Masters degree and universal credit

[Sunshinenrain]

I am hoping someone can help me understand this.

I am wanting to do a masters degree.
I am thinking that the open university will be easier for me so I can fit it around work and childcare.

I currently work but get a UC top up.

I would have to take the masters loan out to pay for the course but everywhere I’ve read it says that UC takes this into account when working out your claim.

So yes I’ll be getting £3k odd but surely that’s going to go straight back out to pay for my course, so it’s not going to be my money to spend.

So am I going to get a lot less UC because my income looks higher?

That's because part of a postgraduate loan is for your living costs, it's not purely for tuition.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/universal-credit-and-students

"If you receive a loan that pays maintenance and tuition in a single payment, for example a Postgraduate Master’s Degree Loan, a proportion of your loan will be excluded from your Universal Credit payment and the rest is deducted."