Funding your postgraduate studies 2017

Your individual funding package Postgraduate loans scheme University funding Professional and Career Development Loans Research Councils Charities and Trusts Work and Savings Sponsorship

Postgraduate loan scheme Up to £10,000 Any postgraduate taught master’s in any subject Applications open at the end of June Must be under 60 on the first day of your course Interest - RPI + 3% Repayments will be calculated as 6% of any income above £21,000 www.sheffield.ac.uk/ssid/finance/pg/pg_loans Up to £10,000, non-means tested loans available to home and EU students. Can split loan between living costs and tuition fees Available for courses starting from Sept 2016 – any taught PG course which results in a masters qualification is eligible. FT, PT and distance learning Loans administered by SLC. Applications open towards the end of June, we expect the application to be online – as the UG loans now are. Various criteria that you have to meet, one of which is that you must be under 60 on the first day of your course, also must normally live in the England – full details on web page The money that you borrow will attract interest of RPI + 3% for the duration of your loan. Repayments = 6% of any income over £21,000 – this is in conjunction with any repayments you make on a UG loan – e.g. if took out a loan after 2012 you will repay 9% for your UG loan and 6% for your PG loan – therefore 15% loan repayment on any income over 21k.

Use the student funding calculator to have a look at what’s available. University Funding Use the student funding calculator to have a look at what’s available. University funding is available for both PGT and PGR Like a few areas of PG funding – details and awards aren’t usually confirmed until late in the cycle. University has a funding calculator to allow you to see some of the awards that are currently available for Sept 2016 entry. www.sheffield.ac.uk/postgraduate/taught/finance

An example of results for PGT courses in the management school from funding calc.

University Funding – Postgraduate taught Fee Discounts 10% Alumni Reward Sibling and spouse/Alumni reward (International students only) International students - www.sheffield.ac.uk/international/scholarships Departmental and University scholarships - Check University webpages for current information UoS offers its graduates a 10% discount on their self sponsored fees. International students also eligible for sibling and spouse award if sibling/spouse has studied at UoS before International students should check this webpage – various awards available depending on where you are from and the department you want to study in. (this is the only url that isn’t on the PG funding leaflet) Departments also offer scholarships – as well as the funding calc you should check departmental web pages and speak to them when you visit this afternoon.

University Funding – Postgraduate research Internal and external funding available You must have submitted an application to apply for funding from University of Sheffield Most applications close in Spring – start looking now! Funding is available for PGR but it is very competitive. There are some projects where funding is attached. Important that you secure your funding for the duration of your course before you start – scholarships don’t tend to be available to second years. Here at UoS you can apply for funding as long as you have applied for the course and have an application number. You do not need to have been accepted on your course. Scholarships will have different deadlines – majority are in spring so it’s important to start investigating immediately and be aware when deadlines are approaching. Information available from webpages… http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/postgraduate/research/scholarships

Information online regarding funded opportunities from University and from Research councils – that will be discussed later. You can see from these examples that some deadlines are in February.

Useful table for PGR and PGT. External funding opportunities. Updated every time a student applies for a course who is accessing funding that we are not aware of.

Professional and Career Development Loans You can borrow between £300 - £10,000 Interest free during your course Interest is charged at high street rate after you finish Apply at least 3 months before your course starts https://www.gov.uk/career-development-loans If course is going to help you progress within a current role or get into a certain area of work you could borrow between £300 - £10,000. Available from Co-op bank Interest is charged at high st rate (approx. 10%) which is higher than UG Student Loan Interest free for duration of course + 1 month afterwards. 2 months after finish course – interest charged and repayments begin. Students need to bear this in mind – they will need to repay even if they haven’t found a job by this time. Application takes 3 months and considers credit rating. Students with poor/no credit rating may need to consider alternative options.

Research Councils Arts and Humanities Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Engineering and Physical Sciences Economic and Social Medical Natural Environment Science and Technology Usually provide fees and maintenance stipend. There are 7 research councils, publicly funded agencies responsible for co-ordinating and funding particular areas of research. As the name suggests they are mainly used to support PGR courses but the Arts and Humanities research council also funds PGT. All councils have different application deadlines – best to check individual websites for further information. Departments within unis will recommend students to RCs. If you are thinking about applying make sure your tutor is aware of it. And make sure they know you’re keen. Good idea to contact department anyway to see if current students have accessed any other sources of funding you haven’t considere. Mostly for home students but may open up to international students if take up is low. www.rcuk.ac.uk

Charities and Trusts Untapped source of funding Amounts, eligibility and terms of awards vary The Alternative Guide to Postgraduate Funding Online www.postgraduate-funding.com/gateway Every year thousands of pounds go unclaimed from charities. Although there are a lot of charities and trusts who will fund PG study they usually have quite specific criteria. AGPGF has a database of over 600 funders and they have recently launched an online version….. This was developed by Luke Blaxhill who funded his phd with funding from (£40,000) from 45 different charities. You can apply to as many charities as you like, awards vary from £500 - £2000 per year.

UoS students can log in using their @sheffield email address. Non-UoS students can use the guest pin log in

Within the web site you will find lots of information on how to use the guide, how to approach organisations and how to submit an application form – all to give you the best chance of success. The area of the website you will find most useful is the database….

Here is an example of what you’ll find in the database Here is an example of what you’ll find in the database. There are over 700 in total. Within this snippet you can see the variety of eligibility criteria – vegetarian society, Walsall borough charities. Time consuming finding charities and trusts that you can apply to. The more obscure the criteria the lower the number of applications they’ll receive and the higher your chances.

Work and Savings UoS recommend that our students don’t work more than 16 hours when studying full-time It is demanding but students do manage Save any money you can – whether currently studying or working Need balance between taking on the working hours and undertaking study. P/t work can make a significant difference to the amount of funding you’ll have available. May also consider studying part-time and working full-time. Some students take a year out to work and save as much money as they can.

Sponsored by your employer Possible if your course will develop you and in turn benefit the organisation Could help with course fees or by being flexible with your working hours If you can convince your employers that your decision to pursue further study will help the company, then they might finance your postgraduate degree. There will be terms and conditions – can’t expect employer to pay for your course and a year later you leave and work for a competitor.

Please collect a leaflet from the stand

Thank you for listening. Direct students to our stand to pick up a leaflet & ask any questions. Email: financialhelp@sheffield.ac.uk Twitter: @UoSMoneyMatters