Doctoral loan

You can get the Postgraduate Doctoral Loan if all of the following apply:

• you’re a UK national, or have EU settled status or indefinite leave to remain, so there are no restrictions on how long you can stay
• you normally live in England, and did not move there just to study
• you’ll have lived in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for 3 years before starting your course

You may also be eligible if you’re an EU national and both the following apply:

• you’ve normally lived in the European Economic Area or Switzerland for the past 3 years (this is also known as being ‘ordinarily resident’)
• you’ll be studying at a university in England

You could also be eligible if you’re:

• the child of a Swiss national
• an EEA or Swiss migrant worker, or a relative of one 
• the child of a Turkish worker
• a refugee or a relative of one
• staying in the UK as a stateless person or relative of one
• under humanitarian protection or a relative of someone who has been granted it
• 18 or over and have lived in the UK for at least 20 years or at least half your life
• under 18 and have lived in the UK for at least 7 years
• granted indefinite leave to remain following the Calais camp clearance in 2016 (known as 'Calais leave')
• the child of someone with Calais leave.

Your course must:

• be a full, standalone doctoral course (not a top-up course)
• have started on or after 1 August 2018
• last between 3 to 8 academic years
• be provided by a university in the UK with research degree awarding powers

It can be:

• full-time or part-time
• taught or research-based, or a combination of both

Examples of postgraduate doctoral qualifications include:

• PhD / DPhil (Doctor of Philosophy)
• EdD (Doctor of Education)
• EngD (Doctor of Engineering)

Integrated doctoral

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 will not be able to apply for a separate Postgraduate Master’s Loan.

• 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 (before tax and other deductions)
• The earliest you start repaying is either the April after you leave your course or the April 4 years after the course started if you're studying part-time
• You must repay any undergraduate student loans you have at the same time
• You’ll be charged interest from the day you get the first payment until your loan is repaid in full or cancelled.The interest rate on the loan is currently 5.6%. Interest will be charged at the Retail Price Index (RPI) plus 3%. RPI is currently set at 2.6%.The interest rate is updated in September every year, using the RPI from March of that year.

You can apply here.

The Doctoral loans are intended as a general contribution to the costs of postgraduate study. This means that they aren't tied to the specific cost of a doctoral programme or the living costs incurred by PhD students.

In practice, both of these amounts will vary depending on factors such as the fees charged by your institution and the cost of living in your local area.

The loan should significantly reduce the financial burden of PhD study, but it won't necessarily cover full fees and living costs for a three year doctorate.