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23. Tuition fees

23.1 We are committed to a fair and transparent policy for charges made to our students. We will use reasonable efforts to tell you promptly if any fees or charges are payable, along with details of the arrangements for payment. Detailed rules and procedures are set out in the Fees Policy (see www.bournemouth.ac.uk/important-information, under Finance).

23.2 We sent you information about your tuition fees and other charges with your offer letter. More information about tuition fees for your course is in the course information on our website (www.bournemouth.ac.uk/courses). If you are an exchange student, during your exchange period with us, you must pay any fees required by your home institution as though you were still at your home institution. We will not ask you to pay tuition fees to us. We try to avoid charging additional fees for things you need for your course, but there may be charges for some things, including optional activities. You must pay additional fees and charges within 30 days of the date of our invoice. You may also have to pay charges under separate arrangements with us for accommodation or other services at BU.

23.3 You are personally responsible for ensuring that your tuition fees are paid (unless you are on an Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) funded apprenticeship programme), even if you are sponsored by a third party, have applied for a student loan or a third party is paying them. Tuition fees are not payable for apprenticeship programmes, as these are funded by employers via the ESFA.

Students taking an undergraduate course may be eligible for a tuition fee loan from the Student Loans Company. For more information on eligibility for a tuition fee loan please see www.gov.uk/student-finance/who-qualifies. If your loan application is accepted, the Student Loans Company will pay your tuition fees to us directly. If not, you must pay your fees in full or by instalments (see paragraph 23.5). The Student Loans Company has its own rules and procedures and you must follow these. You will need to apply to the Student Loans Company for each year of your course.

If a sponsor or third party has agreed to pay your tuition fees, they must pay those fees for each academic year by the date on the invoice. If the sponsor or the third party does not pay on time, you are still personally responsible for the fees.

For some students who enrolled before the 2017/18 academic year on NHS-commissioned professional courses within the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences the tuition fees are generally directly paid by the NHS. You may however be responsible for fees in some circumstances, for example if the NHS does not pay fees for resitting examinations or repeating modules. You must check the information that we gave you when you applied for one of these courses. NHS bursaries may also be available to help with other costs. See paragraph 25.3 for more information.

23.4 You must make sure that your tuition fees are paid on time. Failure to pay is a serious matter. We may take action against you as in paragraph 26 (Students in debt with BU including Sanctions for non-payment). It is important that you tell us if you change your contact details or address so we can contact you about payments.

23.5 You can pay your fees in instalments if your course lasts for at least one full academic year and you pay online by debit/credit card or by other methods as agreed by the Finance team. There are further details in the Fees Policy (www.bournemouth.ac.uk/important-information, under Finance). We will confirm the amounts and the due dates when we agree the instalments. If we cannot collect an instalment on time, we may apply an administration charge of £20. We may apply a further £20 administration charge on each due date if you have not paid the previous instalments.

23.6 In exceptional circumstances, we may agree an extended payment plan with you. However, we cannot do this if it would breach your visa requirements.

23.7 If you are suspended or withdrawn from BU as described in paragraphs 31.6 or 31.8, you will need to pay tuition fees up to the date of withdrawal or suspension (unless you are an apprentice on an Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) funded apprenticeship programme). The table in the Fees Policy shows the calculation (see www.bournemouth.ac.uk/important-information, under Finance). If you have paid more fees than are due to us, we will refund them (see 7.10 of the Fees Policy for details). See paragraph 28.2 for more information about how we calculate the refund or what you need to pay.

24. Deposits

24.1 If you are a non-UK postgraduate applicant you must pay a deposit of £3,000 (courses starting in September 2023 or January 2024) or £5,000 (courses starting after January 2024). The deposit must be paid by the date stated in your offer letter and will be used to pay part of your fees. You will need to pay the rest of your fees, or your first instalment if paragraph 23.5 applies, when you complete online registration and payment must be prior to enrolment.

We will not need a deposit if a government body, company or other organisation is sponsoring you and your sponsor has provided an official letter or purchase order to us to confirm that they will pay your fees in full. You must provide this document to us when you accept your offer.

