The Student Loans Company (SLC) is asking part-time and postgraduate students in England to apply for student funding now.

Part-time students can apply for funding to pay their tuition fees and some students can also apply for a maintenance loan to help cover their living expenses. Postgraduate students can apply for either a postgraduate masters loan or a postgraduate doctorate loan to help them with their tuition and living expenses.

SLC has also opened its Advanced Learner Loan (ALL) service for 2021/22. ALL are available for higher education students and can help cover the costs of a course at a college or training provider in England. They are generally used for short-term access courses and students can enroll in them throughout the year.

Chris Larmer, SLC’s Executive Director of Operations, said: “I am delighted to announce that application services for part-time, postgraduate and continuing education students are now open. Our advice for part-time and postgraduate students in particular is to apply early to ensure funding is in place before the term begins. “

The easiest way for part-time and postgraduate students to apply is online at www.gov.uk/studentfinance and students can do it now even if they don’t have a confirmed place in their Classes. It can take six to eight weeks to process applications. Students do not need to contact SLC during this time to check the status of their application. They will be contacted if additional information is required.

Students of the Advanced Learner Loan can also apply online, but they must verify that their course is eligible for funding and provide a learning and funding newsletter beforehand. More information is available at https://www.gov.uk/advanced-learner-loan/how-to-apply

To assist part-time, postgraduate and continuing education students with their funding applications, SLC has produced the following key facts:

Highlights on part-time student funding

Introduction to student finance for part-time students.

Highlights on the Postgraduate Master / Doctorate Loan

• You can get funding to help you with course fees and living expenses
• The amount you receive is not based on your income or that of your family
• You only need to apply once, even if your course is longer than a year. The loan is distributed equally over each year of the course.
• You start repaying your master’s or doctoral loan in April after you finish or leave your course.
• You repay 6% of what you earn above the repayment threshold which is currently £ 21,000 per year. If you have other student loans, you pay them off at the same time.
• Students can find out more about post-doctoral and masters loans by viewing our short films:

· The postdoctoral doctoral loan explained
· The postgraduate master’s loan explained

Highlights on Advanced Student Loans

• If you are 19 or older, you can apply for an advanced student loan to help pay fees charged by colleges and training providers for level 3 through 6 courses.
• You can get up to four ALL at the same time for courses of the same level
• Your ALL is paid directly to your college or training organization once they have confirmed your attendance at your course
• Your ALL is not based on household income
• You need to repay your ALL but only after you have passed the repayment threshold which is currently £ 27,295 per year.
• You can find out more about advanced student loans by watching our short film:
  The advanced student loan explained

Students can also stay up to date with all the latest information by following Student Finance England on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.