Other sources of funding

You can explore funding your studies through income from work, grants or employer sponsorship.

Income from work

Many students work alongside their studies or save up for their programme of study. How much you can work, and the type of work you can do, depends on the following:

  • whether your programme is full-time or part-time
  • if you have a student visa with restrictions

 If you’re a full-time master's student, the University recommends that you do not work more than 15 hours per week.

If you are on a student visa

Typically, if you study full-time on a student visa you will only be allowed to work a maximum of 20 hours during term time and may need to fit this all in at evenings and weekends.

Working in the UK with a student visa

Working while studying part-time or online

If you are studying for a part-time or online programme, you may have more flexibility when, where and how much you can work.

Details of the average workload for part-time study may be found on the degree finder page for your programme.

Degree finder

Alumni discount

We offer a 10% discount on most postgraduate degree tuition fees for:

  • alumni who have graduated with an undergraduate degree from the University of Edinburgh, or
  • students who have previously matriculated on a 'Visiting Programme' as an undergraduate student and completed a minimum of one semester of study at the University of Edinburgh

Tuition fee alumni scholarships

Grants

You may be eligible for a grant from various charitable organisations in the UK. You can use the Turn2us Grants Search tool to find grants you may be eligible for.

Turn2us Grants Search

Disabled Students Allowance

You may be eligible for additional support to cover study related costs due to disability or long-term illness. This can be used to pay for specialist equipment, non-medical helpers, extra travel costs or other disability related study support. 

Disabled Students Allowance

Employer sponsorship

Some employers may provide financial support to employees taking postgraduate degrees, recognising the benefits further education provides to their workforce. You may want to approach your employer to see if they will contribute to the cost of your programme fees.

We have a short guide on approaching your employer for funding - it's aimed at postgraduate online programmes but could be adapted for other types of degree.

Requesting funding from your employer

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