Yes, UK students can get Government funding for our postgraduate programme!

UK Government funding

The Master's Degree Loan Scheme was launched by the Government in June 2016, and marks the first time that the Government has provided student loan finance to contribute to costs for postgraduate master's study.

The MA programme at Voice Study Centre qualifies for Government student funding. Typically, the loan is paid in instalments direct to you via the Government Student Loans Company, often referred to as the 'SLC'. At the time of writing, you can borrow up to £11,836 via student funding. 

Advantages of Government funding:

• No loan repayments whilst you're studying.
• No loan repayments are due until your earnings exceed £21,000 per year, and those payments amount to 6% of your earnings over that threshold. Not a bad deal.
• Your loan is written off after 30 years.
• Student loans DO NOT affect your credit rating.

Disadvantages of Government funding:

• You're charged interest on the loan from the day the first payment is made to you until it's been repaid in full or cancelled... This is added monthly to your debt, and is known as compound interest. So if you're not paying it off (see above), then your debt grows.

This is the most popular method of funding, but there are some caveats:

• You're ineligible for funding if you already hold an MA degree.
• You're also not entitled to funding if you intend to use Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) credits towards your degree. For example, if you already hold the PGCert qualification and wanted to proceed to the full MA, you would not qualify for funding.

Further details of Master's loan eligibility can be found here.

The student loan payments may not always match our own instalment plan agreed with you, and it's not always possible. But if this is causing difficulties then please reach out to us, we will always be able to work something out.

Alternative sources of funding....

So we've identified above that not everybody will be eligible for UK Government funding, so what are the alternatives?

Public health funding

If you are based in the UK, you may also be able to access funding from external sources to contribute towards your tuition fees. This Health Careers website contains some resources you can look into.

Lendwise

We've partnered with Lendwise, a specialist loan provider dedicated to education finance, allowing you to pursue your voicing aspirations. Repayments would be at a fixed interest rate throughout your loan term, personalised to your profile. There are no fees or penalties for early repayment of your loan. Contact Lendwise* to apply directly.

Other sources:

• Professional organisations and societies connected to your subject or career path.
• Employer contributions - if you don't ask, you don't get!
• Some students use crowd-funding sites (i.e., asking others to help you meet costs).
• Search for charitable and educational grants - turn2us is a site that specialises in just that, and the The Prospects Funding Postgraduate Study site is definitely worth a browse for additional funding options.

Whatever you choose, there's no doubt that completing our MA degree has created some success stories. Take a look at some of the work our students and alumni are doing here.

Peter