Information for undergraduate students

It is important for all students to apply for a loan every summer prior to the start of the academic session. Failure to do so may result in you becoming liable for the full tuition fee; further details can be found on the SLC website.

Please also ensure that you apply for the correct amount as any difference between the loan amount applied for and the final tuition fee due to Imperial College shall be invoiced directly to the student.

If you believe that you are being funded by the SLC but receive an invoice, please check that you have received a confirmation of your award; once you have this, please forward a copy to the Tuition Fees team or bring a copy in to the Student Hub. Once the team receive this confirmation, your invoice will be cancelled.

Fifth and sixth year undergraduate medical students (or students in the second, third or fourth year of the four year graduate-entry programme) may be eligible for an NHS bursary to cover their tuition fees for these years. Please note that, as with a tuition fee loan, an application for the NHS bursary must be made each year.

The NHS will confirm the amount of bursary being provided, if you do not receive this confirmation please contact the NHS directly to check the status of your application. Contact details are provided on the NHS Business Services Authority's bursary website. You no longer need to routinely send a copy of your Notification of Award to the College.

Applications to the NHS for bursary support should normally be submitted by early June each year, you will be notified of the details well in advance of the due date.

Late applications may be made to the NHS however, all applications must be submitted no later than six months after the first day of the academic year for which you are applying for support. Further information may be found on the College's NHS Bursary page.

Please note that Imperial College London will invoice any student that the NHS have not confirmed are in receipt of an NHS bursary by December each year. Failure to pay this invoice by the due date shown on the invoice may result in a late payment charges.

If you are invoiced but subsequently awarded a bursary, a refund of any tuition fees paid will be made (please note that this refund will not cover any late payment surcharge that may have been incurred by non-payment of the December invoice). 

The tuition fees charging cycle for each year usually commences in May. Once the charging cycle has commenced, students will receive an invoice within five working days of completing the final condition of their offer.

Tuition fees are payable annually by 1 September or within 30 days of invoicing, whichever is the later. Please be aware that if you are a Home/ EU undergraduate you should expect your invoice after the SLC confirmation list is received towards the end of September.

Students may make any number of payments towards the invoice total at any time after receiving their invoice to ensure full payment reaches the College by the due date.

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 My Imperial 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.

Overview 

For academic year 2025-26 

Payment by instalments may be an option to help you if you cannot afford to pay your tuition fee charges in one go. This option is available to all undergraduate and postgraduate students who meet the criteria below. 

Check if you are eligible 

To qualify for paying your fees in two instalments, you must meet the following criteria: 

Self-payment: You must be paying the fees yourself. If you are fully sponsored, you cannot use the payment in instalments option. 

No overdue balance: Your invoice must not be overdue. You can find the due date on your invoice or the original email sent with your invoice. 

Course duration: Your course must last eight months or more.  

How to apply to pay in instalments 

To request instalments, please log a ticket using ASK Student Hub Online (https://servicemgt.service-now.com/ask?id=sc_cat_item&sys_id=e3a38c1a2b41aa90bdc1f348ce91bf2c&sysparm_category=3828ee251bcef0101fd24043b24bcb7b).

How paying in instalments works 

If you are eligible to pay in instalments, it will work as follows: 

------------------ 

For September starters 

Example: £30,000 fee 

------------------ 

For October starters 

Example: £30,000 fee 

------------------ 

For January starters 

Example: £30,000 fee 

------------------ 

For Postgraduate Research students 

Example: £18,000 fee for a research programme starting on 1 December 2025 

Visa payment requirements 

To get a student visa for study in the UK, you need to show proof of funds for your tuition fees. Only payments received against your full fees can be confirmed on your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS).   

Check the Fees and Funding section of our website and the Student Visa Financial Requirements Guide for more details. 

You must prove you have enough money to pay for your course and support yourself in the UK. 

You can choose to pay in instalments, but you still need to show you have enough money for your course and living expenses at the time of your visa application. 

Find out more about the money you need when applying for a visa. 

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.

Undergraduate students interrupting or withdrawing from their course 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 31 weeks (or the number of weeks in the relevant session for students on courses with a session length of greater than 31 weeks) subject to any fee liability maxima that may be in force.

A refund will be made to the student of any balance of fees paid in excess of the pro-rata fee; 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 any part thereof) is being paid by a sponsor, the sponsor will be charged a pro-rata fee and refunded on the same basis as above.

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.