UK Student Loan and University-wide funding

In the UK, funding for postgraduate loans is different depending on where you normally live – England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. 

A Postgraduate Master's Loan is available if you normally live in England, and you meet the eligibility criteria. The Loan is not means tested (it is not based on your income or your family's income), and the maximum loan amount for 2024 entry was £12,471. It can be used to pay for tuition fees or living costs.

Further information can be found on GOV.UK and the University website.

For 2025 entry, there are 100 bursaries, worth £4,000 each, for students from underrepresented groups.

Applicants need to meet a number of criteria to be eligible. Last year, there were more eligible applications than places, so meeting the criteria is no guarantee of an award.

For more information and how to apply/discover if you are eligible, please visit the Manchester Master's Bursary page on the main University website.

Graduates of The University of Manchester who become a postgraduate student here can receive a 10% discount on their tuition fees as part of our Manchester Alumni Loyalty Discount scheme.

The deadline for these highly competitive awards is midnight, 30 March. There is no separate form specifically for this funding competition. Once you have provided the information required below, you must send a cover email to MASALCfunding@manchester.ac.uk confirming you wish to be considered for funding

If you have already submitted an application or you are a University of Manchester Fast-track applicant, you can attach the required materials for a funding application via the confirmation email.

How to Apply

Applying for funding is done via the application for the course and confirmed via an email you should send to us once you receive receipt of your submitted application. You must submit an application for a place on the course via the Online Application Form complete with:

• A 500 word case for funding support (this can be your personal statement in the online application form / uploaded at the end of the form / attached to the cover email).
• Transcripts of most recent study (interim if studies are incomplete).
• Two references submitted on your behalf via the reference upload link or uploaded to the online application form (please do not duplicate).
• Confirmation email with ID number and full name to MASALCfunding@manchester.ac.uk.
  

In the online application form, there is a personal statement section. You can use this to submit the maximum 500 word statement.

If you are requesting references, you should ask for these well in advance of the deadline to allow your referees plenty of time to write them. 

Do I submit the Personal Statement in the application form or a separate Case for Funding Support?

We simply require a 500 word statement to use in assessing a case for funding support. This can be either the personal statement in the application form or a separate document (or a portfolio if your course requires one).

We have provided guidance below on what we believe constitutes a strong case for funding support.

A personal statement may be sufficient for us to offer you a place on the course, but it might not meet the requirements of a funding application. However, if you are happy with the personal statement in the online application form and do not submit anything either at the end of the online application form or with your cover email, we will use the personal statement in the form as your funding case for support.

Once you have submitted your application, you will be assigned a University ID number. Please email MASALCfunding@manchester.ac.uk with your ID number and we will confirm receipt of your application for funding. 

University of Manchester Fast-track students

Please attach a 500 word funding case for support (guidance below) in a Word document to the email addressed to MASALCfunding@manchester.ac.uk with your University ID number by 30 March.  We will supply your transcripts, but you must contact your referees with the link to the online referee report form.

Case for Funding Support - Guidance

Within your statement, your primary aim is to provide convincing reasons why you want to do the course and how you are an excellent candidate. Precise details will depend upon which Master’s you choose to apply for, the expectations you have of the programme, and how you think it will shape your future career.

Some Master’s programmes include specific requirements for admission relevant to the programme of study – please check the admissions criteria for your programme and ensure you refer to them in your case for support. 

Your interests and expectations

Explain why the Master’s programme appeals to you and the areas within the subject that you find interesting, including specific modules or other course opportunities. Provide evidence to demonstrate your suitability and interest for the course. What are the intellectual problems, or practical opportunities, that enthuse you?

If you know exactly why you wish to pursue this Master’s - to go onto PhD study or to follow a career path for instance - or a particular area you wish to pursue for your dissertation/final project, then address this as well. In general, what do you expect to get out of your Master’s and how will it contribute to your career aims?

Your academic credentials

We will pay particular attention to:

• your first degree
• your final classification and average grade
• your intellectual development, and achievements, as an undergraduate
• where relevant to the chosen programme, professional experience, especially if your first degree is in a different subject area

Many applicants will have similar academic backgrounds to you. Why are you the ideal person for this particular Master’s programme? What have you achieved that makes you stand out (e.g. a particularly high mark, an award for academic achievement, or a prize for project work).

Drawing from specific examples in your career to date, explain how your intellectual interests have grown and developed. Discuss authors or texts that have inspired you, theories or problems that drive you, academic talks that you have attended, study groups that you have been part of or academic societies you have joined.

Include work experience where relevant, particularly if you are interested in a vocational Master’s, if your first degree is in a different subject area from the programme that you are applying to, or if your first degree was obtained some time ago.

Your strengths

Look closely at the course programme key skills and required knowledge. Using specific examples from your previous studies, work experience, or extra-curricular activities, discuss how you meet the course aims and requirements.

Explain your skills in detail -- the admissions tutor will not be able to appreciate your capabilities/achievements simply by reading the title of your final year dissertation/project, for instance.

