Cost comparison between English and Dutch taught Master's degrees

Weighing up the financial implications of postgraduate study is important whether looking to study in the UK or further afield.

We have worked out some examples of possible costs of university in both the UK and the Netherlands. We have compared tuition fees and living costs for a one-year Master's degree for 2020 entry.

Please remember that each student’s financial circumstances are different and these examples are for illustration purposes only. We cannot be held responsible for changes due to government policy or for institutional variances.

There are a few common points to make before we come on to the examples:

• UK students may be able to find sponsorship or fee reductions on UK university costs. We have not taken this into consideration because precise support varies. Because of variable fees for Masters degrees in England any comparison can only be partial. We have used an average of fees at four top English research universities for history (MA) and biosciences (MSc) for our examples.
• We have factored in the UK postgraduate loan at £10,906 but have not taken into account the Professional and Career Development Loan or any other private loan provision. This loan can be used for either tuition or living costs but we have assumed it is a tuition fee loan in the examples below.
• All British passport holders are entitled to take a tuition fee loan from the Dutch Government of up to statutory fee. This is €2,143 for the academic year 2020/2021. (Post Brexit this might not be true but it will be until the end of the current transition period in December 2020. Students starting before this date do not have to worry about an increase in fees at any time as long as they are ordinarily resident in the Netherlands.) We have added an NL (International) column to give an indication of fees for international students as this might become the new reality for British nationals.
• If a British student decides to take their full degree outside the UK there will be no financial support from the British Government.
• In the Netherlands graduates must repay their tuition fee loans over a 15 year period and living cost loans over 35 years. Repayments start two years after graduation.

As student finance in the Netherlands is complex and subject to individual circumstances, we have made a number of assumptions in our calculations:

1. Students live away from home and outside of London or Amsterdam. A typical northern university city in both countries has been used for living costs comparison. The universities we have used are in the top 150 in the World. Degrees are 1 year, MA/MSc degrees and total debt has been calculated on this basis.
2. Accommodation costs are based on a single occupancy room with shared facilities in self-catering flats or houses booked through the university. Ensuite and/or catered halls of residences are uncommon in the Netherlands.
3. All costs are based on a full 12 month academic year.
4. The hourly wage has been assumed to be GBP 6 in the UK and EUR 8 in the Netherlands. We have assumed students work 56 hours a month in all examples.
5. All calculations on this page do not take interest into consideration.

A. If you don't work 56 hours a month

You will be able to access a tuition fee loan in the Netherlands.

In the Netherlands, if a student is NOT working a minimum of 56 hours a month then they will not get access to additional grants and/or loans available from the Dutch Government. (See example B for what you are likely to get if you will be working 56 hours a month)

	UK (MA)	UK (MSc)	NL	NL (International)
University expenses
Tuition Fees	£         9,205	£ 10,475	£         1,850	£  13,000
Accommodation	£         9,600	£ 9,600	£         6,000	£ 6,000
Living Costs	£         5,400	£5,400	£         6,000	£ 6,000
Total	£         24,205	£25,475	£         13,850	£25,000
Available assistance
Tuition Fees Loan	£         10,906	£ 10,906	£         1,850	£ 0
Living Costs Loan	£         0	£ 0	£          0          -
Total	£         10,906	£10,906	£         1,850	£ 0
Shortfall while studying	-£         13,299	-£14,569	-£         12,000	-£25,000
Projected Debt upon graduation
Student Finance (Loans)	-£         10,906	-£10,906	-£         1,850	-£ 0
Other	-£         13,299	-£14,569	-£         12,000	-£25,000
Total	-£         24,205	-£25,475	-£         12,000	-£25,000

B. If you work 56 hours a month

It is important to differentiate between the examples of having a 56 hour a month job or not as this is the basis on which a British student will be classed as a Dutch resident and therefore able to access living costs assistance from the Dutch Government.

Students who satisfy the requirements are able to access a basic grant and top up living costs with a loan but only for as long as British students enjoy the same rights as othe EU nationals.In this example we have not included an international student illustration because are they extremely unlikely to be able to access this support.

For further information, visit our loans and grants page.

In the UK, there is no additional support available if you have a part-time job but you will have extra income.

	UK (MA)	UK (MSc)	Netherlands
University expenses
Tuition fees	£          9,205	£  10,475	£          1,850
Accommodation	£          9,600	£ 9,600	£          6,000
Living Costs	£          5,400	£ 5,400	£          6,000
Total	£          24,205	£25,475	£          13,850
Available Assistance/income
Tuition Fees Loan	£         10,906	£ 10,906	£          1,850
Living Costs Loan	£          0	£ 0	£          6,940
Part-time income	£          4,032	£ 4,032	£          4,480
Total	£          14,938	£14,938	£          13,270
Shortfall while studying	-£         9,267	-£ 10,537	-£       580
Projected Debt upon graduation
Student Finance (Loans)	-£         10,906	-£10,906	-£         8,790
Other	-£        9,267	-£10,537	-£         580
Total	-£         20,173	-£ 21,443	-£         9,370

C. What about repayments?

The Dutch system does not have a minimum income threshold before repayments must be made. The debt needs to be repaid over a 15 year period if you only borrow money towards tuition fees. If you also have the living cost loan the entire amount is repayable over a 35 year period. As already mentioned above, the projected debt upon graduation does not take into account any interest that students will have to pay, partly because it is impossible to predict rates that far into the future and partly because the speed of repayment will vary for every student. Repayments start two years after graduation and must be made in full even if a student drops out before completing the course.