Postgraduate doctoral loans

About the project

Government loans are available for eligible home fee-paying postgraduate research students to help fund your studies.

Key points

The information on this page relates to the academic year 2026-27 for Student Finance England . Information for 2027 entry will be published on this web page when it is available.

Students from Wales can find out more information about postgraduate doctoral loans on the Student Finance Wales web pages .

• A loan from the government is available to eligible home fee-paying students studying eligible doctoral courses.
• The amount you’ll get is not based on your income or your family’s.

On this page

• Eligibility
• How much can I borrow
• How to apply
• Paying back your loan
• Support for students with a disability
• Additional information
• Contact us about fees and funding

Eligibility

Eligible home fee-paying students can apply for a postgraduate doctoral loan from the UK government to help fund their studies. For students from England, the agency is Student Finance England.

Whether you qualify for a postgraduate doctoral loan depends on your course, your age, and your nationality or residency status.

You will not be able to get a postgraduate doctoral loan if you already have a doctoral degree, or a qualification that’s equivalent or higher. You will also not be able to get a postgraduate doctoral loan if you’ve received or will receive Research Council funding (for example, studentships, stipends, scholarships and tuition fee support).

There are additional criteria that may mean you are not eligible for a postgraduate doctoral loan. For more information about eligibility, please refer to the government website.

Gov.uk - Doctoral loan - Eligibility

Course

Your course must be a full, standalone doctoral course, have started on or after 1 August 2018, last between 3 to 8 academic years, and be provided by a university in the UK with research degree awarding powers.

It can be full-time or part-time and taught or research-based (or a combination of both).

You can apply for a loan if your doctoral programme includes an integrated master’s degree (even if you already have a master’s degree). You must register for a full doctoral degree.

You can qualify for a loan if you are undertaking distance learning, depending on whether you meet the relevant eligibility criteria.

For more information about eligibility, please refer to the government website.

Gov.uk - Doctoral loan - Eligibility

Age

You must be under 60 on the first day of the first academic year of your course.

The academic year is a period of 12 months starting on:

• 1 September, if your course starts between 1 August and 31 December
• 1 January, if your course starts between 1 January and 31 March
• 1 April, if your course starts between 1 April and 30 June
• 1 July, if your course starts between 1 July and 31 July

Nationality or residency status

Whether you qualify for a loan depends on your nationality or residency status.

For more information about eligibility, please refer to the government website.

Gov.uk - Doctoral loan - Eligibility

How much can I borrow

A postgraduate doctoral loan can help with course fees and living costs while you study a postgraduate doctoral course.

The amount you’ll get is not based on your income or your family’s. If you are starting your course in the academic year 2026-2027, you can borrow up to £31,122.

A lower amount of loan is available if you are already registered on a course:

Course start date | Maximum loan available

Between 1 August 2025 and 31 July 2026 | £30,301

Between 1 August 2024 and 31 July 2025 | £29,390

Between 1 August 2023 and 31 July 2024 | £28,673

You can apply for a postgraduate doctoral loan in any year of your course but if you apply after your first year, you might not get the maximum amount.

For more information on what you’ll get, please refer to the government website.

Gov.uk - Doctoral loan - What you’ll get

The loan will be divided equally across each year of your course. The loan will be paid directly to you.

After your application has been approved, you’ll be sent a letter with your payment dates. You can also check them in your online account. The loan will be paid directly to you in three instalments of 33%, 33% and 34% each year. You get the first payment after your course start date, once the University confirms that you’ve registered.

How to apply

Applications usually open in the May or June before you start your course.

You only need to apply once for a postgraduate doctoral loan for your course.

You need to apply within 9 months of the first day of the last academic year of the course.

For more information, please refer to the government website.

Gov.uk - Doctoral loan - How to apply

When do I pay back my loan?

Loan repayments will usually commence from the April after course completion at the earliest (or the April 4 years after the course started if you’re studying part-time and your course is longer than 4 years) and only when your income is over the repayment threshold set by the government: this is currently £21,000 a year for postgraduate loan repayment plans.

For more information, please refer to the government website.

Gov.uk - Repaying your student loan - When you start repaying

How do I pay back my loan?

Your repayments will be taken out of your salary at the same time as tax and National Insurance if you’re an employee. Your payslips will show how much has been deducted. If you're self-employed, you'll pay through HM Revenue and Customs.

For more information, please refer to the government website.

Gov.uk - Repaying your student loan - How to repay

How much will I pay?

How much you repay depends on your income. You’ll repay a percentage of your income over the repayment threshold set by the government (currently £21,000 for postgraduate loan repayment plans).

The doctoral loan repayment will be calculated at 6% of income above the repayment threshold.

Repayments will be made concurrently alongside repayment of any outstanding undergraduate student loan.

Your repayments are based on what you earn, not what you owe. If your wages drop, this is reflected in your repayments. For more information, please refer to the government website.

Gov.uk - Repaying your student loan - How much you repay

You can choose to make extra repayments towards your student loan. For more information, please refer to the government website.

Gov.uk - Repaying your student loan - Make extra repayments

Your postgraduate doctoral loan will be written off 30 years after the April you were first due to repay.

What about interest?

The loan's interest rate will usually be calculated at the Retail Price Index (RPI) plus 3%. This interest will accrue from the date the first loan instalment is paid.

For more information about how the interest is calculated, please refer to the government website.

Gov.uk - How interest is calculated - Postgraduate loan

Support for students with a disability

As a reminder, the information on this page relates to Student Finance England.

Students from Wales can find out more information online:

Wales - Student Finance Wales - Disabled Students' Allowance

If you have a disability or specific learning difficulty, such as dyslexia, you can apply for Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA).

This can be on its own or in addition to any student finance you get, though you must at least be eligible to receive student finance.

The type of support and how much you get depends on your individual needs - not your household income. For part-time students, your ‘course intensity’ can affect how much DSA you get (‘course intensity’ means how long your course takes to complete each year compared to an equivalent full-time course).

Gov.uk - Disabled Students’ Allowance

Postgraduate students will need to fill in a form. Find out more information on the government website.

Gov.uk - Disabled Students’ Allowance - How to apply

More information about the support available for disabled students at the University of Sheffield can be found on the Disability and Dyslexia Support Service (DDSS) web pages.

Disability and Dyslexia Support Service (DDSS)

Additional information

For more information about paying your tuition fees as a postgraduate research student using a doctoral loan, refer to our web pages.

Tuition fees for postgraduate research home students

Guidance about additional funding and how to manage your money can be found on our web pages.

Living costs Additional funding for postgraduate study

If you need to discuss your financial situation with someone, you can contact the Student Advice Centre in the Students' Union (both prospective students with an offer and current students).

Student Advice Centre

They have also provided some useful money management information online, available to all.

Student Advice Centre - Money Management

If you are a prospective student and have any other general enquiries, find out more about how you can contact us .

Contact us about fees and funding

We're here to help.

If it's urgent or you can't find answers, call +44 114 222 9754

We're available from 10am until 4pm, Monday to Friday. Outside of these times, complete the relevant online form.

We've also gathered answers to common questions about tuition fees, accommodation fees and reassessment charges .

Fees

Call us and select option two . Alternatively, complete our student fees enquiry form .

Call us and select option three . Alternatively, complete our student fee payments enquiry form .

Funding (bursaries, scholarships and financial support)

Call us and select option one . Alternatively, complete our student funding enquiry form .

Related information

• Tuition fees for postgraduate research home fee-paying students
• Alumni Discount
• PhD scholarships

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