Postgraduate loans

If you are studying a Master’s or Doctoral level course, you may be eligible for a UK government postgraduate loan. This loan can be used to cover fees and living costs and will be paid in instalments to your bank account.

You will not start paying the loan back until you have finished your course and are earning over a certain amount (the ‘threshold’ amount).

Eligibility criteria

There are a number of criteria for assessing your eligibility for a postgraduate loan, such as: 

• your course
• your age
• your nationality or residency status
• whether you’ve studied on an equivalent level course before

For full details on eligibility criteria please visit the gov.uk website.

Please note: our professional certificates, graduate certificates, graduate diplomas, Postgraduate Certificates (PgCert) and Postgraduate Diplomas (PgDip) are not eligible for postgraduate loan funding.

Eligible Master’s level courses:

• Master’s

  

  Consulting and leading in organisations: psychodynamic and systemic approaches (D10)

  Delivery:

  In-person

  Location:

  London

  Duration:

  Two years, part-time

• Master’s

  

  Consulting and leading in organisations: psychodynamic and systemic approaches (ED10, online)

  Delivery:

  Online: live teaching

  Duration:

  Two years, part-time

• Master’s

  Eligible for Student Visa

  

  Perinatal, child, adolescent and family work: a psychoanalytic observational approach (M7, daytime)

  Delivery:

  In-person

  Location:

  London

  Duration:

  Two or three years, part-time

  Eligible for Student Visa
• Master’s

  

  Perinatal, child, adolescent and family work: a psychoanalytic observational approach (M7, evening)

  Delivery:

  In-person

  Location:

  London

  Duration:

  Two or three years, part-time

• Master’s

  

  Perinatal, child, adolescent and family work: a psychoanalytic observational approach (M7, Saturday)

  Delivery:

  Blended

  Location:

  London

  Duration:

  Two or three years, part-time

• Master’s

  

  Perinatal, child, adolescent and family work: a psychoanalytic observational approach (M7B, Birmingham)

  Delivery:

  In-person

  Location:

  Birmingham

  Duration:

  Two or three years, part-time

• Master’s

  

  Perinatal, child, adolescent and family work: a psychoanalytic observational approach (M7K, Bristol)

  Delivery:

  In-person

  Location:

  Bristol

  Duration:

  Two or three years, part-time

• Master’s

  Eligible for Student Visa

  

  Psychoanalytic studies (M16)

  Delivery:

  In-person

  Location:

  London

  Duration:

  One or two years, part-time

  Eligible for Student Visa
• Master’s

  Eligible for Student Visa

  

  Psychodynamic psychotherapy (M58)

  Delivery:

  In-person

  Location:

  London

  Duration:

  Four years, part-time

  Eligible for Student Visa
• Master’s

  

  Psychodynamic psychotherapy (BM58, evening)

  Delivery:

  Blended

  Location:

  London

  Duration:

  Four years, part-time

• Master’s

  

  Psychodynamic psychotherapy (M58L, Leeds)

  Delivery:

  In-person

  Location:

  Leeds

  Duration:

  Four years, part-time

• Master’s

  Eligible for Student Visa

  

  Systemic psychotherapy (M6)

  Delivery:

  In-person

  Location:

  London

  Duration:

  Two years, part-time

  Eligible for Student Visa

Eligible Doctoral level courses:

• Professional doctorate

  

  Advanced practice and research: consultation and the organisation (D10D)

  Delivery:

  In-person

  Location:

  London

  Duration:

  Five years, part-time

• Professional doctorate

  

  Advanced practice and research: social work and social care (D55)

  Delivery:

  In-person

  Location:

  London

  Duration:

  Five years, part-time

• Professional doctorate

  

  Advanced practice and research: systemic psychotherapy (M10)

  Delivery:

  In-person

  Location:

  London

  Duration:

  Five years, part-time

• Professional doctorate

  

  Child and adolescent psychoanalytic psychotherapy (M80)

  Delivery:

  In-person

  Location:

  London

  Duration:

  Four years, full-time

• Professional doctorate

  

  Child, community and educational psychology (M4)

  Delivery:

  In-person

  Location:

  London

  Duration:

  Three years, full-time

How to apply

To apply for a loan, visit Funding for postgraduate study – GOV.UK and follow these directions: 

• You will need to search for University of Essex as the institution (even though Tavistock and Portman is listed in the search bar, this will not bring up the courses)
• If your course is of an intermediate duration between two and three years you can enter either two year or three year duration and the course will come up, though you will see that the course is listed as a three year course even if you have selected the two year duration. We would recommend that you select all courses longer than 24 months as a three year duration to ensure they are displayed.

Applications can be made up to nine months after the start of the final year of your course.

When your application has been approved by the Student Loans Company (SLC), the SLC will release the first instalment, usually up to five working days after receipt of the confirmation from the University of Essex that you are registered. 

In order to enrol on a course, you will need to pay 1% of your annual fee during the online enrolment process to enable enrolment even if the loan has not been approved. The remaining fee will be due in three instalments aligned with your Student Loans Company (SLC) instalments. 

Any change to your academic status post-registration (e.g. intermission, withdrawal, change of course, change of mode of study) will require prompt communication to the SLC, our student registry and your course administrator.