How to pay your fees

If you're a undergraduate then you may be eligible for a UK government tuition fee loan. The Student Loans Company (SLC) will pay your fees directly to us, so you don't have to pay us yourself. It's still important for you to read our fee payment terms and policies below. You also need to remember to re-apply for your loan each year.

If you have a confirmed postgraduate loan from the Student Loans Company, you can make instalment payments, in line with the postgraduate loan release dates.

In order to have your postgraduate loan officially confirmed by the University via the SLC's online system, you must have returned your signed declaration to the SLC.

If your loan has not been officially confirmed to the University by the start of term you will be required to pay the initial instalment online during the pre-registration process or in person at registration.

Higher and Degree Apprentices do not pay any tuition fees as these are covered by their employer, as well as earning a salary. However, due to the nature of apprenticeships and how they are funded, apprentices are not eligible for student finance via Student Finance England – this includes both tuition fee loans and maintenance loans. Living costs, including housing, travel, and materials will need to be covered by the apprentice themselves.

You can obtain a notification of tuition fees due by logging on to your MyEssex account.

Choose the ‘Notification of tuition fees due’ option under the ‘Your personal details’ heading.

If there is no document shown it means your records for the next academic year have not been fully set up yet.

Your official tuition fee invoice will be generated and emailed to you as part of the online registration process.

Payment arrangements in place at the start of your academic year will remain in place for the duration of your course.

Academic year 2023-2024

You need to pay a minimum of the first term instalment of your tuition fees to enable you to register at the start of your course.

Details of the fees you need to pay will be confirmed as part of online registration. You can either pay the whole fee for the year in one go, or pay by termly instalments. Subsequent instalments for terms 2 and 3 are due on specific dates, which will be listed on your invoice and emailed to you after you have registered.

The University does not offer any discount for payment in full.

January starters

Please note that your CAS will show the cost of your full course but the online registration system will show only the current academic year.  As a January starter your course is run over two academic years with two terms payable this academic year and one term next academic year in September. 

You need to pay a minimum of the first term instalment of your tuition fees to enable you to register at the start of your course.
Details of the fees you need to pay will be confirmed as part of online registration. You can either pay the whole fee for the year in one go, or pay by termly instalments. Subsequent instalments for terms 2 and 3 are due on specific dates, which will be listed on your invoice and emailed to you after you have registered.

The University does not offer any discount for payment in full.

January starters

Please note that your CAS will show the cost of your full course but the online registration system will show only the current academic year.  As a January starter your course is run over two academic years with two terms payable this academic year and one term next academic year in September.

International fee paying student

You need to pay a minimum of the first instalment of your tuition fees to enable you to register at the start of your course.
Details of the fees you need to pay will be confirmed as part of online registration. You can either pay the whole fee for the year in one go, or pay by two instalments. The subsequent instalment will be on the 31st January, which will be listed on your invoice and emailed to you after you have registered.

The University does not offer any discount for payment in full.

January starters

Please note that your CAS will show the cost of your full course but the online registration system will show only the current academic year. Details of the fees you need to pay will be confirmed as part of online registration. You can either pay the whole fee for the year in one go, or pay by two instalments. The first instalment is payable as part of online registration to enable you to register. The subsequent instalment will be on the 30th April, which will be listed on your invoice and emailed to you after you have registered.

Payment arrangements in place at the start of your academic year will remain in place for the duration of your course.

Academic year 2023-2024

Students starting in academic year 2023-2024

• Autumn term: payable as part of online registration
• Spring term: 31 January
• Summer term: 30 April

The dates for January starters are:

• Spring term: payable as part of online registration
• Summer term: 30 April
• Autumn term: 30 September

For postgraduate students with a confirmed postgraduate loan from the Student Loans Company, you can make instalment payments in line with the postgraduate loan release dates:

• Autumn term: 16 October
• Spring term: 15 January
• Summer term: 22 April

Academic Year 2024-2025

Home fee paying students

• Autumn term: payable as part of online registration
• Spring term: 31 January
• Summer term: 30 April

The dates for January starters are:

• Spring term: payable as part of online registration
• Summer term: 30 April 2025
• Autumn term: 30 September 2025

For postgraduate students with a confirmed postgraduate loan from the Student Loans Company, you can make instalment payments in line with the postgraduate loan release dates:

• Autumn term: 16 October 2024
• Spring term: 15 January 2025
• Summer term: 22 April 2025

International fee paying students starting 2024-2025

The dates for October starters are:

• First Payment: payable as part of online registration
• Second Payment: 31 January 2025

The dates for January starters are:

• First Payment: payable as part of online registration
• Second Payment: 30 April 2025

You can check to see if a payment has been allocated to an invoice through Webpay. Webpay will only list items that are outstanding for payment.

