In this article:
- Tuition fee payments to King’s
- Delays with tuition fee funding & payments
- Beware: Student fee scams & fraud
Covers who pays, when to pay and how to pay.
Who will be invoiced for my tuition fees?
Who is liable for your tuition fees depends on which type of funding you have planned for your studies. Either you are personally responsible for paying your fees (self-funded), or an external organisation has agreed to provide your funding to King’s on your behalf (sponsored). You may also have funding agreed from an internal King’s department.
Am I sponsored or self-funded?
King's College London will consider you to be a ‘sponsored’ student where your tuition fees are being paid to King’s College London directly from either an “internal department or external organisation”.
You will be considered to be a ‘self-funded’ student where:
- Your tuition fees are being paid directly to King’s College London by either you, a member of your family or a friend; or
- Where you are receiving funding towards your tuition fees and the funding is being paid to you directly, rather than to King’s College London.
Important to know: If you are self-funded, and someone is making payments on your behalf, this person must be personally known to you. We strongly advise that you should be wary of any individual or organisation which you don’t know or have not applied to, approaching you to offer to pay your fees. Fraud targeted at students paying tuition fees is unfortunately common. For more detailed guidance, please refer to our information on scams and fraud and make sure you are following King’s guidance for methods of payments only.
How do I inform King's that I'm being sponsored?
When you enrol online for each academic year, you can upload a copy of your sponsorship evidence. The funding letter should be on their company headed paper and include;
- Full name of the company sponsoring you
- Full registered company address,
- Full address to send the invoice to for payment
- A contact email address
- A contact telephone number
- The amount of funding for the year in GBP pounds sterling
- The name of the student
- The programme of study
In some instances, you will not need to provide a copy of the funding letter; for further guidance on being sponsored for your fees, please refer to our article I am sponsored for my tuition fees; what do I need to know?
When do I pay my tuition fees?
Sponsored undergraduate students
Your sponsor will be sent an invoice and payment will be due in full within 30 days from invoice date.
Where you have enrolled in September, then the invoice to your sponsor is usually issued around the second week of October and therefore due 30 days later.
Where you have enrolled later in the academic year, then your sponsor will be invoiced shortly after.
For more information on sponsorship please visit KCL Sponsored Students.
Sponsored postgraduate taught students
Your sponsor will be sent an invoice and payment will be due in full within 30 days from invoice date.
Where you have enrolled in September, then the invoice to your sponsor is usually issued around the second week of October and therefore due 30 days later.
Where you have enrolled later in the academic year then your sponsor will be invoiced shortly after.
For more information on sponsorship please visit KCL Sponsored Students.
Sponsored postgraduate research students
Your sponsor will be sent an invoice and payment will be due in full within 30 days from invoice date.
Where you have enrolled in September, then the invoice to your sponsor is usually issued around the second week of October and therefore due 30 days later.
Where you have enrolled later in the academic year then your sponsor will be invoiced shortly after.
For more information on sponsorship please visit KCL Sponsored Students.
Self-funded undergraduate & PGCE students
For “home” classified students, no payment of fees is required ahead of enrolment.
- You will be invoiced for fees at the beginning of December.
- You will then have until 31 January to make payment in full.
If you prefer you can start making payment(s) towards your fees before the due date.
For “overseas” classified students enrolling in September, your fees will automatically be split into two equal instalments at no extra charge to you.
- The first instalment is due for payment by 31 October or 14 days after the due date of the invoice.
- The second instalment should be paid by 31 January.
Self-funded postgraduate taught & research students
For “home” classified students enrolling in September, your fees will automatically be split into two equal instalments at no extra charge to you.
- The first instalment is due for payment by 31 October or 14 days after the due date of the invoice.
- the second instalment should be paid by 31 January.
If you are intending to secure a Post Graduate Masters or Doctoral Loan, then please visit our Post Graduate SLC Loan web page
For “overseas” classified students enrolling in September, your fees will automatically be split into two equal instalments at no extra charge to you.
- The first instalment is due for payment by 31 October or 14 days after the due date of the invoice.
- the second instalment should be paid by 31 January.
I’ve received my invoice and I have a few questions
If you have received an invoice for your tuition fees, please refer to our article for guidance and FAQs: Understanding your invoice for Tuition Fees 2020-21.
