How to pay tuition fees

Check how much your tuition fees cost for the 2027/28 academic year.

Under the University regulations, all tuition fees are due in full at the start of each academic year or at the start of your course, whichever is the later. However, we do currently offer some more flexible payment options.

Payment plans can be set up online via our new Payment Plan Portal 

Important: The first 50% of your tuition fees must be paid by the start of your academic year. Non-payment may result in withdrawal from the university.

Payment of the remaining 50% can be made in the following ways:

Option 1: remaining payment on or before 1 December (or 1 April for January starters)

Option 2: remaining balance to be split equally across 3 months:

• 1 November (or 1 March for January starters)
• 1 December (or 1 April for January starters)
• 1 January (or 1 May for January starters)

The above options should be set up online via our new Payment Plan Portal

Important: Late or Non-payment may result in withdrawal from the university.

Payment plans which spread the cost equally over the academic terms or over a number of months are available for home students and should be set up online via our new Payment Plan Portal 

Please contact us if you would like to know more details.

If you are an undergraduate student and your fees are being paid for by a Tuition Fee Loan (TFL) from the Student Loans Company (SFE), you do not need to arrange payment as they will come directly from SFE but you need to make sure your loan has been approved in a timely manner or we may request payments from you directly.

Your TFL will get paid directly to the University from SFE, in termly instalments. The University will receive 25% in the first term, 25% in the second term, and 50% in the third term. The exact payment dates will be on your 'University or College Payment Advice' letter from SFE. Please keep this letter to hand in case we need to see it.

If you would like to apply for a TFL from SFE, but have not yet done so, please visit the GOV.UK pages for further information.

If you have applied for a Postgraduate Loan from the Student Loans Company (SFE) then payments will be made directly to the bank account you have provided to them rather than directly to the University. If you intend to use these funds to pay your tuition fees, you will be expected to pay your fees to us in 3 equal instalments throughout the academic year.

A payment plan should be set up online via our new Payment Plan Portal, where you will be required to enter the card details you would like the payments to come from. 

Please note that online instalment plans will need to be renewed and set up at the start of each new academic year if your course is for more than one year.

Please contact us if you would like to know more details.  

Important: Late or Non-payment may result in withdrawal from the university.

More information on Postgraduate Loans from SLC

If your fees are being paid by a sponsor, they must be a private company or other organisation who will be paying the University directly on receipt of an invoice.

They cannot be a parent/relative or an organisation that is paying you directly; these are classified as a private funding arrangement between individuals.

When invited to complete your financial registration you will need to upload a financial guarantee letter on headed paper from your sponsor, confirming the following:

• The student’s full name and date of birth
• The student’s Kent ID number
• Course
• How much the sponsor is funding them by

If your sponsor requires a Purchase Order number to pay your fees, please obtain this in advance to avoid payment delays. Please upload the paperwork when completing registration.

You will also be required to complete a form confirming the billing details for your sponsor, as these can differ from the details on your guarantee letter. Please check with your sponsor before completing this form.

Students sponsored by Embassies or Governmental Departments need to keep their original documentation safe, as it may be required by the Student Fee Collections  Sponsors team at a later stage to supply to your Embassy.

Please note that due to anti-money laundering policies, any overpayments made by your sponsor will needed to be refunded to the original payer and not yourself.

The University of Kent understand some students may choose not to take out a student loan for tuition fees or maintenance support due to religious reasons, due to the interest that is added to the repayments which may be considered as Sharia non-compliant.

The Department of Education have been working with the National Union of Students UK (NUS) and Federation of Student Islamic societies to work towards a Sharia compliant funding system. It will be known as alternative student finance. Alternative student finance will be available for any undergraduate students who are eligible for student finance.

Alternative student finance will form part of the changes to the whole student finance system. From January 2027, the government are introducing a more flexible student finance system called the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE). As alternative student finance needs to mirror the LLE, alternative student finance will be introduced once LLE is in place.

All students should carefully plan for studying a degree. Tuition fees for most undergraduate courses are currently £9,790 per year. In addition to this, you will need to plan for living costs including rent for at least 39 weeks of term (longer for some courses) and money for essentials like food, books, travel, clothing and bills.

Students starting 2026/27

For students starting in 2026/27 who do not wish to take out a student loan/maintenance through the Student Loans Company, you may find these external alternative funding providers useful, some of which offer Sharia compliant banking for students

• Al Rayan Bank
• The National Zakat Foundation (NZF)
• United Bank UK
• Ansar Finance

Please be aware that each organisation will have its own eligibility criteria and limits. The University of Kent does not have a partnership with any of these and cannot provide any support or guarantees for this funding. 

If you have any questions about paying your tuition fees, please get in touch with us.