Funding your studies

UK undergraduate students

Tuition fee loans from Student Finance 

UK undergraduate students are eligible for a loan from the Student Loans Company to cover the cost of their tuition fees. Please see undergraduate student funding and finance for information.

Maintenance grants and maintenance loans

Maintenance grants and Maintenance loans are also available from Student Finance. Please check undergraduate student funding for further information.

SOAS undergraduate financial support 

UK undergraduates normally resident in England and who started their degree in September 2012 or later could be eligible for support: undergraduate financial support at SOAS.

Home postgraduate students

We have a variety of postgraduate scholarships. The deadlines for applications are normally end of January for the following academic year (e.g. January 2021 for September 2021 entry). You will also find links to external scholarships and awards on our scholarship web page.

For EU nationals, we recommend contacting the Education Ministry in your home country for information about government funding for study.

Another way to fund your studies is through educational loans which may be offered by some high street banks. Before taking out a loan make sure you understand what the repayments will be and that you’ll be able to afford them.  

Student Finance Postgraduate Loans

Master's and Doctoral loans towards the cost of your studies are available from Student Finance.

Please see Student Finance Postgraduate Loans for further information.

Overseas students

Loans

US Federal Loans

US Federal Aid is available to SOAS students. More information can be found on the About US loans. Application advice can be found at Apply for a US Federal Direct Loan. For queries, please contact funding@soas.ac.uk.

Indian Credila Loans

Eligible Indian students can apply for Credila Indian Student Loans through GEMS. You could use this loan to cover tuition fees and maintenance costs.  

Canadian Federal and Provincial educational loans

Eligible Canadian students should send their paperwork for certification to the Student Loans Officer. Get more information at Canadian Loans

Funding provided by Scandinavian (Sweden, Norway and Denmark) governments

If you have paperwork where you have to confirm you've paid your fees, please scan and email the form to fees@soas.ac.uk quoting your SOAS ID. This includes CSN study assurance forms and Lånekassen form C. We'll fill out, scan and email the forms back to your SOAS email account.

Please email the Student Loans and Bursaries Officer at fees@soas.ac.uk you have any questions about the loans and financial support featured in this section.

Scholarships and government funding

We have a variety of scholarships. The deadlines for applications are normally end of January for the following academic year.

For information on the criteria that EU students have to meet to be eligible for government funding, visit the gov.uk website.

We also recommend contacting the Education Ministry in your home country for information about government funding for study.

Financial advice and hardship funds

We offer practical financial advice on budgeting and want you to make the most of your limited income. See more in our section: managing your money

If you’ve having financial difficulty during your studies, you could be eligible for extra support through the SOAS hardship funds.

Additional sources of external funding are also available.

Military and veterans funding

Enhanced Learning Credits (MoD)

Our degrees, certificates and diplomas are registered for Enhanced Learning Credits for members of the UK armed forces.

Our ELC - Learning Provider ID is 2941.

The ELC scheme gives financial support in the form of a single up-front payment in each of a maximum of three separate financial years.

See ELCAS for more information.

Veterans Affairs and the Post 911 GI Bill 

US Veterans attending SOAS are able to utilise their funds from the Department of Veterans Affairs for on campus degrees only but it is very limited.

Our Veterans Affairs - Facility Code is 11-80001-74.

Please complete the SOAS loan form (available at Applying for a US Loan) and return it to funding@soas.ac.uk so that we have your details to hand and we can begin the process with the VA office. You can enter ‘Veterans Affairs’ as the source of funding and indicate the amount of dollars you expect to receive.

We strongly recommend that you take out Federal Loans. These can be reduced or repaid using your Veterans money when it arrives. It can sometimes take many months for the Veterans money to be processed as often the degree you are studying needs to be approved by them first.

If you have any questions then the VA Office at Buffalo can assist, so please call 716 857 3196/7. The Buffalo VA Office is the only one that administers VA Benefits to foreign schools and so will be aware of the additional regulations for foreign schools.

SOAS tuition fee discounts

Graduates of SOAS can save up tp 20% on their future studies with us. Please see tuition fee discounts for alumni for more information.