How can I pay my tuition fees?
King’s accepts payments for your fees using only these 3 methods:
1. Bank Transfer from a UK Bank Account
Option A:
- You can now make an immediate bank transfer from your UK bank account to King’s College London, via our new KLARNA Open Banking Payment Solution, powered by our partner Western Union Business Solutions.
- Your payment will then be received and allocated to your fee invoice in 2-3 working days.
- This is a secure, efficient and easy way to process your payment, without the worry of entering the wrong bank account details or the wrong payment reference.
- This option allows you to pay the fee using the same authentication methods as you would for your existing mobile or online banking.
- No transaction fees passed onto you by King's College London.
Start a payment using UK Open Banking
Option B:
- Alternatively, if you prefer to make a manual bank transfer payment, requiring you instead to enter the bank account details to send the payment to and to enter the correct payment reference, then this option is also available.
- Important to know: This option will take slightly longer to be received and allocated to your invoice at around 3-4 working days, so we recommend using the Klarna Open Banking Solution as it is slightly quicker and very easy to use.
Support: If you have any questions or need help at all, please contact the Credit Control team by email or by phone on +44 (0) 207 848 3279.
2. Bank Transfer from a Non-UK Bank Account
For those wishing to make payment by international bank transfer; this is often vulnerable to fluctuating exchange rates and bank charges from both the sending and receiving bank.
If you are an international student, you can now pay your fees using our payment platform, powered by our partner Western Union Business Solutions called Global Pay for Students.
This allows you or your parents, carer or guardian, to pay your fees in the currency of your choice, giving you a simple, quick and secure way to initiate the payment.
Benefits:
- Intuitive, mobile friendly interface for a seamless payment experience.
- Payment in local currency providing transparency around cost of the course.
- Pay international fees by bank transfer or online e-wallet. If you arrange a bank transfer, the student is provided with an exchange rate valid for 72 hours to provide to the bank to make the payment.
- Convenient payment methods including alipay, tenpay, unionpay, Trustly, Sofort, etc.
- Favourable exchange rates compared to most banks.
- Track your payment step-by-step.
- Peace of mind that your full payment is received by Kings College London
- Multi language platform: French, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Indonesian, English, Spanish, Japanese, Arabic and Hindi.
- Customer support service to help you in every step.
Important to know:
- Upon obtaining a quote from Western Union Business Solutions, you are under no obligation to proceed with the payment.
- You should only use our confirmed link below for this method.
Start a payment with Global Pay for Students.
Support:
- If you have any questions or need help at all, please contact the Credit Control team by email or by phone on +44 (0) 207 848 3279.
- If you don’t have a UK bank account but would like to open one, please refer to our article for guidance: How can I open a bank account?
3. Credit or Debit Card Online
For credit or debit card payments you can use our King’s Feepay.
Before you, or the person making the payment starts to make the payment, please ensure you/they have:
- Your student ID number
- Your date of birth
- The amount that you wish to pay towards the tuition or residence fees
Important to know: If someone is making a payment on your behalf, they must be personally known to you. Under no circumstances should you provide personal details such as your date of birth or student ID number to anyone you do not know.
All payments are in sterling
If you are paying using an overseas card you will likely be provided with 2 options once you have submitted your card details:
- To elect to pay using the exchange rate of our acquiring bank, Elavon; or
- To elect to use an exchange rate determined by your card issuer
Benefits of agreeing to the rate offered by Elavon:
- Elavon best exchange rate guarantee
- Instant visibility of the amount you will pay in your home currency
- No hidden charges
- Acceptance is totally at your discretion
Start a payment using King’s Feepay.
Support: If you have any questions or need help at all, please contact the Credit Control team by email or by phone on +44 (0) 207 848 3279.
I’m starting the next year of my studies; how can I find out the fees for the upcoming year?
If you are re-enrolling and continuing on to your next year of study at King’s you will be referred to as a ‘returning student’ or ‘continuing student’. As a returning student you would be going into your second, third, or fourth, etc., year of study.
If you are a returning student and you are looking to confirm the tuition fees for the current academic year, you can use our online calculator to check this.
To use the online calculator you will need your CRS code.
Registry Services sends an email prior to the start of the new academic year to all continuing students about fees for that new year.
