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Fees set for students who withdraw
The Finance Division has published an updated policy that outlines how much of their tuition fees students will get back if they permanently withdraw from the University.
The Financial Refund or Rebate Policy has been reviewed in light of the new structure of the academic year and the new fee regime from 2012-13.
As in previous years any student who drops out of any university in the UK still has to pay a proportion of their fees, depending on how much tuition they have received. How this is calculated varies from university to university.
The University discussed with the Students’ Union a policy that would split annual tuition fees into equal thirds based on the three payment periods within an undergraduate academic year (ie a student dropping out on or before the end of December would pay one third of their yearly tuition fee; a further third of the fee if they drop out before the end of March; and the final third if they drop out before the end of June).
However, when a UK or EU undergraduate student withdraws, the Student Loans Company pays the University tuition fees on the student’s behalf using a ratio of 25% in the first payment period, 25% in the second payment period and 50% in the final payment period.
The University took on board views of the officers of the Students’ Union and developed the University’s revised policy for UK and EU students so that it is in line with that of the Student Loans Company.
Students from outside the EU who study at UK universities do not have access to tuition fee loans from the Student Loans Company. So the University judged that an equal split into thirds based on the three payment periods would still be the fairest way of charging international students who withdraw from the University. This split is also applied to all postgraduates on Diploma or Certificate programmes.
Likewise, postgraduates who withdraw from Master’s and doctorate programmes – from the UK, the EU and any other country - will also be charged tuition fees based on an equal split (25% to the end of December, 25% to the end of March, 25% to the end of June, and 25% to the end of September).
No fees are charged where a new student withdraws within the first three weeks of the start date of their first year of study.
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It is not clear from the title or the content of the Financial Refund or Rebate Policy that it applies to tuition fees only, in fact although the word 'fees' appears many times the words 'tuition fees' do not appear at all. It could be misconstrued by some students to be an all-embracing policy which includes rent as well as other 'fees' or charges.
From McCulloch on 15 October 2012
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