Funding for postgraduate taught students

Your funding package

Postgraduates fund their studies in lots of different ways.

Unlike undergraduates, postgraduates fund their studies in lots of different ways. There could be a range of funding options available to you.

The most common sources of funding are:

Contact a student advisor

Contact one of our student advisors for expert financial advice and guidance.

LJMU Alumni Award

20% tuition fee discount

If you’re a former Liverpool John Moores University student, you could be eligible for a 20% discount on your postgraduate tuition fees. The fee reduction will apply automatically to eligible students. You do not need to apply. The 20% reduction will be applied to all years of the postgraduate programme being studied, not just the first year and applies to Home and EU LJMU graduates.

Eligibility

  • You have successfully completed a degree programme from Liverpool John Moores University, irrespective of when you graduated
  • The Award can apply to any taught postgraduate masters level or research degree programme (see Exclusions below)
  • You can either be paying your own fees or in receipt of sponsorship from a third party (see Exclusions below)
  • The 20% award only applies to new programmes of study that commenced in the 2017/18 academic year onwards
  • It is open to students from the UK and the EU
  • The Award will only apply to one programme of study therefore if you are attending more than one eligible programme you will have the award applied to the programme with the greater fee value
  • You'll only receive the award once during your studies. Subsequent further study will not be eligible if you have already been in receipt of the Award. Awards cannot be applied retrospectively

Eligibility will be assessed from information held by LJMU regarding your prior study declared in your admission application, you'll receive a letter prior to the start of your studies advising you of the fee reduction.

Exclusions

  • PGC/DE programmes
  • If you are in receipt of a fee bursary for the following programmes you will be excluded: MA Social Work, MSc Environmental Planning
  • CPD programmes
  • MSc/PgDip/PgCert Clinical Pharmacy for Primary and Interface Care and MSc/PgDip/PgCert Clinical Pharmacy for Secondary and Tertiary Care are not eligible for the LJMU Alumni Award
  • Liverpool John Moores University staff who are fully sponsored under the University’s Staff Development Policy will be excluded
  • If you are in receipt of an LJMU tuition fee scholarship you will not be able to receive both awards and will be allocated the award with the highest value
  • If you are an international student you will not be able to claim the Award. Find out about International Student Scholarships
  • If you are currently in receipt of the 20% Alumni Award, you will continue to receive the 20% discount until completion of your programme of study

To find out more about the LJMU Alumni Award, please contact the Academic Registry team.

Government postgraduate loan scheme - students from England, Wales and the EU 

If you are eligible you could borrow up to £17,489 if you are from Wales or £11,222 (subject to parliamentary approval) if you are from England or the EU as part of the government’s postgraduate loan for masters courses.

The loans will be available to students studying a full-time or part-time course. Normally part-time courses need to be studied at 50% intensity of the full-time equivalent.

Repayments

Once your course is completed, you will not need to start repaying your loan until the following April and you will only begin to pay back your loan when you are earning more than £21,000. Repayments will be made at a rate of 6% of your income above the £21,000 threshold.

Am I eligible?

If you’re studying an eligible course, the following students should be able to receive the postgraduate loan: 

  • Students who are ordinarily resident in England, Wales or the EU. See below scheme for students from Northern Ireland.
  • Students under the age of 60 at the start of their course
  • Those who already have a masters level qualification will not be eligible

Eligible courses

Eligible courses include:

  • MSc
  • MA
  • MRes
  • LLM
  • MBA
  • MPhil

Please note:
This list is not exhaustive. To be eligible, courses need to be full masters standalone courses.

Courses that are not eligible

Postgraduate Certificate and Postgraduate Diploma courses are not eligible.

Visit Student Finance England

Postgraduate loans for students from Scotland

Students who are normally resident in Scotland can apply for a postgraduate tuition fee loan up to a maximum of £5,500 for full-time courses that are not available (or similar to those available) in Scotland. Eligible students can also apply for a living cost loan of up to £4,500. This funding is not means tested. For more information and repayment details see the Student Awards Agency Scotland.

Students who want to study at postgraduate level on a part-time basis can apply for a tuition fee loan of up to £2,750 per year. Living cost loans are not available for part-time students from Scotland studying in England.

Please note:
Figures quoted are for 2019.

Postgraduate loans for students from Northern Ireland

Unlike the loan for students from England and Wales, the loan from the Government of Northern Ireland is for tuition fees only, with no government funding available for living costs. The loan for tuition fees will be paid direct to LJMU. The maximum loan is £5,500 per course. This means in some instances the loan will not cover your tuition fees in full and you will need to make alternative arrangements to pay the balance as well as source funding for your living costs.

Visit Student Finance Northern Ireland

Please note:
Figures quoted are for 2019.

Employer sponsorship

Employer sponsorship is when your employer contributes to or pays for the cost of your postgraduate study.

If you haven’t approached your employer about sponsorship yet, take a look at our courses and see if there are any programmes that could enhance your current career. Once you’ve found a course, talk to your manager or the person responsible for employee training at your company.

As well as sponsoring your study in a financial sense, your employer may let you work flexibly too.

Student Support Fund

Unexpected situations and financial hardship

The Student Support Fund is intended to help students who are experiencing unexpected situations, such as a broken washing machine, or financial hardship, such as supporting a child.

You do not need to be completely without funds to apply. We advise that you apply for the Student Support Fund before you are in financial difficulty.

Priority is given to students who:

  • are in their final year of study
  • have children or caring responsibilities
  • have an ongoing health condition or disability

However, all students can apply and will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Apply

To apply for the Student Support Fund, you will need to complete and return the Student Support Fund form.