The email contains:
- The expected fee status for the year
- The programme code or ‘CRS’ code
If you have any other questions about your fees please check out these FAQs as they are a great source of information.
I’m sponsored for my fees
If you are sponsored, we have guidance and details on the process for you and your sponsor in our article I am sponsored for my tuition fees; what do I need to know?
Important to know: We cannot accept cash or cheques
Cash: For your own safety and security please do not bring cash into the UK to fund your university fees. King’s College London will not accept cash payments either directly or at any of our Natwest Bank branches, with our bank having been instructed not to accept cash.
Cheques: In the interest of ensuring your payment appears on your account as quickly as possible, we do not accept cheques or bank drafts.
We therefore strongly recommend you use one of the 3 formal methods advertised by us.
I am due to enrol but my funding for my course is not yet confirmed, what should I do?
There can be many reasons why funding is delayed, and often this is resolved within the first few weeks of term, especially if you were a little late making your funding application.
Important to know:
- If your funding is not in place at the point of enrolment, then you will need to enrol as a “self-funded” student and the invoice will be generated to you to pay yourself by the due dates advertised for self-funded students.
- Once your funding is confirmed you should contact Credit Control with evidence of your award and your account will be updated.
- It is important that you have secured the funding before your invoice due date, or that you can pay for the course fees yourself in the interim; otherwise you may end up having university services restrictions applied to your account for non-payment.
I've not received my loan/grant from Student Finance England (or other regional funder) in time for the start of my course; what should I do?
You will not receive your funding until you have fully enrolled, and King’s has informed your funder that you are attending the course. Please note that this usually takes place once teaching has started and not during welcome week. You are advised to have savings and other funds in your bank account to help finance any costs at the start of term, while you wait for your funding to be paid into your account.
Important to know: If you plan to receive a loan and have your tuition fees paid by Student Finance, you will need to re-apply for this for each year of your studies.
If you have completed your application, term has started and were expecting all funding to have come through, please go through the following steps:
- Check you have submitted your Loan Declaration Form.
- Check you have successfully completed enrolment at King’s.
- Check your bank account details are correct on the Student Finance portal.
- Email the Student Funding Office with your:
- Student Support Number (SSN), which can be found on your Student Finance online account, and;
- Your full name and student ID number.
The university confirms your enrolment directly with Student Finance. Once they have received confirmation of your enrolment, then you should receive your loan into your nominated bank account about 3 days after.
If it is more than 3 days after you have completed the 2 tasks above, then please contact the Student Funding Office, who will be able to investigate why you haven't received your loan.
I think I will miss my fee payment deadline
We expect you to have secured sufficient funding to settle your tuition and/or residence fees when they are due for payment.
However, we do recognise that there may be changes in your personal circumstances or unforeseen events, which make it difficult for you to pay on time.
In these situations, we encourage you to contact Credit Control to discuss your circumstances to see if we can help.
For more information on what to do if you find yourself in this situation please visit Having difficulties meeting the fee deadline?
If you’re struggling financially, please read I'm having money difficulties, where can I find support?
Important to know: If you think you may miss a payment deadline and have concerns about your finances, we recommend you get in touch with Credit Control sooner rather than later, and in advance of your payment deadline if possible.
If you have any other questions about your fees please check out these FAQs as they are a great source of information.
I have missed the deadline to pay my tuition fees. What will happen and who should I talk to?
If you have missed the fee payment deadline please contact the Credit Control team by email or phone on +44 (0) 20 7848 3279 as soon as possible.
Failure to pay tuition fees may result in your access to King's systems being restricted and your eventual suspension, so it is important that you contact Credit Control to seek advice as soon as possible.
Student fee fraud
Unfortunately, students are increasingly being targeted by money-related scams.
A scenario that is becoming more common is where a third party offers to pay a student's fees on their behalf at a discounted rate.
There are no discount schemes at King’s, so if you receive any correspondence about discounted fees then it is likely to be fraudulent and the consequences of this can be very serious.
Please read our article How can I avoid student fee fraud and/or scams?
Common scams targeted at students
Sadly, there are many scams which are targeted at students and every year we see students which fall victim to fraud.
We encourage all students to actively engage in learning about scams and the serious impact they can have on both your finances and your mental health.
For overview of our resources and guidance on this topic, please refer to Common scams & fraud; get to know them and how to avoid them.