Information for postgraduate students

Students applying for entry to postgraduate taught and postgraduate research masters (MRes) courses in the College from the 2012-13 academic year onwards will usually be required to pay a deposit on acceptance of a conditional offer to study at the College. Deposit invoices will normally be sent within ten working days of applicants accepting an offer.

Find out more about our Postgraduate Deposit Policy‌

Once the deposit and all other conditions have been met, applicants will progress to unconditional status. The tuition fee charging cycle for each year usually commences in May; once the charging cycle has commenced, self-funding students will receive a full fee invoice within ten working days of completing their last condition.

• Paying deposits. We appreciate that during this difficult period, you may not be able to arrange for your deposit to be paid in time. If you have received a deposit invoice but are unable to pay by the deadline, either because you are applying for funding or uncertain as to whether you can take up your place, you can write to tuition.fees@imperial.ac.uk to request an extension to the deadline. These requests will be subject to your department's approval.

• Postgraduate course deposits. Our approach is set out in the Postgraduate Tuition Fee Deposit Policy. For some situations as set out in the policy, there may be exemptions. These will be considered on a case-by-case basis. 

• Deposit refunds. We remain committed to delivering the highest quality education to you in the next academic year to deliver your course outcomes and help you achieve your goals, regardless of the format of delivery. However, there are some circumstances where the refund of a deposit would be considered. They include, but are not limited to:

• International or national circumstances that prevent attendance of a course in person, if this is critical to course completion, or remotely when this is offered

• Where Imperial College is no longer able to run a certain course either on campus or remotely

• Where significant changes to the content or delivery of the programme have been made after you accepted your offer

• Exceptional or extreme mitigating circumstances

• More information. You can keep up-to-date with news about your study on our Covid-19 pages. 

Students will receive an invoice normally within five working days of completing the final condition of their offer. Tuition fees are payable annually on the first day of the month closest to one month prior to the programme commencing, or within 30 days of invoicing, whichever is the later.

For the purposes of fee payment dates, the session for postgraduate research programmes is deemed to commence on 1 October irrespective of individual start dates, except where that start date is between 1 September and 14 September when the session is deemed to commence on 1 September.

The session for all continuing postgraduate research students is deemed to commence on 1 October.

Students may make any number of payments towards the invoice total at any time after receiving their invoice. Any deposit payment received by the College will be deducted from the balance due.

Payments made by students requiring a Tier 4 (General) Student visa will be uploaded to the students’ Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS). Any payment details uploaded to the CAS will be reflected on the student portal; students are strongly advised to check that any payments made are shown before booking a visa appointment. Please note, payments made once the CAS has been assigned may not be visible on the student portal. Please contact your admissions team for more information if required.

Payments cannot be uploaded to a CAS that shows a status of Used. Students whose CAS has been used and who need to show a payment made to the College are advised to contact their admissions team at their earliest convenience.

For taught postgraduate students (including research masters) entering or continuing their studies in the academic year 2024/25, Imperial College London offers a 1.5% discount off personal tuition fees (less any deposit amount paid) if payment is received by the College at least 45 days before the programme's standard due date (tuition fees are payable annually on the first day of the month closest to one month before the programme commencing). If you do not already have an invoice, you may still be entitled to this discount (see 'How it works' below).

Students are reminded to deduct any discounts when calculating the balance to pay.

Eligibility 

You are eligible for a discount if: 

• You are studying a postgraduate taught or research master's degree
• You are self-paying for full or part of your fees (fees paid by a sponsor are not eligible)
• You are paying for the full balance less the discount in advance (the discount will not be awarded on part payments unless the full balance is received by the specified date)
• Payments made towards application deposits will not be included in the discount calculation
• Funds must be cleared in Imperial College London's bank account by the specified date for the discount to be applied (Please note that we offer this discount based on the date the funds are received in our bank account, not the date they are paid. It is recommended that payment be made at least 6 days before the cut-off date to avoid missing the deadline)
• You are not paying for fees in instalments

 How it works 

• To claim the discount, students should deduct 1.5% from the net amount of their tuition fees (i.e. tuition fees less any payments already made towards deposits), and make payment of that sum to reach our bank account by 45 days before the due date of the invoice or, if you do not yet have an invoice: 45 days before when the due date would be (see examples below).

