Funding for post graduate courses
Eligibility for an award
Support under the Student Awards Regulations is only available to students meeting the required criteria in terms of residency, academic qualifications. Also, the course you intend to study must be an approved course. You need to satisfy the requirements in each of these areas to qualify for support.
Residency
You must be ordinarily resident in the Isle of Man for a period of not less than 4 years immediately before the beginning of the first year of the course and continue to be resident for the duration of the course.
No account will be taken of temporary or occasional absences and discretion can be applied if you have taken a ‘gap year’ immediately after the completion of your ‘A’ levels or undergraduate degree. A student resident for less than 4 years immediately prior to the start of the course may also qualify by having a total of 10 years residency throughout their life, providing at least 2 of those years fall immediately prior to the start of the course.
A person is ordinarily resident in the Island if he or she voluntarily, and for settled purposes, lives in the Island for an appreciable period (a minor who lives with his or her parent is considered to be living voluntarily where the parent lives).
Academic requirements
(Please be aware; even if you have been unconditionally accepted by the university that you wish to attend, you also need to meet the Department's academic requirements in order to qualify for support.)
|
Course |
Minimum qualifications required | |
|---|---|---|
|
Postgraduate courses |
PhD |
Upper second-class honours degree or Masters degree |
|
MA/MSc/ GDL/LPCPG Diploma/PGCE |
Upper second-class honours degree |
|
Courses eligible for support
The following full-time courses are supported: MA, MSc, Graduate Diploma in Law, Legal Practice course, Postgraduate Diploma, PGCE or PhD
(Note that, other than in exceptional circumstances, you will not qualify for support if you have previously started a course at an equivalent or higher Regulated Qualifications Framework ('RQF') level and, similarly, support will not normally be provided for repeating the same year of study.)
Financial Support Available
Subject to eligibility and personal circumstances, financial support is available consisting of 2 main elements:
- a fees grant to cover your tuition fees
- a means-tested maintenance grant towards your living expenses
The Department will also offer a loan facility to students to fund the annual £2,500 fees contribution
For full-time courses within the UK
The tuition fees grant will be paid directly to your university. If you are taking out a Student Tuition Fees Loan to cover your fees contribution of £2,500, the department will automatically include this with the amount it pays to the university.
Should you choose to fund the contribution yourself, or where there is an additional means-tested contribution, due to gross income exceeding £112,000 per annum, you or your contributors will need to agree separate payment terms with your university’s finance office.
For Private/Overseas Institutions
You will be required to pay your tuition fees in advance. The fees will then be refunded by the department on production of a receipted invoice and, in the case of an overseas institution, confirmation of payment from a student’s or parent’s bank account showing the exchange rate used in the transaction.
Maintenance Grant
Subject to means-testing, support may be available to assist you with your living expenses. The basic amount of grant payable in respect of full-time study is shown overleaf.
The maintenance grant is calculated according to the contributor’s income, the level of which is used to determine a reduction figure. The amount payable is calculated by deducting the reduction figure from the basic grant and no grant is payable where this calculation produces a zero or negative figure.
Should more than one student from a particular household be at university at the same time, the reduction figure will be divided equally among each of the students.
|
Maintenance grants – Basic amount payable for full-time study | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Basic amount£ |
Extra weeks |
|
|
United Kingdom and overseas |
||
|
London area & overseas (30 week course) |
8,000 |
267 |
|
Oxford or Cambridge ( 25 week course) |
7,500 |
250 |
|
Elsewhere in the UK (30 week course) |
7,500 |
250 |
If you qualify for a Maintenance Grant, this will be paid in termly instalments, at the beginning of each term. Payment will be made by bank transfer and you will be required to provide your bank account details. The Department will WITHHOLD payment of your Maintenance Grant until it is notified of a confirmed offer and acceptance of your university place and, where appropriate, written confirmation of your previous year’s exam results.
Third term Maintenance Grant payments will BE WITHHELD until the Department has received verification of your contributor’s income, normally provided by means of their Resident Assessment Notice. Also, please be aware that support may have to be reduced or reclaimed should the estimated income figures listed in the original application form prove to be inaccurate once the income verification process is completed.
Resident Assessment Notice are issued when the income tax return has been processed and the resulting tax liability calculated. This confirms if you owe any tax or if you will be receiving a refund.
Delays in receiving any of these documents will result in delays in payment.