Writing tips

• Start positively - grab the reader's attention
• Keep your comments brief and focused
• Highlight your skills and achievements; don’t underplay your best attributes
• Use your statement to show that you can structure your thoughts and write coherently; each topic should lead logically onto the next
• Get your facts right; stating that you want to work with an academic who no longer works at the University will not impress admission tutors
• Your statement should be evidence-based wherever possible 
• Stick to the word limit

Transcripts

We will use the interim or final transcripts submitted with your admissions application form.

Interim transcripts for UoM fast-track applicants will be provided automatically by the School.

References

All applicants should contact their referees with the link to the online referee report form. Their references will then come to us directly and will be attached to your application.

Deadline

Please submit an application for the course with transcripts using the Online Application Form by 30 March and email MASALCfunding@manchester.ac.uk with your University ID number, confirming you have submitted your complete application with transcripts and that you have sent the reference upload link to your referees. 

Notification of outcome

We aim to make final decisions by the end of May and will email all candidates.

Some subject areas may have their own additional funding (see the relevant section below). Unsuccessful funding applicants for eligible subjects will be automatically considered for subject area funding, where applicable.

Classics and Ancient History

Heywood and Victoria Scholarship

Applications are invited for the Heywood and Victoria Scholarship, which will offer £6,500 towards fees for study of the MA in Classics and Ancient History (full time or part time).

For current University of Manchester applicants (or alumni within the past three years), this bursary can be combined with the Manchester Alumni Loyalty Discount. More details here.

How to apply

All applicants to the MA in Classics and Ancient History who apply to the School funding competition will also be considered for this scholarship (there is no separate application form for this specific award). Candidates wishing to accept the offer of a scholarship must, at the same time, accept the offer of a place.

Details of the The School funding competition and application form can be found under the School awards section.

In 2024/5, the Creative Writing department offered two bursaries, one each for:

• Poetry
• Fiction

Each award was worth the part-time UK fee for one year of study.

All students who are offered a place are eligible, so there is no formal application process. The decision is based on the quality of the writing sample submitted in the application process and the bursary is awarded as a tuition fee deduction. Therefore, if you have secured tuition fees awards worth more than £5,000 you will be ineligible for these bursaries.

The successful applicants will be notified in May.

All HCRI bursary and scholarship information is available directly through the HCRI website.

MA Modern Languages and Cultures Bursary

One bursary is available for a candidate studying a Spanish, Latin American, Portuguese, Brazilian or Luso-African topic. This bursary is awarded as a tuition fee reduction. If awarded to a part-time student, the bursary will cover the Year 1 tuiton fee only.

Deadline

Midnight, Sunday 30 March 2025.

Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation studentships

Up to three Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation studentships worth £10,000 for one year may be available for MA and PhD students focusing on the study of Japan.

MA Modern Languages and Cultures

• Students must be committed to conducting their major coursework options and dissertation on Japan.
• Eligibility is limited to UK nationals, or non-UK nationals who are either settled in the UK or who have been ordinarily resident in the UK for the three years before the programme.
• Applicants should have, or expect to have, a good 2.1 class degree or above.

PhD candidates

• The thesis is on Japan.
• Students of any nationality are eligible, though in the case of non-UK nationals, priority is expected to be given to those who have already completed at least one year of postgraduate study at a UK university.
• Applicants should have a good 2.1 class degree or above at BA level, or a merit or above at Masters level (or overseas equivalent).

Interested applicants should contact Dr Peter Cave (peter.cave@manchester.ac.uk) for the application form, which should be returned to Dr Cave by 5 pm GMT on Monday, 24 February 2025.

PhD students who have already received the Sasakawa studentship may be nominated again, and receive the studentship for up to three years, though repeated awards cannot be guaranteed.

Students who are awarded a full scholarship (covering tuition fees and living costs) from another source cannot receive the Sasakawa studentship as well.

MusM (Performance) part-fee bursaries (Home students only) 

Several part-fee bursaries are available (issued as a reduction in your tuition fees) for offer-holders classified as ‘home’ students for tuition fee purposes.

To apply

• All applications to the MusM Performance Studies pathway received by 4 July will be considered.

MusM part-fee bursaries

For 2025 at least one part-fee bursary is available to applicants to MusM Musicology, MusM Ethnomusicology, MusM Composition (Electroacoustic Music and Interactive Media), and MusM Composition (Instrumental and Vocal music).

Candidates who were unsuccessful for the School Awards competition will be automatically considered.

Religions and Theology subject-specific funding opportunities

The department is offering two awards of £3,500 towards the full-time study of MA Religions and Theology with a dissertation focus on either of the following:

• Biblical Studies: The Bishop Lee MA Tuition Fees Bursary
• Theology, Philosophy & Ethics: The Chadwick MA Tuition Fees Bursary

How to apply

Your case for support (500 words) in the online application form for the course must focus on Biblical Studies or Theological Studies in Philosophy and Ethics, respectively. If you have already submitted your application for the course or wish to amend your personal statement, please send your 500 word statement to MASALCfunding@manchester.ac.uk with your University ID number. 

Informal enquiries may be also directed to Dr Michael Hoelzl (michael.hoelzl@manchester.ac.uk).

Deadline

• Deadline: Friday, 21 June 2024

For University of Manchester undergraduates, this bursary can be combined with the Manchester Alumni Scholarship Scheme (£3,000) if a First is achieved.