Full information about the new Doctoral Loans scheme is available from Gov.uk.

UK government Doctoral Loan scheme: applications open

Applications are now open for the new Doctoral Loan scheme, meaning that for the first time, doctoral-level students can apply for a loan like their undergraduate and Masters counterparts.

The loan, which is an additional form of student finance beyond the highly competitive studentships from the Research Councils, is provided by the UK Government through Student Finance England and is available to UK and EU students, and those with a ‘settled’ status. A separate scheme is available for Wales. As with loans at other study levels, repayments are income-contingent and are made when earnings exceed £21,000 a year.

Professor Andrew McRae, Dean of Postgraduate Research and of the Doctoral College, said: "The availability of Doctoral loans opens up the opportunity for Doctoral-level study for numerous UK and EU students, who to date may not have found funding through other means. As with the Government-run loans schemes for undergraduates and Masters students, the loan is more akin to tax, as repayment is contingent on future earnings. At Exeter, in addition to mentoring and skills development, postgraduate researchers may also be eligible for some funding opportunities during their degree, such as travel bursaries and Researcher-led Initiative awards, which support the development of personal, professional and career management skills."

Full information about the scheme can be found at Gov.uk.

Postgraduate studentships

Talented prospective doctoral-level students may be able to fund their research through a postgraduate studentship. These competitive awards are similar to a scholarship, so do not require repayment. The University will be advertising over 100 of these awards during the Autumn/Winter. Prospective PhD researchers can search for current studentships on the Postgraduate Research webpages.

Date: 3 October 2018