It can take up to 10 working days for international bank transfers to be received by the University. If you cannot see that the receipt has been allocated to an invoice after 10 working days please send a copy of your remittance or transaction document along with your full name and PRID/customer reference number to income@essex.ac.uk. It may be that your payment has been received by the University but we have been unable to establish which student it is intended for. Providing us with this information will enable us to do so.

Our individual course pages provide details of the course fees for all courses, including whether the amount shown is a fee for the entire course, an annual fee or a modular fee.

To search for your course, use our Course Finder search tool.

You can view items that are due for payment through Webpay by choosing the specified payment option.

Students with unpaid fees will receive reminders which will be sent to their University of Essex student email account. It is important that the account is checked regularly.

Due to Data Protection legislation (GDPR) we cannot communicate about your student account with a third party such as a family member or representative without prior authorisation from the student.

Sponsored students

You must provide us with a valid sponsor letter to enable us to bill your sponsor. Without this document, you will be recorded as a 'self-funded' student and will be sent an invoice and expected to pay yourself.

Student Loans Company (SFE)

If you have applied for a tuition fee loan from Student Loans Company (SFE), students must have an approved application and completed their “Student Declaration” before automatic confirmation will be received from Student Loans Company (SFE). Without this automatic confirmation from Student Loans Company (SFE), you will be recorded as a 'self-funded' student and will be sent an invoice and expected to pay yourself.

Invoices

In order for us to raise an invoice we will require the financial guarantee from your sponsor authorising us to invoice for your fees (preferably before the commencement of the academic year). Please send your financial guarantee to income@essex.ac.uk.

Sponsor letter

A financial guarantee sponsor letter is to be provided for each academic year. Please send them to income@essex.ac.uk.

You must provide us with a valid sponsor letter to enable us to bill your sponsor. Without this document, you will be recorded as a 'self-funded' student and will be sent an invoice and expected to pay yourself.

If you do not have a UK bank account, you can not remit monies from abroad to the University's bank account in excess of the fees due to the University. The University does not act as a bank. Any overpayments made can only be returned to the bank account from which the payment was originally made.

Regrettably, in most instances we are not able to provide you with a precise length of time you will wait to receive your refund, however, please read the following to obtain a better understanding of the timelines involved.

For transactions originally made online using credit/debit cards, please allow up to 14 days for the settlement of funds to credit your original payment card.

For domestic BACS refund, these will take up to 14 days to process, and once you have received your remittance advice, the funds will show in your nominated bank account in 2 working days.

For foreign payment refund, these will take up to 14 days to process, and once you have received your remittance advice, the funds will show in your nominated bank account between 2-10 working days dependent on the country associated with the bank account.

Please note all refunds will only be made to the bank and account holder (or other financial institution) that originally paid the fee. Online payments will be refunded to the original card used for payment.

If you anticipate any difficulty paying your tuition or accommodation fees, please contact the Income team by emailing income@essex.ac.uk.

Please review our financial support information on our range of loans and funds available.

 We are unable to accept any payments where:

1. the student or the payer is currently resident in any of the following sanctioned countries/regions.

2. the payment is originating from any of the following sanctioned countries/regions.

• Afghanistan
• Belarus
• Cuba
• Crimea Region
• Donetsk Region
• Iran
• Luhansk Region
• North Korea
• Russia
• Syria
• Venezuela

3.the student or payer are on the following sanctions list:

• Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs)

• You can pay online using Webpay, our online Student Online Payment System
• International bank transfer and online payment options

International bank transfer from a non-UK bank

To obtain an immediate quote to make an international bank transfer, please see our information on Global Pay for Students.

University of Essex’s international bank transfer platform is provided by our partner Convera.

The bank transfer and international online payment service allows you, your parents and sponsors to pay student fees in the currency of your choice and provides you with a simple and secure way to make a payment.

Bank transfer from a UK bank account

Payments can be made at any bank to the following account:

Lloyds Bank
27 High Street
Colchester
Essex
CO1 1DU

Sort code: 30 92 16
Account number: 01182625
Account name: University of Essex
IBAN GB02 LOYD 3092 1601 1826 25
Swift LOYDGB21115

Please quote your PRID/customer reference number on all transactions

Our Colchester and Southend income desks based in the Student Services Hub are open daily. Please note we do not accept any cash or cheque payments.