Postgraduate Loans (PGL) (Northern Ireland)

About the project

The Northern Ireland government offers postgraduate loans to UK Nationals (and those with settled status in the UK) who have most recently been resident in Northern Ireland.

Loans are available for postgraduate Masters, Diploma and Certificate programmes.

Students from Northern Ireland

The UK government offers a postgraduate doctoral loan scheme for those that meet their nationality and residency criteria who have most recently been resident in Northern Ireland.

Award | Method of Study | Duration | Tuition Fee Loan – students starting 2026-2027

Masters -Taught and Research | Full-time | 1 year | Up to £10,000

Masters -Taught and Research | Full-time | 2 years | Up to £10,000 over 2 years

Masters -Taught and Research | Part-time | 2 years | Up to £10,000 over 2 years

Masters -Taught and Research | Part-time | 3 years | Up to £10,000 over 3 years

Masters -Taught and Research | Part-time intermittent (ICL) | 2 - 6 years | Not available

PG Diploma | Full-time | 1 year | Up to £10,000

PG Diploma | Part-time | 2 years | Up to £10,000 over 2 years

PG Certificate | Full-time | 1 year | Up to £10,000

Eligibility

• you must be a UK national (or have settled status) and been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for three years on the first day of the first academic year of your degree programme;
• you must be 'ordinarily resident' in Northern Ireland (temporary absence from your home address, such as for education or travelling, will not prevent you from being eligible to apply for a PGL);

Applying

You can apply online at Student Finance Northern Ireland

You will need to submit a loan application for each academic year of your course.

You can submit an application no later than 9 months after the first day of the academic year of your programme.

Payment

Payments will be released after you have registered on your degree programme and the University has confirmed your attendance to the Student Loan Company (SLC).

Payments will be made direct to the University in three instalments per academic year.

Repayment

For Northern Ireland domiciled students Plan 1 repayment terms apply to the PG TFL.

Student Finance Northern Ireland Postgraduate Tuition Fee Loan Guide

This article was published on 2024-07-29

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