How our Master’s students top up their funding

There are many ways you can fund your master’s studies. Find out top tips from our master’s students on how to top up your funding.

Part time work

Timetabled hours for Master’s courses will vary from one subject area to the next, but most students find they can commit to around 20 hours of part-time work each week. There are often opportunities for employment within the University itself, in your student capacity. Alternatively our Careers and Employment Service are on hand to help you search for paid part-time work.

“I am funding my Masters through a part-time job and I was awarded the alumni tuition fee discount. The discount really helped me as it meant the government loan I received covered my tuition fees and most of the money I earnt from my part time job could be used as disposable income.”

Imogen DeAntiquis Spence, MRes Science

Savings 

If you can plan ahead and get some savings behind you before the start of term, you’ll be doing your future self a huge favour!

Whether this means a summer job, some extra hours, or committing to a savings plan for a set period of time, having the peace of mind that comes with being financially prepared will pay dividends down the line. You then free yourself up to focus on your studies come the start of term.

Support from friends and family

It’s always worth asking your parents, family or partner to see if they can help cover any of your costs. You may be lucky enough to get a small contribution upfront, or perhaps a regular payment.

Make your money work for you

Set yourself a budget and make sure you keep to it. Write it down and display it somewhere you’ll see it regularly, save it on your smartphone, or even better, use your banking app to monitor your spending. Find out more in our guide on how to budget at uni.

When shopping, research before you buy, seek out deals and discounts wherever you can. Student discounts are available at a number of outlets.

Student bank account

When doing your research into student bank accounts, make sure you see what incentives are on offer. More often than not, most banks will offer something like a voucher, membership or a free rail travel card. So make sure you choose the one that works the hardest for you, and your bank balance.

Although we don’t advocate borrowing, if used with caution an interest free overdraft (commonly offered by most mainstream bank student accounts) could prove useful as a short term source of income. Just make sure you’re aware of the terms and conditions and clear the balance when required to avoid being charged fees.

University support fund

If you were to find yourself in financial difficulty while studying with us at Portsmouth, the University Support Fund may be able to help.

The fund provides limited financial support to students in financial difficulty who are unable to meet basic living costs, or students facing unforeseen events or a change in their financial situation. Applying to the fund is simple, applications can be completed online.

Awards don’t need paying back and are based on a means test of a student’s income and expenditure. All payments are at the discretion of the Student Finance Centre and the fund should not be seen as a main source of income or a replacement for parental support. It’s intended as a safety net for those students in hardship.

Find out more