• Tuition invoices are usually raised within five working days of completing all conditions of an offer
• Tuition fees are usually payable annually on the 1st of the month preceding the programme start date. Where invoices are issued within 30 days of the above dates, fees will be payable 30 days from the date of the invoice. 
• If you have any questions about the Early Payment Discount, please address them to tuition.fees@imperial.ac.uk.   

 Examples for Academic Year 2024/25 

For Academic Year 2024/25

Students whose fee liability exceeds £2,000 may apply to pay their fees in two instalments, although the option to pay fees in instalments is not available to students under the age of 18:

• The first instalment shall be payable on the first day of the month closest to one month prior to the programme commencing, or within 30 days, whichever is the later.
• The second instalment is payable on the first day of the month closest to five months after the session for that programme commences (i.e. six months after the standard due date for the first instalment).

Students requiring a Tier 4 (General) Student visa may opt to pay their fees by instalments but these students will still need to show evidence of funds to cover living expenses and the full tuition fees for the first year of study; these funds must be shown in either the student's or their parents' bank account for a minimum of 28 days on a statement dated not more than 31 days prior to the visa application date.

No interest is payable on the amount of credit extended through payment of fees by instalments but credit is subject to a facility fee of 1% of the total fee payable (representative 4.16% APR) with this fee payable with the first instalment of 50%. The option to pay by instalments is not available to applicants or students under the age of 18.  Applicants that are over the age of 18 will be able to apply to pay by instalments by emailing the Student lending team.

Representative Example: Tuition fees of £15,150.00, advance payment of £1,515.00, cash price £15,150.00, facility charge £136.35, total amount of credit £13,635.00 payable in two instalments of £6,953.85 by 01 September 2024 and £6,817.50 by 01 March 2025 (duration of agreement 6 months), total amount payable £13,771.35, representative 4.16% APR.  For further information contact student.lending@imperial.ac.uk .

If you are in receipt of a UK Government issued Postgraduate loan then you may opt to pay your fees in three instalments upon providing formal evidence to the Student lending team (representative 2.63%). 

Representative Example: Tuition fees of £15,150.00, advance payment of £1,515.00, cash price £15,150.00, facility charge £136.35, total amount of credit £13,635.00 payable in three instalments of £4,681.35 by 01 September 2024, £4,545.00 by 01 February 2025 and £4,545.00 by 01 June 2025 (duration of agreement 9 months), total amount payable £13,771.35, representative 2.63% APR.  For further information contact student.lending@imperial.ac.uk .

Home and EU students that meet certain criteria may apply for a Postgraduate Loan (PGL) for up to £11,836.00, if your course starts on or after 1 August 2022, from the UK Government to support their studies at Master’s level, the loan is paid directly to the student via the Student Loans Company and may be used towards tuition fees or in support of maintenance costs.  Please note, that as this loan is paid directly to the student, the College does not regard it as sponsorship and any students applying for a PGL should declare that they are self-funding even if they intend on using the PGL to pay some or all of their tuition fees. Students in receipt of a PGL and who opt to pay their fees in instalments, may request to pay in three, rather than two, instalments; further information is available from the Student lending team. (This does not apply to Postgraduate loans via the Student awards agency for Scotland)

All students are deemed to be self-funding until such time as a sponsorship award has been formally confirmed by your sponsoring organisation and accepted by the College. Imperial College London reserves the right to determine what constitutes acceptable sponsorship; payment of fees by an individual or group of individuals acting in a personal capacity will not be regarded as sponsorship.

If a sponsor is paying fees directly to a student for them to make payment to the College, the agreement is between the student and their sponsor, not the sponsor and the College, and so the student will be regarded as self-funding.

Students who have declared they are fully sponsored will not be able to enrol until proof of sponsorship has been accepted by the College; students who have applied for sponsorship but this has yet to be confirmed are therefore advised to state that they are self-funding until such time as their sponsorship award has been confirmed.

Students who are partially sponsored should state that they are self-funding when accepting their offer.

