Have your say on the Government-proposed Postgraduate Doctoral Loans

The Government consultation, which launched online earlier this month, seeks to gather feedback on specific parts of the proposal, including loan terms, eligibility and implementation. Responses to the consultation will be used to inform the design of the doctoral loan, which is due to be available for the 2018/19 academic year.

Submit your responses and/or read the full consultation report here, until 16 December 2016.

Key points of the proposed loan are:

• Eligible individuals would be able to borrow up to £25,000.
• The maximum course length would be six years.
• The loan is intended as a contribution to the cost of study, rather than to specifically cover tuition fees or living costs.
• The loan would be available to individuals studying any Level 8 doctoral qualification.
• The loan would be available to eligible students who are not in receipt of a Research Council studentship (including fees only awards).
• The loan will not be available until academic year 2018/19.
• Eligible students ordinarily resident in England would be able to take their loan to any UK university offering a doctoral programme.

If you have a view, whether you are a doctoral researcher, academic or member of research staff, we urge you to submit your response online.