Funding and scholarships for students

Funding your course

We recommend you start looking as early as possible for funding, especially if you will need financial assistance to undertake a Masters course.

There are a number of ways to fund postgraduate study including: scholarships, studentships, wages, bursaries, savings, inheritance, and, increasingly, alternative methods such as crowdfunding and philanthropy. The options available may depend on your fee status or other criteria.

We’ve provided the information below to help you get started on finding funding opportunities that are available to you.

UK government postgraduate loan scheme

Government-backed loans for Masters programmes are making postgraduate study a realistic option for the first time in years.

  • You can borrow up to £12,471 if your course starts on or after 1 August 2024
  • Available for any Masters programme in any subject, taught or research
  • Full-time or part-time and distance learning are included
  • Loans available at any university with degree awarding powers in the UK
  • Anyone aged under 60 is eligible
  • EU students starting courses on or after 1 August 2023 must have settled or pre-settled status in the UK under the EU Settlement Scheme to be eligible
  • Repayments are income-contingent and will not begin until the year after graduation

Apply for postgraduate loan

Alternative funding

Our students have also had success securing funding from a range of local, national and international philanthropic sources, most usually charitable bodies. It's worth investigating parish churches, city councils, and other local bodies, many of which offer scholarships, grants, or bursaries of some kind. 

Charitable trusts

Details of charitable trusts and other funding organisations can be found in a number of publications including the Grants Register, published by Palgrave Macmillan, and the Directory of Grant-Making Trusts. These can be found in libraries and university careers services. Most of these organisations make relatively small contributions towards the costs of your studies, but they can augment other sources.

We have subscribed to the 'Alternative Guide to Postraduate Funding' online guide, which can help you find alternative sources of funding - especially charities - which can make awards (for fees, maintenance, or research costs) to any student regardless of subject, or nationality.

The guide contains a huge database of funding opportunities, comprehensive guidance, and numerous tools to help you prepare a winning grant application. The guide is free for all current University of Exeter students and staff; simply select 'logon automatically from campus'.

Login to the Alternative Guide to Postgraduate Funding >>

You may have seen stories in the press about people crowdfunding to help pay their tuition fees. Crowdfunding services, such as www.studentfunder.com, www.indiegogo.com, or www.hubbub.net, allow you to raise monetary contributions from a large number of people, typically via the internet, and can help you fundraise directly towards the cost of your degree. It's worth researching the options available via these and other services to see if they suit your needs.

The list below outlines a variety of opportunities for external funding from charities, organisations, governments and businesses. It should be noted that the eligibility criteria and application deadlines vary.