Postgraduate Student Finance

TAUGHT POSTGRADUATE COURSES

Find below a list of taught degrees available and the tuition fees associated with them

Postgraduate Taught Fees 2024-25 (for students starting during that academic year)

Postgraduate Taught Fees 2025-26 (for students starting during that academic year)

Part time students will generally receive an invoice for each module and the invoice will be generated shortly after the start date of the module.  Please refer to the Student Financial Regulations to find out about paying in instalments and due dates for payment.

Courses indicated as being in partnership with Robert Kennedy College are subject to different fee models and fees are paid direct to them.  For more information please visit their website directly.

Paying your fees

You can pay your tuition fees online, directly to the university. You can pay in full or spread out the cost through a maximum of three installments. To discuss installments, email us at accountsreceivableteam@cumbria.ac.uk.

Tuition fee invoices are sent electronically to students' university and personal email accounts.

Make a payment - with an invoice

Research & Taught PhDs 2025/26

PGR 2025-6 Fees

Paying your fees

You can pay your tuition fees online, directly to the university. You can pay in full or spread out the cost through a maximum of three instalments. To discuss instalments, email us at accountsreceivableteam@cumbria.ac.uk.

Tuition fee invoices are sent electronically to students' university and personal email accounts.

Make a payment - with an invoice

If you are interested in continuing your studies past graduation, then we’re here to help you get started. We offer a discount on postgraduate fees to eligible graduates of the University of Cumbria.

For your first postgraduate award, you could receive as much as a 20% discount on taught courses, or 10% on research degrees. This is for awards of up to a maximum of 180 credits, and does not apply to PGCE students. International students will be entitled to the same absolute discount (not percentage) as home and EU students.

To receive this discount, you must have previously studied at the University of Cumbria as an undergraduate in the last 5 years and achieved an award of 120 credits minimum, as well as meet the relevant entry requirements for postgraduate study. Accreditation of Prior Learning charges are not included in this discount.

We want to reward our students who choose to continue with academia, so for more information on this discount or anything about postgraduate study, please contact the Enquiry Centre.

Postgraduate master's loan

If you’re starting a master’s degree and you are studying 180 credits, you could get a Postgraduate Master’s Loan to help with course fees and living costs. Payments will be made to you in three instalments per academic year, split 33%/33%/34% of the total amount requested per academic year. 

If your circumstances change whilst studying for example, you wish to transfer, repeat or change course length, it is important to seek advice about how this may impact your funding. Contact your funding organisation or the Student Money Advice Team using the Student Enquiry Point.  

For Postgraduate Healthcare courses, there is a different package of support available. Please see the Health Student Finance page.

Entitlement

Funding for postgraduate loans is different if you normally live in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Moving somewhere to study does not count as normally living there.

Students normally living outside of the UK should contact gov.uk for more information and eligibility criteria.

Find out more

Postgraduate doctoral loan

If you’re studying a doctoral degree, you could get a Postgraduate Doctoral Loan to help with course fees and living costs.

Find out more

Repaying your loan

The earliest you start repaying your Postgraduate Master’s or Doctoral Loan is when your annual income is over £21,000 and it’s either:

• The first April after you leave your course
• April 4 years after the course started

Contact Student Finance England if your circumstances change or you leave your course early. You’ll have to pay back any overpayment straight away even if your income is less than £21,000.

Repayment Amount:

You’ll pay back 6% of your income over the minimum amount (‘threshold’). This is £21,000 a year, £1,750 a month or £404 a week.

Repayment Example:

You earn £2,500 a month before tax. This is £750 over the monthly threshold. You’ll repay £45 (6% of this amount) each month.

If you already have a Postgraduate Master’s Loan then you’ll make a combined repayment of 6% covering both postgraduate loans.  You’ll be charged interest from the day you get the first payment until your loan is repaid in full or cancelled.

You must repay any undergraduate student loans you have at the same time.

Repayment terms are different if you normally live in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

For other courses not covered by either the Masters Loan or specialist funding, we advise you to do some research as early as possible into what funding is available to you.

Click on the links below for information on potentially available funding.

• Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
• Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
• Economic and Social Research Council
• Enhanced Learning Credits Scheme (ELCAS) - If you currently serve (or have recently served) within the Armed Forces and wish to enhance your education, then you can receive help covering your funding.
• Medical Research Council
• Natural Environment Research Council
• Science and Technology Facilities Council
• Postgrad Solutions Study Bursaries - bursaries of £500 towards fees in various subjects.  
• The Leverhulme Trust - scholarships for research and education
• Rotary Foundation Scholarships
• Fulbright Commission - US exchange programme
• IEFA - a searchable database of scholarship and bursary information
• Association of Commonwealth Universities - provides scholarships, grants, loans and assistantships open to commonwealth graduates who wish to undertake further study at a commonwealth university outside their own country

Check out the websites below for more information about applying for postgraduate funding.

• Prospects.ac.uk
• Gov.uk
• UKPASS.ac.uk