The UK government PhD loan is for English-resident students looking to study PhD programmes. Any amount up to £29,390 can be borrowed, and can be used to pay for your tuition fees or other costs associated with studying, such as accommodation or travel expenses.

A quick guide to the PhD loan

What's available?

Student loans for doctoral qualifications in all subjects, lasting up to eight academic years.

How much can I borrow?

Up to £29,390 (2024-25), not means-tested.

Who is it for?

UK or EU nationals ordinarily resident in England (you didn't move here just to study) or EU students who meet certain criteria. Students must also be aged under 60 and not be in receipt of research council studentships.

Which universities?

Any UK university with the ability to award PhDs.

How do I repay?

You’ll have to start repaying your loan when your income is over a certain amount (the ‘threshold’ amount).

You’ll be charged interest from the day you get the first payment.

How can I apply?

Applications can be made through Student Finance England. You need to apply within 9 months of the first day of the last academic year of the course – for more information, see the GOV.UK website.

Have a question? Take a look at our FAQs

Any qualification at level 8 of the Frameworks for Higher Education Qualifications of UK-Degree Awarding Bodies should be eligible for a loan, though an official comprehensive list will likely be made available prior to the loan being launched.

The PhD loan will be applicable to all subjects, disciplines, research areas or topics.

Part-time students are eligible to apply for the loan.

The loan will come directly to you, not the university, so you can use it to cover tuition fees or living costs, again similar to the master's loan.

Potentially. Interest rates can change year-on-year, based on the Retail Prices Index (which is a measure of inflation).

Other government student loans won't affect your eligibility for the PhD loan. If you already hold a PhD or an equivalent (level 8) qualification, you will not be eligible for the UK government PhD loan. However, MPhil graduates can apply.

Many UK PhDs are now offered within Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs). These are a consortia of universities that collaborate to fund and support PhD research. They normally do so with the support of research council funding.

The PhD loans won't be available to students with a research council studentship. This means that you can't receive a PhD loan if your doctorate is funded within a CDT.

However, that doesn't mean you can't use a loan to support yourself as an otherwise self-funding student within one of these university consortia (and benefit from the structured training, shared facilities and ongoing research aims they provide). It's simply that you won't be able to receive a research council studentship also.

The Welsh Government are also offering a doctoral loan. Find out more on the Student Finance Wales website.

No. The decision to offer you a loan won't be based on the nature of the topic you intend to research or the quality of your proposal. However, you will need to have been accepted to study a PhD at a UK university and application materials such as your research proposal or interview will be an important part of this process.

Some PhD courses also include 'integrated' master's qualifications such as an MRes or an MPhil. This is fine, but the qualification you receive a loan for must be your stated 'exit qualification' and this must be at PhD-level.

As such, you won't be able to apply for a PhD loan to only complete the master's component of a doctoral programme. Nor will you be able to apply for an additional master's loan on the basis that your PhD includes master's-level work and qualifications.

No. The Government's PhD loan consultation had suggested limiting the number of loan-funded PhD students each university can recruit. This proposal has been dropped based on feedback. The PhD loans will now be entirely 'demand led'. This means any student can receive a loan to study at any university, provided other eligibility criteria are met.

PhD loans will be administered by the Student Loans Company. This is the same process as applies to English undergraduate and master's loans.

No. £29,390 is simply the maximum amount you can borrow with a PhD loan. You will be able to apply for less than this, but you won't be able to borrow any more.

This should allow you to tailor your loan according to your personal circumstances and take account of any other PhD funding you have.