Satisfactory evidence of sponsorship is usually regarded as an original, dated and duly authorised letter from your sponsor on headed paper which includes the following:

• Your name and College Identifier Number
• The programme for which you have been offered a place
• The amount of fees which will be paid by your sponsor
• The address to which the invoice should be sent
• Any Purchase Order Number required
• Confirmation that the fees will be sent directly to Imperial College

Please submit your letters electronically via this form. If you have any problems please e-mail tuition.fees@imperial.ac.uk

Payment terms for partially sponsored students, including the option for payment of fees by instalments, will be the same as for self-funding students.

Application Fees are non-refundable after the initial fourteen (14) day cancellation period as per the terms outlined on our Application Fees page.

Postgraduate students interrupting or withdrawing from their course and postgraduate research students entering writing up during the academic session will be charged a pro-rata fee based on the relevant full year fee (or their contribution to the full year fee) and the number of weeks or any part thereof (e.g. 26 weeks and 2 days will be calculated at 27 weeks) studied during an academic session of 52 weeks.

A refund will be made to the student of any balance of fees paid in excess of the reduced fee on request; for students interrupting their studies, the balance may be held on account for use against the balance of fees on resumption of studies.

Where a student's fee (or part of a student's fee) is being paid by a sponsor, the sponsor will be charged a fee pro-rata the period of attendance and the sponsor's share of the fee liability, with any balance refunded on the same basis as above.

Any deposit element will only be refundable where an applicant:

• fails to meet the relevant conditions of their offer;
• is refused a relevant visa; or
• in extreme or exceptional mitigating circumstances.

As such, this portion of the fee will be excluded from the calculation of any refund due to a student withdrawing after the start of session. This will also be the case for self-funding students who were not required to pay the deposit on acceptance of their offer for a course that would ordinarily require a deposit.

Applications for refund under exceptional mitigating circumstances will be considered by a panel consisting of the Head of Accounting Operations, the Director of Student Support and the Academic Registrar or their appropriate nominees. This panel will operate under guidelines set down in the College's Tuition Fees Policy.

If a student demonstrates sponsorship after payment of the deposit, a relevant refund will be made without an application for refund needing to be considered by the panel.

To request a refund, please use this internal form to submit a case via ASK Imperial. If you do not currently have an Imperial College Account, please register as an external user first, and then use this external form to submit your case.

Please allow 10 work days to receive your funds after we receive your completed form.

If you are a visiting student applying for a course and have been advised that no fee will be payable, you will not be required to pay a deposit but should select the 'self-funding' option when you are accepting your offer in the Imperial Gateway. This is for administrative purposes only and you will not be charged a fee.

Understanding the Goods and Services Tax (GST)

Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a consumption tax imposed on the supply of goods and services analogous to the UK's Value Added Tax (VAT). While many countries, including the UK, exempt educational services from such consumption taxes, this may not be the case in other jurisdictions. In some jurisdictions, online education is considered a digital service and may be subject to GST. This is becoming more common as different jurisdictions update their tax codes to cater for the ever-increasing role of digital services and the digital economy to overall economic activity. 

Will I have to pay GST on top of the advertised course fees?

If you are normally resident and studying in a territory that levies a GST (for example, through a remote online course or degree), you may incur an additional tax charge which will be added to your course fee invoice and paid by you; Imperial College London then pays this tax to the relevant tax authorities on your behalf. If you travel to the UK to study, GST will not be payable as educational services are exempt from UK VAT. 

When will this come into effect?

GST will be charged to new students on top of the published tuition fee at the rates shown below; the GST liability for students that commenced their studies before the effective date listed will be absorbed by the College. This will extend to the full duration of their programme which started before the effective date.  

What if I am unwilling or unable to pay GST?

Imperial College London has a responsibility to comply with the tax codes of both the UK and any other jurisdiction in which we operate, including where those operations are the supply of digital services.  If you do not feel willing or able to pay GST where applicable, you will be able to withdraw your application to study at the College; please refer to our course cancellation policy should you wish to withdraw your application at any stage.

Questions?

Imperial College London is committed to supporting our students during this transition, please contact the Student Credit Control team (student.creditcontrol@imperial.ac.uk) if you need to discuss payment of the GST.

Our dedicated team is here to support you, so please do not hesitate to reach out if you need further clarification or guidance.

Current GST territories

Please see below the table of current GST rates, GST will apply at the rate indicated to invoices raised on or after the effective date: