Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what sources of funding are available for students on two-year masters courses, and whether they have plans to increase the size of government-backed loans to cover the tuition fees for courses of longer than one year.

The new master’s loan for postgraduate study of up to £10,000 will be available to eligible students studying on master’s courses from Academic Year 2016/17, including eligible master’s courses that last two years. This loan has been designed to provide a contribution to costs for students and the £10,000 maximum will apply to all eligible courses regardless of course length.

We have no current plans to offer larger loans for students on longer courses.

Other sources of finance for students include:

• Professional Career Development Loans of between £300 and £10,000 are bank loans and are available to eligible students for postgraduate study. Further information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/career-development-loans/overview.
• Some charities, foundations and trusts award partial funding for postgraduate study. Further information is available at: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/charities_foundations_and_trusts.htm.
• Information is also available on a wide range of scholarships. Further information is available at http://www.scholarship-search.org.uk/