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Students: Finance

Asked by Juliet CampbellLabourDepartment for EducationTabled Answered 20 January 2026UIN 104989

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to remove the prohibition on student finance for applicants with PhDs wanting to study in Government-prioritised research fields.

Answered by Josh MacAlister

The Postgraduate Doctoral Loan provides up to £30,301 for courses starting on or after 1 August 2025 and is intended as a contribution to the costs of PhD study.

Students who already have a doctoral degree, or a qualification that’s equivalent or higher, are not eligible for the Postgraduate Doctoral Loan.

There are no plans to change the eligibility criteria of Postgraduate Doctoral Loans.

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