All applicants for MRes or postgraduate taught programmes who are offered a place to study at Imperial and are liable to pay all or some of their fees personally will be required to pay a deposit towards their tuition fees before their place can be confirmed.
This page provides information on deposits only. A copy of the full policy can be found at the following link: Tuition Fee Policy .
Application deposits
Application deposits are normally calculated at 10% of the sessional fee for the first year of the course unless otherwise specified. From 1 January 2024, our MBA programmes will be 10% of the full programme fees. The fee for all of our Master's courses is on the relevant course page within the Study website.
Where fees are shown as provisional, deposits will be 10% of the forecast fee and may not therefore be exactly 10% of the final sessional fee charged.
Payment of the application deposit forms part of the conditions of a place and must be paid before your place on the course can be confirmed. Failure to pay the application deposit on time may result in the withdrawal of the offer.
Apart from certain circumstances detailed below, deposits are not refundable if you fail to take up your place at Imperial.
Deposits are the personal liability of the applicants and should not be passed to sponsors to pay (this is covered in further detail in the FAQs).
Application deposits received will be credited against the full fee balance for applicants successful in gaining a place at Imperial.
Deposits will be refundable for applicants that fail to meet the conditions of their offer provided their failure to gain admission is a direct result of the failure to meet the condition and the applicant can show that they have made all reasonable attempts to meet the condition.
Deposits will also be refundable if applicants are unable to take up their place on the programme owing to a refusal to grant entry clearance by UK Visas and Immigration provided that refusal was not the result of a fraudulent application or pre-existing bar on entry clearance. Deposits will not be refundable in other circumstances unless Imperial believes that there are exceptional or extreme mitigating circumstances that merit a refund on a discretional basis.
Application deposit process
If you accept an offer of a place to study at Imperial College London, you will either receive a payment link included in the offer letter or automatically be invoiced for the application deposit, usually within ten working days of accepting your offer.
The deposit must be paid within the timeframe specified in the offer letter or invoice. This can range from 14 to 30 days from the date of the offer letter or payment notification, depending on the programme. Where a programme is due to start within 14 days, a shorter payment deadline may apply.
If you need to request an extension to the payment deadline stated in your offer letter or payment notification, please contact our Admissions Team using the Enquiry Form provided in your offer letter.
Please note that if there is no payment link in the offer letter, the deposit invoice process is automated; you do not need to contact us to request an invoice. However, if there is no payment link on the offer letter, and you have not received a deposit invoice within ten working days of accepting your offer, please contact a member of the Tuition Fees team by email at tuition.fees@imperial.ac.uk.
Once you have paid your deposit, your admissions record will automatically be updated, and this will be reflected in your My Imperial account. Please allow 5 working days for your payment to clear the banking system and be applied to your account. Any payments received from students requiring a Student Visa will be shown on their CAS once all fee invoices have been raised.
Application deposit FAQs
Please see below for frequently asked questions on application deposits. If you have a question that is not answered below, you can contact our Admissions Team via the Enquiry Form.
Application deposit FAQs
- Do I have to pay a deposit?
- I have applied for sponsorship but it hasn't been confirmed, do I still have to pay a deposit?
- How much will my deposit be?
- When do I have to pay the deposit?
- What happens if I don't pay the deposit on time?
- Can I get an extension to the deadline for my deposit?
- What happens if I defer my application to next year?
- I've paid my deposit, what happens if I miss my grades?
- I've paid my deposit and met my other conditions but didn't get my visa, what happens now?
- I've changed my mind and now no longer wish to come to Imperial, can I get a refund?
- What are exceptional or extreme mitigating circumstances?
- I've been told I am not eligible for a refund, can I appeal?
- What happens if I find the course isn't for me?
- Will my deposit be returned to me after I pay my fees?
- I paid my full fee after paying my deposit, what do I do now?
- Will my deposit payment be shown on my Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS)?
- Can I pay my fees in full when I pay my deposit?
- I've paid my deposit, why does my My Imperial account still show that I need to make a deposit payment?
- Miscellaneous
All applicants to research masters (MRes) and taught postgraduate courses will be required to pay a deposit. The only exemptions from this are students with confirmed sponsorship for the full value of their tuition fees for the first year of the course at the time of application and students eligible for US Federal Aid for tuition fees.
