Defaulting on payment and the collection policy

Failure to pay your student academic fees can result in administration charges and late invoice fees. Continued failure to pay your student academic fees can result in the withdrawal of IT facility privileges, withdrawal from your programme of study, and the possibility of third party/legal action.

If you cannot provide payment or proof of payment as required, then you will be considered to be in arrears and a defaulter.

Student fees collection policy (PDF)

Types of fees

Student academic fees include (but are not limited to):

• tuition fees
• modular fees
• additional programme costs
• matriculation fees
• exam fees
• cost of materials
• library fines

Non-academic fees include (but are not limited to):

• accommodation fees
• nursery fees
• parking fines

Financial penalties for defaulting

Late fee invoice

We will levy additional charges for the non-payment of student academic fees in the form of a late fee invoice.

The late payment charge will be either:

• 3% charge applied to the balance outstanding at the start of each month until the debt is cleared
• OR, a set amount applied on a sliding scale dependent on the outstanding balance.

Sliding scale charges

• No charge - balances up to £200
• £50 charge - balances between £200 to £1,000
• £100 charge - balances between £1,000 to £5,000
• £200 charge - balances between £5,000 to £10,000
• £300 charge - balances over £10,000

Recalled or returned payments and unpaid instalments

If any payment is recalled or returned due to insuffcient funds, account closure or account freezes, or an instalment is unpaid on more than one occasion then you will be required to immediately pay any remaining sums due for the year in question. This also applies if you cancel an automated scheduled payment instruction without good reason and sufficient prior notice to the Finance Department.

In addition an administration charge of £20 will be levied against your student fee account on each occasion for any of these circumstances.

Other penalties for defaulting

If you continue to fail to pay your students academic fees then you could face the following actions:

• withdrawal of IT facility privileges
• withdrawal from programme of study
• instigation of third party/legal action

Visas and immigration

We are obliged to inform the United Kingdom Visas and Immigration (UKVI) about any student covered by the immigration rule who is withdrawn from their programme of study due to non-payment of fees.

Lose the option to pay by instalment

If you continue to default on your payments then you will lose the ability to pay by instalment. You will also be required to pay any future years' payments by direct credit only to the University.

Not permitted to re-matriculate

In terms of Resolution of the University Court, if you are in debt to the University then you may not be permitted to re-matriculate in future sessions, or to graduate until the outstanding sum has been cleared.

Former students who wish to return

If you are a former student (including if you were withdrawn due to non-payment of student academic fees) wishing to be considered for return to study then you must pay all fees, charges and any collection/legal costs before going through the normal application procedures.

Collection and legal costs

If you are passed to a third party for fee collection and/or where legal action is initiated, you will incur the additional collection/legal costs.

In order to avoid these additional charges we recommend that you contact the Income Section to organise payment before any third party action commences.