Postgraduate Loan Amount Calculator
Find out how much you can borrow for a Master's or Doctoral degree, how it is paid to you, and what it leaves you to fund yourself.
Your course
The loan is a fixed whole-course maximum, divided equally across each year of your course.
Your costs (per year)
Enter your course fee and expected living costs to see the gap the loan does not cover.
Your loan entitlement
Maximum Master's Loan, whole course
£13,206
Courses starting 2026/27
Per year
£13,206
Whole-course maximum ÷ 1 year
Per instalment (average)
£4,402
Three instalments an academic year
You fund yourself
£8,584
Loan covers 61% of the costs you entered
How this is worked out
£21,790 − £13,206 = £8,584
£9,790 of fees plus £12,000 of living costs × 1 year, less the 2026/27 whole-course maximum. Floored at £0.
How this is worked out
£13,206 ÷ 1 = £13,206
GOV.UK divides the whole-course maximum equally across the years of the course, however long it runs.
Paid in 3 instalments each year (33% / 33% / 34%)
Your entered course cost across 1 year is £21,790. After your £13,206 loan, you need to fund £8,584 yourself, through savings, part-time work, a scholarship or a Master's/Doctoral bursary.
Loan amounts, repayment rules and sources
Every figure below is the 2026-27 published figure, read from this site's single source of truth at page-render time[source]. The 6% Plan 2 and Postgraduate interest cap covers the 2026/27 year only and is not assumed to continue[source].
| Plan | Threshold | Rate | Interest | Written off | Threshold freeze |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Postgraduate Loan | £21,000[source] | 6% | 7.1%, capped at 6% for 2026-27[source] | 30 years[source] | Uprated annually — no freeze announced |
Write-off is counted from the April after the course ends, not from the course-end date itself, and the Plan 2 interest bands (£29,385 lower, £52,885 upper) are frozen alongside the Plan 2 repayment threshold.
This calculator also assumes
- Academic year priced
- 2026/27
- Nation
- England (SFE)
- Means-tested?
- No — the amount does not depend on household income
- Part-time
- Same whole-course maximum, spread over more years
- Repayment threshold when you finish
- £21,000 (2026-27)
- Fees and living costs
- Your own figures — used only for the funding gap
Growth, inflation and long-run interest figures are assumptions, not published rates. Change them and the projection changes.
Postgraduate loans are a fixed contribution, not a means-tested full-cost loan like the undergraduate maintenance loan, and there is no separate maintenance loan for a master's. Work out your monthly repayments →
Maximum loan by start year (England)
| Start year | Master's Loan | Doctoral Loan |
|---|---|---|
| 2021/22 | — | £27,265 |
| 2022/23 | £11,836 | £27,892 |
| 2023/24 | £12,167 | £28,673 |
| 2024/25 | £12,471 | £29,390 |
| 2025/26 | £12,858 | £30,301 |
| 2026/27 | £13,206 | £31,122 |
Whole-course maximums for England-domiciled, full-time and part-time students, published by the Student Loans Company[source]and confirmed on GOV.UK for the current year[source][source]. The current maximum for 2026/27 is £13,206 for Master's and £31,122 for Doctoral courses starting on or after 1 August 2026.
Eligibility and how the loan works
Next steps
Postgraduate Loan Repayment Calculator
Now you know how much you can borrow, see what you'll repay each month once you graduate
Postgraduate Loan (Plan 3) Explained
Threshold, interest rate and write-off rules for the loan you take out
Postgraduate Loans UK Strategy
Whether to take the loan, how to plan around the funding gap, and repayment strategy
Undergraduate Student Finance Calculator
If you're funding a first degree rather than a Master's or PhD, use this instead
Related student loan calculators
The postgraduate loan amount calculator answers one specific question. For the full picture, start with our UK student loan calculator on the homepage, work out what leaves your payslip each month with the monthly repayment calculator, or check what you can borrow with the student finance calculator. Every tool on the site is listed in the UK student loan calculator directory.
- postgraduate loan repayment calculator: the 6% deduction on a Master's or Doctoral Loan
- maintenance loan calculator: how much you get for living costs in 2026/27 based on household income
- student finance calculator: tuition fee loan and maintenance loan entitlement before you start university