Tuition fee implications for undergraduate students paying the home rate of tuition fee
The information on this page is for Undergraduate home and home/EU students (England domiciled students) paying the home rate of tuition fee.
Students paying the overseas rate of tuition fee should read the international fee payer implication page.
Interrupting, retaking in attendance, transferring, or withdrawing from your course can affect your tuition fee liability for the year in which you make the change and the year you return to your programme of study.
How much tuition fee you are liable to pay depends on the date you interrupt, transfer, or withdraw and the date you resume your studies. If you receive Student Funding and use this to pay your tuition fee, it's also important to check how this will be affected by your change in studies.
All the information below is a general overview of the Queen Mary University Fee Regulations. For more detailed information please refer to these regulations.
Tuition Fee Liability when a student withdraws, interrupts or transfers
- A student who withdraws, interrupts or transfers oy of Queen Mary before the first day of semester two is liable for 25% of the annual tuition fee. If you receive the Student Finance England Tuition Fee loan, they will pay 25% of this to Queen Mary to cover your Tuition Fee liability for this period.
- A student who withdraws, interrupts or transfers out of Queen Mary after the start of Semester two but before the first day of Semester three is liable for 50% of the annual tuition fee. If you receive the Student Finance England Tuition Fee loan, they will already have paid 25% of this to Queen Mary for Semester 1 and now will pay another 25% of the tuition fee loan. In total they will pay 50% to cover your total Tuition Fee liability for this period.
- A student who withdraws, interrupts or transfers our of Queen Mary after the first day of Semester 3 is liable for 100% of the annual tuition fee. If you receive the Student Finance England Tuition Fee loan, they will pay the final 50% of your Tuition Fee Loan to Queen Mary to cover your full Tuition Fee liability for the academic year.
Semester dates are listed in the Queen Mary calendar.
If you owe tuition fees to Queen Mary at the point of interruption or withdrawal, you become liable to pay these if Student Finance England do not pay these on your behalf.
If you receive a Tuition Fee Loan from SFE they should only pay Queen Mary the amount you are liable for. If they overpay, they should reclaim the overpayment, so your overall student loan debt is reduced. If you think there is an error, contact the Queen Mary Fees Office (via AskQM) to check that they have received the correct amount of Tuition Fee Loan from SFE. If the wrong amount has been paid this will need to be corrected.
If you have interrupted with the intention or returning to rejoin your course, it is advisable to check your fee payments are correct and also ensure you do not have any outstanding tuition fee to pay as this will prevent you from re-enrolling the following academic year.
Self-funded students
If you interrupt your studies and are self-funded and have overpaid, the additional funds will not normally be refunded. Instead, the overpayment will be retained by Queen Mary until you resume studies and credited towards the tuition fees payable in the academic year that you rejoin.
If you withdraw from your studies, and have overpaid, you can request a tuition fee refund of any overpayment.
Tuition Fee liability when a student resumes study
- A student who resumes study on the first day of Semester A is liable for 100% of the annual tuition fee.
- A student who resumes before the start of the first day of Semester B is liable for up to 75% of the annual tuition fee.
- A student who resumes study during the May exam period is liable for 50% of the annual tuition fee.
In most cases, you will end up paying more tuition fee for your course than expected because:
- a tuition fee will be charged for the academic year you resume study. The only exception is if you are returning and are registered as re-sitting out of attendance for the academic year. No tuition fee is charged to students who are re-sitting out of attendance.
- The tuition fees charged increase each academic year
If you are awarded a student finance tuition fee loan for your retake year, you can use this to pay your tuition fees in three instalments over the academic year. Students who are not eligible for student finance or who choose to self- fund can pay:
• in full before or at enrolment
• in instalments, with 50% paid before enrolment and the remaining 50% by 31st January
• in eight instalments, with 25% paid before or at enrolment and the balance in equal monthly instalments with the final instalment due by 30th April (this includes students for whom a university fee loan is not available due to their previous study). This option requires you to set up a tuition fee instalment plan.
If you will be returning to attend the full academic year, the full tuition fee is charged. However, if you resume your studies part way through an academic year, you may be required to pay less. For example if you resume in January, you may only be liable to pay 75% of the tuition fee or less. If you resume in May, it could be 50%.
If you are eligible for the Student Finance England Tuition Fee Loan, you can choose to request the actual amount of Tuition Fee Loan required on your application rather than choosing the maximum available. However if you decide to do this make sure you ask the Queen Mary Fees Office for the the correct amount of tuition fee you need to pay. If you request too little, you may be unable to increase this is later on and may have to pay the shortfall yourself - see below. If in doubt request the maximum tuition fee loan and only the amount you are charged should be paid by SFE.
If you don't request enough Tuition Fee Loan to cover your tuition fees, the Fees Office will contact you ask you to pay the additional fee at some point during the academic year. If you are contacted before the end of May of the same year, you should be able to alter the amount of Tuition Fee Loan requested to cover the shortfall. However, Student Finance England may refuse any additional Tuition Fee Loan request after the end of May, as this is the loan request deadline. If you have a good reason for making a late request, they can consider this on a case by case basis at their discretion. Therefore to avoid this complication consider requesting the maximum Tuition Fee Loan available to allow Student Finance England and Queen Mary to adjust and pay the correct amount of Tuition Fee loan required up to a maximum tuition fee payable for that academic year.
There is more information about tuition fee payments in our Tuition Fee Payment pages.
Student funding for tuition fees
You should make sure you have sufficient funding in place to pay your tuition fees for when you resume your study. Tuition Fees are charged every year of the course where attendance is required including if you are required to re-take a year or a part year of study with attendance.
If you normally rely on the Student Finance England Tuition Fee Loan to pay your fees you should make sure you are entitled to receive this loan again to pay for your retake year.
If this is your first-degree level course and this is your first retake of a year with attendance, a Tuition Fee Loan for your repeat period of study may remain available to you to pay your tuition fees fas Student Finance England provide one additional year of Tuition Fee Loan to use in this circumstance. This is often called a gift year or a plus one year. Always check your entitlement with Student Finance England to ensure this is available to you. However, you will not automatically be entitled to a Tuition Fee Loan for your re-take year if this is the second time you are retaking a year/part year of your course in attendance or you have any previous study on an earlier degree level course. Again it is advisable to check your entitlement with Student Finance England and contact a Welfare Adviser if you would like discuss your circumstances.
If compelling personal reasons have caused you to re-take the year or part year (in attendance), you should read the section "My studies have been affected by Compelling Personal Circumstances" on our Undergraduate Funding implications information. This explains how to ask Student Finance England to consider awarding you an additional year of Tuition Fee Loan called a Compelling Personal Reasons year or CPR for short. This is discretionary so not guaranteed and is considered case by case.
If you cannot secure student funding, be prepared to pay the tuition fee yourself.
Contact a Welfare Adviser if you would like to discuss your circumstances and the options available to you.
Exam re-sit fees
There is no charge for re-sit exams. You will be automatically registered for re-sits if you are required to sit them. If you do not feel able to do your re-sits, for example because of ill-health, you may wish to submit a claim for Extenuating Circumstances;