24.2 We will refund your deposit if:

  • You do not meet the conditions of the offer and we withdraw the offer
  • Your visa application is refused (unless it was refused for reasons relating to fraud)
  • You cancel within 14 days of telling us that you have accepted your offer
  • We have withdrawn the course that you have applied for and you do not want to take up a place on any alternative course that we have offered
  • You are, or reasonably anticipate you will be, unable to physically commence study at BU when you need to due to travel restrictions imposed by either: (i) the government of the UK; or (ii) that of the country from which you travel to BU. If we ask, you must promptly provide us with evidence of the relevant government’s travel restrictions to show you were, or reasonably anticipated you would be, unable to travel to BU in time to physically commence study when you needed to. We recommend you keep copies of relevant travel restriction information.

24.3 At the discretion of the Finance Director, we may refund a deposit if you withdraw from your course in exceptional personal circumstances such as serious illness or a family bereavement. We will not refund the deposit if you withdraw for any other reason. For more information see paragraph 28 (Financial arrangements on withdrawal, suspension or other interruption) and our Fees Policy (www.bournemouth.ac.uk/important-information, under Finance).

24.4 If we have agreed that you can defer your start date (see paragraph 4.3), we will not return your deposit unless you cancel within 14 days of accepting the offer for the deferred entry. If you start your course at the start of the next intake, we will use your deposit to pay part of your fees when you start. The next intake may not be the next academic year, for example, we may have a January intake. If you defer your studies for more than one intake, you will lose your deposit unless you cancel within 14 days of accepting the offer for the deferred entry. For more information, see the Admissions Policy: Taught Programmes and the Recruitment, Selection and Admission (Postgraduate Research Degrees): Policy and Procedure, www.bournemouth.ac.uk/important-information, under Admissions.

25. Scholarships and discounts

25.1 If you are studying at a Partner College, the Partner College will be able to provide you with information on any scholarships you may be eligible for.

25.2 There are details of our bursaries, scholarships, loans and grants on our website at www.bournemouth.ac.uk/funding.

25.3 For students on some professional courses, bursaries or Health Education England funding may be available in some circumstances. You can find out more from your Programme Team.

25.4 You may be eligible for one or more discounts in any academic year, but there is a cap on the total discount we will give you. Discounts will not apply if you have to repeat some or all of your course - see the Fees Policy for more information (www.bournemouth.ac.uk/important-information, under Finance).

26. Students in debt with BU including Sanctions for non-payment

26.1 If you are experiencing financial difficulties, you should tell us as soon as possible. We will always seek to be understanding of your financial circumstances.

If you are having difficulty paying library charges you should contact the library Help Zone, call the library on +44 (0)1202 965959 or email [email protected].

If you are having difficulty paying any other debts to BU contact our Finance helpline on +44 (0)1202 961600 or email [email protected].

26.2 Wherever possible, our finance team will work with you to agree an acceptable repayment plan. We will consider your individual circumstances and any supporting documentation you provide. The decision is at the discretion of the Finance Director and/or a delegated officer but we will not agree any arrangement that we consider may breach visa or immigration requirements. If you disagree with the outcome, you may complain under the Student Complaints Policy and Procedure (see paragraph 15). If you do not keep up payments under a repayment plan the debt will immediately become payable in full.

26.3 If you do not agree with the debt, you should contact the Finance helpline on +44 (0)1202 961600 or email [email protected] as soon as possible. If the dispute is not resolved, you can complain under the Student Complaints Policy and Procedure (see paragraph 15). We will not apply sanctions or take action to recover the debt while we deal with your complaint.

26.4 If you do not pay any fees or charges on time, we will take steps to secure payment by following our Student and Debt Management Policy (see www.bournemouth.ac.uk/important-information, under Finance). If we conclude this internal debt management process without recovering the debt in full or reaching agreement with you, we may refer debts to external solicitors and/or debt collection agencies who will take steps to recover the debt. The steps taken may include taking court action to recover the debt. If we take external action to recover the debt, you may have to pay interest and additional costs of the action, such as debt collection agency fees, search fees and legal fees.

26.5 Tuition fees: If you fail to pay tuition fees when they are due, or to make payments under an agreed repayment plan, we may apply all or any of these sanctions and requirements as provided for in the Student Debt Management Policy:

Sanctions and requirements

  • Require you to provide information about intended payment arrangements or attend a meeting to discuss payment of your outstanding fees
  • Remove your access to BU systems or services, such as IT systems or library services Withdraw you from your course
  • Not issue you with a final award certificate
  • Not allow you to re-enrol for the next academic year
  • Not pay bursaries or scholarships unless an acceptable payment plan is in place.