Yes, until your sponsorship has been confirmed and a formal letter of sponsorship accepted by Imperial, you will be required to pay a deposit. If this scenario applies to you, you may wish to contact your department for further advice on your individual circumstances.
If you receive confirmation of full fees sponsorship after paying your deposit, a full refund of any deposit payment received will be made on acceptance of a formal letter of sponsorship by Imperial. If your sponsorship does not cover your tuition fees in full, a refund will be made of any element of your deposit in excess of your final fee liability once all other conditions have been satisfied and your final fee liability assessed.
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."
If you fail to secure sponsorship or other funding and as a result of this are required to withdraw your application to Imperial, your deposit will, unfortunately, not be refundable.
The deposit for all programmes, unless otherwise specified, will be 10% of the tuition fee for the year of admission.
The deposit must be paid within the timeframe specified in the offer letter or invoice. This can range from 14 to 30 days from the date of the offer letter or payment notification, depending on the programme. Where a programme is due to start within 14 days, a shorter payment deadline may apply. Details of the amount to pay and the payment due date will be clearly shown on the offer letter or in the invoice and accompanying email.
The deposit is a condition of your offer, therefore if you fail to pay the deposit you will have failed to meet the conditions of your offer and will not be able to join Imperial. If the deposit is not paid by the due date, your offer may be withdrawn by the department.
If you need to request an extension to the payment deadline stated in your offer letter or payment notification, please contact our Admissions Team using the Enquiry form link provided in your offer letter. Any extensions are at the discretion of the department and will be judged on a case-by-case basis.
If you defer your application, we will hold any deposit payment received against next year's deposit. Please note that the deposit you will need to pay next year will be based on the current year's fees rather than last year's; as such, there may be a balance to pay to complete the deposit requirement for the deferred application. When the applications cycle for next year opens, you will be informed of this.
Please contact our Admissions Team via the Enquiry Form in the first instance. Deposits are refundable if you fail to meet any condition of your offer and, as a direct result, fail to gain admission to the University, and can produce evidence that you made all reasonable attempts to meet the relevant condition. 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.
Deposits are refundable if your visa application is refused by the Home Office except where the refusal was under the grounds of a fraudulent application, the cancellation of a previous visa or any pre-existing ban on entering the United Kingdom. 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. You will need to attach a copy of your Refusal of Entry Clearance letter to your request for your refund to be considered. If your admitting department grants you leave to defer your application to the following year, we will hold your deposit against the next year's application.
Deposits are non-refundable in these circumstances unless there are exceptional or extreme mitigating circumstances. If you have made a payment against the full course fee, this will be refunded minus the deposit value for the course.
For a refund to be granted under extreme mitigating circumstances, evidence must be provided of an unpredictable and unexpected event that has caused you to no longer be able to attend Imperial.
All requests for refund under extreme mitigating circumstances are considered on a case-by-case basis. 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. Exceptional circumstances may only be judged on a case-by-case basis where the circumstances may not constitute extreme mitigation but nevertheless clearly indicate an exception is warranted in the particular case.
Yes, there is a set appeals process; appeals information will have been provided in the notification that your request for a refund was not successful.
Imperial has a set refund policy for students who find their course is not right for them. A refund of any fees paid will be made under this policy, although the deposit amount will not be refundable except under exceptional or extreme mitigating circumstances.
The deposit amount paid (less any bank charges or exchange losses) will automatically be deducted from your full fee invoice, please check your fee invoice email for the amount that you need to pay.
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."
Yes, deposit payments as well as payments received by Imperial against your full tuition fee invoice once available will be uploaded to your CAS.
We are unable to issue a full fees invoice until you have completed all conditions of your offer. You should not attempt to make full payment for your fees until you have completed all conditions of your offer and your place is fully confirmed.
Depending on how you make a payment, it may take 5 working days after successful payment via our payment platform to reach Imperial and be applied to your account. The My Imperial account will only show that you have made your deposit payment after the payment has cleared the banking system and been applied to your account.
- Paying deposits. We appreciate that 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, because you are applying for funding or are uncertain as to whether you can take up your place, you can contact our Admissions Team via the Enquiry Form to request an extension to the deadline. These requests will be subject to your department's approval.
- 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
