Master’s funding if you live in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland

Funding follows where you normally live, not where you study. £19,635 in Wales, £7,000 plus £6,900 in Scotland, £10,000 in Northern Ireland, £13,206 in England.

Your funding comes from the nation where you normally live, whichever UK university you choose. For 2026/27, Wales pays up to £19,635 into your bank account and Northern Ireland pays up to £10,000 straight to the university; Scotland offers a £7,000 tuition fee loan plus a £6,900 living-costs loan (the SAAS guide gives no year); England pays £13,206 to you. England and Wales have not published 2027/28 figures; the SAAS and Student Finance NI pages give no later year.

ItemFigure
England£13,206, paid to you in 3 instalments
Wales£19,635, paid to you in 3 instalments
Scotland£7,000 tuition fee loan plus £6,900 living-costs loan
Northern Ireland£10,000, paid to the university (£6,500 for students who started in 2025/26 or earlier)
2027/28Not published by England or Wales; no later year on the SAAS or Student Finance NI pages

Courses for this guide

Master’s courses in the finder

Choose your nation in Your details to see the right loan against each fee.

You are seeing example figures, not yours

We have filled in figures for a typical applicant so you can see how the finder works. Change them to yours and every result updates.

Courses with a StepEx loan

StepEx Lender Ltd offers loans for these courses. Approval is not guaranteed.

The University of Law

StepEx loanSee the representative example
MA Law (Conversion) Non London Full Time

MA · Full time · 1 year

StepEx loan: 48 months · 9.0% APR representative

Fee
£15,150

Fee for 2027/28

£1,944 more than the SLC master's loan covers
Affordability
Outcomes
University employment rate: 90%

The University of Law

StepEx loanSee the representative example
MA Law (Conversion) Non London Part Time

MA · Part time · 2 years

StepEx loan: 60 months · 7.6% APR representative

Fee
£15,150

Fee for 2027/28 · whole course, over 2 years

£1,944 more than the SLC master's loan covers
Affordability
Outcomes
University employment rate: 90%

The University of Law

StepEx loanSee the representative example
LLM Legal Practice (SQE1&2) - Part-time Non London

LLM · Part time · 2 years

StepEx loan: 60 months · 5.1% APR representative

Fee
£15,450

Fee for 2027/28 · whole course, over 2 years

£2,244 more than the SLC master's loan covers
Affordability
Outcomes
University employment rate: 90%

Our ranking is impartial: whether a course has a StepEx loan is not a factor. All courses are ranked by affordability, then graduate pay at 5 years. Courses with a StepEx loan are also shown in a separate section above.

More about how we rank

Top 5 of 2710 courses

2468 likely affordable · affordable first, then highest graduate pay at 5 years

Sort

City St George's

Corporate Risk Management MSc

MSc · Full time · 1 year

Fee
£16,000

Fee for 2026/27 (September 2026 entry)

£2,794 more than the SLC master's loan covers
Affordability
Outcomes
University employment rate: 89%

City St George's

Quantitative Finance MSc

MSc · Full time · 1 year

Fee
£16,500

Fee for 2026/27 (September 2026 entry)

£3,294 more than the SLC master's loan covers
Affordability
Outcomes
University employment rate: 89%

Loughborough

MSc Finance

MSc · Full time · 1 year

Fee
£14,000

Fee for 2027-28

£794 more than the SLC master's loan covers
Affordability
Outcomes
University employment rate: 84%

Loughborough

MSc Accounting and Finance

MSc · Full time · 1 year

Fee
£14,000

Fee for 2027-28

£794 more than the SLC master's loan covers
Affordability
Outcomes
University employment rate: 84%

Durham

Finance

Master’s · Full time · 1 year

Fee
£17,500

Fee for September 2027 entry

£4,294 more than the SLC master's loan covers
Affordability
Outcomes
University employment rate: 93%

Open Affordability or Outcomes on any course for the detail. Courses with a StepEx loan are marked and get no preference in the order. How we work it out

Paying the university directly assumes three instalments: at the start, after 4 months and after 7 months. Estimates based on the figures shown, not advice. A StepEx loan is subject to identity, affordability and credit checks; approval is not guaranteed.

Wales

Student Finance Wales gives a single loan of up to £19,635 for 2026/27 for fees and living costs together, not means-tested, paid to you in three instalments, usually once a term. Over a two-year course it is about £9,817 a year.

Scotland

The Student Awards Agency Scotland offers a tuition fee loan of up to £7,000 and a living-costs loan of up to £6,900 for eligible full-time courses, £13,900 in total. The tuition loan goes towards the fee; the living-costs loan is yours. Part-time students can apply for the tuition fee loan.

Northern Ireland

Student Finance NI pays a tuition fee loan of up to £10,000 for new starters in 2026/27, straight to the university on your behalf. Students who started in 2025/26 or earlier stay on the old maximum of £6,500. If the fee is higher, you pay the difference to the university.

England

The Postgraduate Master’s Loan from Student Finance England is £13,206 for courses starting on or after 1 August 2026. It is paid to you, not the university, in three instalments a year (33%, 33% and 34%), and the amount does not depend on your income or your family’s. You repay 6% of what you earn over £21,000 a year (£1,750 a month); interest is currently 6% a year. The 2027/28 amount has not been published.

Ways to pay

  • SLC

    The government SLC master's loan. The amount depends on where you live.

    How the SLC master's loan works
  • Pay the university directly

    Usually in three instalments: at the start, after 4 months and after 7 months.

  • StepEx loan

    Available on some courses here. See the representative example on the provider page.

    Check finance availability

Questions people ask

Scotland’s. Apply to SAAS; the loan amounts are the Scottish ones regardless of the university.

Related guides