Withdrawal from your course is the final sanction we will apply if other steps within our Student Debt Management Policy do not lead to us recovering the debt or reaching agreement with you.  Withdrawal means that you are not able to continue your studies at BU and you will not be able to resume your studies even if you make a payment after withdrawal.  If you have a student visa, withdrawal must be notified to the UK Visa and Immigration Service and will usually result in withdrawal of your student visa.  Application of other sanctions, even for a short period, may mean that you miss essential parts of your course so that it takes you longer (possibly as much as an extra year), to complete your studies. You may have to pay fees for an extra period and you may not be able to take out a student loan for the extra period. You may not be able to extend your visa.

26.6 Accommodation charges: If you fail to pay your accommodation charges to us (under a separate accommodation agreement) when they are due, or make payments under an agreed repayment plan, we may apply all or any of these sanctions:

Sanctions

  • Give you notice to leave your accommodation and obtain a court order for eviction
  • Refer debts to external solicitors and/or debt collection agencies who will take steps to recover the debt. The steps may include court action to recover the debt.

26.7 Library sanctions: Please return all library loans by their Due date or when we recall them for another reader. We will invoice you for the replacement cost of any item that is lost, damaged or more than three weeks overdue. Please make sure that when you leave BU, whether you have finished your course or withdraw, you return all library loans as soon as possible. We will take steps to recover library charges owed by current students alongside provisions of our Library Rules, which are at www.bournemouth.ac.uk/student/library-rules. As well as taking steps to recover payment of the debt, the Library will prevent you from borrowing further items if you have:

  • An overdue item that has been requested by another reader
  • Failed to pay, when requested, the replacement cost for a lost, damaged or overdue item.

If you do not pay outstanding library charges, we may refer them to our external solicitors and/or debt collection agents who will take steps to recover the debt.

26.8 Other fees and charges: If you fail to pay any other fees or charges due to us or make agreed payments under an agreed payment plan, we may refer debts to our external solicitors and/or debt collection agents who will take steps to recover the debt.

27. Financial support

27.1 If you are experiencing financial difficulties, you should tell us as soon as possible. You can find information on financial support for students experiencing financial difficulty at www.bournemouth.ac.uk/students/help-advice/financial-support. Guidance and support is available from AskBU (call +44 (0)1202 969696, email [email protected]) and from SUBU Advice (+44 (0)1202 965779 or email [email protected]).

27.2 Information on student funding is available:

27.3 You can find information on improving your financial wellbeing at

28. Financial arrangements on withdrawal, suspension or other interruption

28.1 If you withdraw or put your studies on hold, or if we withdraw you or suspend you, you are responsible for tuition fees up to the date that you put your studies on hold, are withdrawn or suspended (unless you are an apprentice on an Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) funded apprenticeship programme).

  • If you wish to withdraw more than 14 days after you register, see paragraph 31.2 for more information
  • If you wish to put your studies on hold, see paragraph 31.3 for more information
  • See paragraph 31 (Ending or suspending the student agreement) for more information about the circumstances in which we can withdraw or suspend you.

28.2 If you withdraw or put your studies on hold, or if we withdraw or suspend you, it may affect how many years you can get a student loan for, or future NHS funding. You may have to repay maintenance grants, loans or bursaries and you may not have access to other funding. It is important to consider this if you are considering withdrawing or putting your studies on hold.

  • If you have taken a tuition fee loan from the Student Loans Company, we will tell the Student Loans Company of the adjusted amount of tuition fees that are payable. If a refund is payable, we will pay it to the Student Loans Company
  • If you are in receipt of an NHS bursary and you withdraw or put your studies on hold, or if we withdraw or suspend you from your studies, you will need to tell the NHS Student Services Office (www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/students). The NHS Student Services Office may stop payments or seek to recover any bursaries they have paid you
  • All other students will need to pay fees up to the date of withdrawal or suspension or the date on which their studies are put on hold. We set out how we calculate this in the Fees Policy (see www.bournemouth.ac.uk/important-information, under Finance). If you have paid more fees than are due to us, we will refund them. We will ask you to complete a refund claim form. We will not refund fees if you give us the refund claim form more than 60 days after the date you put your studies on hold or your withdrawal or suspension date.

28.3 If you return the following academic year after a suspension or putting your studies on hold, we will deduct any fees that you have paid for the period that your studies were put on hold or the suspended year’s study from the following year’s fees.