International Deposit Payment Policy

Most of our programmes have limited places. You are required to pay a £1,000 initial deposit within one month of receiving your offer to secure your place.

You are required to pay at least 50 % of the full tuition fee (before deducting any scholarships) by the CAS deadline to obtain your CAS and qualify for enrolment.

Please note: 50% means 50% of the full tuition fee, not 50% of the fee after deducting scholarships. For example, if the tuition fee for your programme is £16,000, but you have qualified for a £3,500 scholarship, you must pay 50% of £16,000 and not 50% of £12,500 to obtain a CAS and qualify for enrolment. Students from certain countries or regions may be required to pay more; Affected students will be notified individually.

Full payment prior to enrolment is strongly encouraged and carries many benefits including full eligibility to our Early Action Scholarship and free UCB accommodation prior to programme start.

You can pay by:

• Flywire (Recommended method)
• Bank transfer (When paying by bank transfer, you must quote your student ID. Failure to do so will delay allocation of payment.)
• Online payment

All payments should be made payable to University College Birmingham (UCB).

An Early Action Scholarship is offered to international students when they make the required deposit payments by the published deadlines. Payment must be received into UCB’s bank account by the deadline date for the student to be eligible for the scholarship. Please note this scholarship is available only for the first year of your study with UCB.

Any overpayment (i.e. over 100%) of tuition fees will be held on account for students who are studying for more than one year with UCB. The overpayment will be automatically allocated against any UCB accommodation fees or tuition fees for subsequent years of study. You may request a refund for your overpayment from our Finance Office any time after enrolment.

All international students must have paid at least 50% of tuition fees to obtain a CAS and qualify for enrolment, with the exception of the following circumstances:

• You are able to provide documented evidence of financial guarantee, from a sponsor or scholarship provider recognised by UCB, for the remaining balance of your tuition fee.
• If you receive a merit scholarship from UCB that is higher than 50% of your tuition fee, you only need to pay the remaining balance of your tuition fee to obtain a CAS and enrol

Please note the 50% deposit requirement applies to all students who are classified with the overseas fee status, even if they do not require a CAS and UK Student Visa to study at UCB.

Students who have paid at least 50% but less than the full tuition fee will be eligible for an instalment plan which will be arranged at on-campus enrolment.

Students from certain countries and regions may need to pay more to obtain a CAS and qualify for enrolment; Affected students will be contacted directly.

To apply for a refund, please complete our Refund Form stating your case and providing evidence (e.g. notification of a visa refusal). If you made payment by any other method than Flywire, you will need to send us proof of payment. Proof of payment must include the payer’s account name, account number and the payment amount (normally a bank statement is sufficient) made to UCB.

Refunds will only be processed back to the original payee within 12 weeks from the date refund application is accepted. University College Birmingham is unable to refund to any other source. If your payment has been delivered to University College Birmingham via a third party, University College Birmingham is not responsible for any charges deducted by the third party.

If you have not used your CAS to apply for your visa at the point of applying for your refund, your CAS with UCB will be withdrawn before your refund is processed. When requesting a refund, please provide your full bank details and your Student ID number. 

Refund Forms can be obtained by emailing our International Office at international@ucb.ac.uk or Finance Office at refunds@ucb.ac.uk

If you wish to apply for a refund, please notify our International Office of your decision and submit the Refund Form to our International Office as soon as you can. If your CAS has not been issued, a £250 administrative fee will be deducted and remaining amount of your payment will be refunded to you.

The £250 administrative fee does not apply and your full payment will be refunded to you in the following circumstances:

• You fail to meet one or more conditions of your offer, e.g. academic grades, English language requirements, or Pre-CAS Interview. Supporting evidence will be required.
• You are experiencing a personal or family emergency such as an unforeseen illness preventing you from joining your programme. Supporting evidence will be required.
• UCB cannot deliver your programme (e.g. your applied programme is withdrawn by UCB) and you choose not to transfer to an alternative programme offered by UCB or defer to a later intake.

If any fraudulent documents, payments or behaviour, including dishonest intentions of coming to the UK, are identified at any stage, no refund will be issued and UCB will retain all payments made.

If you wish to apply for a refund, please notify our International Office of your decision and submit the Refund Form to our International Office as soon as you can. If your CAS has been issued, a £500 administrative fee will be deducted and remaining amount of your payment will be refunded to you.

The £500 administrative fee does not apply and your full payment will be refunded to you under the following circumstances:

• You are experiencing a personal or family emergency such as an unforeseen illness preventing you from joining your programme. Supporting evidence will be required.
• UCB cannot deliver your programme (e.g. your applied programme is withdrawn by UCB) and you choose not to transfer to an alternative programme offered by UCB or defer to a later intake.

Please note visa refusal is not one of the eligible circumstances. The £500 administrative fee applies in the case of visa refusals.

If any fraudulent documents, payments or behaviour, including dishonest intentions of coming to the UK, are identified at any stage, no refund will be issued and UCB will retain all payments made.

If a student, who arrived in the UK on a Student Visa sponsored by UCB, claims asylum and does not enrol, they will not be issued any refund, unless one or more of the exceptional circumstances apply:

• You are experiencing a personal or family emergency such as an unforeseen illness preventing you from joining your programme. Supporting evidence will be required.
• UCB cannot deliver your programme (e.g. your applied programme is withdrawn by UCB) and you choose not to transfer to an alternative programme offered by UCB or defer to a later intake.

Once you have enrolled, you are considered a current student, and this International Deposit Payment Policy no longer applies to you. Different regulations apply to your tuition fee payments and refunds. Refunds and withdrawals are governed by UCB’s Withdrawal Policy and Withdrawal Fee Calculation, as published on our website.

Current students should contact our Finance Office directly (payments@ucb.ac.uk for tuition fee payment queries and refunds@ucb.ac.uk for tuition fee refund queries).

UCB regards deception as a serious offence that endangers our academic integrity and sponsor licence.

If any fraudulent documents, payments or behaviour, including dishonest intentions of coming to the UK, are identified at any stage, no refund will be issued and UCB will retain all payments made. In addition, verified cases will be reported to the appropriate authorities.

By making a deposit payment, you also agree to strictly adhere to the following conditions: 

• You must be able to pay the tuition fee for the entirety of your study at UCB.
• You must be able to fund your study at UCB independently, without needing to resort to part-time employment while you are here.
• You must not work more than the maximum number of hours permitted by your visa, which will be confirmed in your visa decision. You also cannot undertake any business activity, be self-employed, work as an entertainer, professional sportsperson or doctor or dentist in training, or take a full-time permanent position.
• You must follow the University’s attendance and engagement policy. This includes attending all timetabled classes and meeting all requirements for your programme, online or otherwise.
• You must make sure you leave the UK or submit a visa extension application before your Student Visa expires. It is your responsibility to ensure that you do not overstay your visa.
• You have no access to public funds in the UK. This means you are not able to claim most government benefits such as welfare benefits, tax credits and housing assistance.
• Your Student Visa is only valid to study the programme listed on your CAS at UCB. If you want to change programme or institution, you must seek permission from UCB first. You can undertake supplementary study, such as an evening course or a short course during vacation periods.

A breach of any of the conditions may result in a withdrawal of your study at UCB and your Student Visa. It is therefore very important for you to understand and follow all the conditions and regulations.

For questions about this policy, payment deadlines, or your application, please contact:

International Office
✉ international@ucb.ac.uk

For technical questions about making a payment, please contact:

Finance Office
✉ Payments@ucb.ac.uk