition fees and maintenance, studentships are more likely to be awarded based on skill and academic merit and a successful applicant would be expected to play an integral part in the academic life of a particular department.

Research Councils

Almost all subject disciplines have a national research council, such as the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), who could fund your research degree or taught postgraduate course (providing you intend to progress onto a research project). As you might expect, each council only has limited funds and competition is fierce. Applicants are almost always asked to submit a research proposal in order to apply and may be called to interview. The good news is, available funds are usually very well-publicised and the application process is always clearly explained. Sometimes a research council will advertise their own project or strand of funding but more generally they allocate money to particular Universities who deal directly with applications.

If you are considering a research council as a possible source of funding, you should be aware that they often (but not always) provide money for very specific projects which have already been worked out. For example, you may wish to apply for funding to study English Literature at postgraduate level but when you approach the AHRC you may find they are only offering money to someone who wants to study the novels of Charles Dickens. If Charles Dickens is the topic for you, and you don’t mind your research being essentially ‘chosen’ on your behalf, then this could be your money!

Private Sponsorship

Some postgraduate students, particularly those working in science-based disciplines, may be able to secure substantial funding from the private sector or even an individual. Put some initial leg work into thinking about and researching the types of private companies that operate in your chosen academic field – for example, a Chemistry student could squeeze money for their studies out of multinationals such as Shell or Kimberley-Clark.