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Postgraduate application deposit policy [PDF, 148.2 KB]

Overview

Once you’ve received an offer for a postgraduate taught or research Master's course and decide you want to attend Imperial, your next step is to reserve your place by paying a deposit.

Who needs to pay a deposit

Offer holders for the following type of courses need to pay a deposit to reserve their place: 

  • postgraduate taught course (e.g. MSc, MBA)
  • research Master's (MRes) course

You do not need to pay a deposit if you are holding an Imperial offer for:

  • an undergraduate course
  • a postgraduate doctoral course e.g. PhD

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What you pay

If you are required to pay a deposit:

  • If you are applying for an MSc course, you will need to pay a 10% deposit of the first year fee, not the entire course fee.
  • If you are applying for an MBA course:
    • For MBA courses starting in 2024, you will need to pay a 10% deposit of the first year fee.
    • For MBA courses starting from 1 January 2025, you will need to pay a 10% deposit of the full programme fee.

You can find the fees for all of our courses on our course pages – search our courses.

If the fee for your course is controlled by a third party and has not been finalised at the time we receive your application, the deposit will be 10% of the provisional first-year fee advertised for the year of entry, unless specified otherwise.

We will deduct any deposit payment from the tuition fees balance.

The main fee invoice will show the full sessional fee, but you will only need to pay the balance as shown within the 'amount due' field in the accompanying email.

We will email you an invoice for the remaining fee once you have completed all conditions of your offer and your place is fully confirmed.

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When payment is due

We will usually send an invoice for the deposit by email within ten working days after you have accepted your offer.

This process is automated so you don't need to contact us to request an invoice.

You will need to pay the deposit within 30 days of the date of the invoice.

The details of the amount to pay and the payment due date will be clearly shown on the invoice and in the accompanying email.

Departments may, on a case-by-case basis, agree to extend the payment term for deposits.

If you wish to request an extension to the 30-day payment term you should email the Student Fees team – tuition.fees@imperial.ac.uk. Please let us know why you are requesting the extension and the length of the extension requested.

If you receive your offer less than 31 days before the start of your course, you do not need to pay a deposit to reserve your place.

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How to pay your deposit

We offer lots of convenient ways for you to pay your deposit, including by bank transfer, online and by telephone.

See How to pay for more details.

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Sponsored students

You will remain responsible for paying your deposit until your sponsorship has been confirmed and a formal letter of sponsorship accepted by Imperial. 

If you receive confirmation of full-fees sponsorship after paying your deposit, we will refund the amount paid in full.

If your sponsorship does not cover your tuition fees in full, we will refund any deposit that you paid over and above the portion of the fee you are responsible for.

To request a refund of your deposit, please email the Student Fees team – tuition.fees@imperial.ac.uk. We will not refund your deposit automatically.

If you fail to secure sponsorship or other funding and as a result of this are required to withdraw your application, your deposit will, unfortunately, not be refundable.

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Upload of deposit payment to your CAS

If you are applying for a student visa to study in the UK, we will upload your deposit payment to your CAS.

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Deferrals

If you defer taking up your place to the following academic year, we will hold onto any deposit payment received at that point to deduct from any deposit payment you may owe the following year.

This is because the fee for your year of entry may be higher than in the year you applied. As the deposit represents 10% of the fee in the year of entry, there may be a further balance to pay to complete the deposit requirement to secure your place on the course. 

Where this applies, we will contact you when the applications open for your year of entry.

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Late payment of deposits

If you miss paying your deposit by the deadline, you will have failed to meet the conditions of your offer and it may be withdrawn by your department.

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Deposit refunds

The application deposit is generally non-refundable.

However, there are certain circumstances under which you can apply for a refund of your deposit.

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