External loan for Masters student for living costs

adamtengku

I would also be very interested to find out the answer to the original question. 

My friend is in the same situation, he has just completed an undergrad corse and looking to do a masters, but the Masters Loan does not quite cover the course feed themselves. He could make up the difference for that but that leaves living expenses at zero. I assumed there would be a similar scene to the maintenance loan for that level but obviously there isn’t, so is there any option for him to get financial support just for living expenses anywhere (apart from grants and scholarships, which he is looking into)?

Dr_Crypto

I think the answer is that there is no help at the moment. SFE say that payments were made as normal and that money should have been put aside to pay for university once it restarted, in the same way that they don’t pay you over the summer Break. 

You’re studies haven’t been extended as the clock stopped when the course was suspended.
Maybe look at either a part time job or a personal loan if you’re credit worthy. 

davidw123

Having done a BSc and a MSc it works as follows;
A postgraduate loan is a fixed amount of:

• £11,222 if your course starts on or after 1 August 2020

This is all you will be provided. There is no maintenance loan. However, master degrees tend to vary per cost and can be cheaper then a standard degree which is usually £9250.00 ish per year. You will also get a alumni discount if you choose to study your masters at the same school.

So for example, my MSC course cost me £7000.00. I was granted a 10% alumni discount (£700.00) which meant my postgraduate loan of £10500, left me with £4200.00 to live off. I also worked during this time so it was beneficial.

It would be worthwhile saying a Masters isn't as rigorous as a standard degree and my wife worked full time whilst doing a full time masters in the evening and I did the masters PT over two years whilst I worked full time. We are both professionals in our late twenties.