Funding Postgraduate education Clearly, postgraduate funding has not kept pace with this extraordinary expansion, yet thousands of students every year decide to go on to do further study. They are not put off by the lack of funding, because they know that gaining a postgraduate qualification will add greatly to their employment prospects and career development.
Students do find ways to fund themselves, meeting both tuition fees and cost of living expenses.
Competition for Research Council and AHRB awards is intense, with only a small number of successful candidates. Between them, they provide around 8,000 postgraduate studentships. Unlike undergraduates, postgraduates are not eligible for loans from the Student Loans Company. Some postgraduates take out a Career Development Loan, although these are only available for certain vocational courses.