Tuition fee deposits

* Deposit amounts are determined by a number of factors including fee status and programme availability.

Deadline

Details of your deposit amount and the deadline for payment will be included in your official offer from the University and is typically 8-weeks from the date of your offer being issued.

If you're applying for a UK postgraduate loan, we will automatically extend your deposit deadline until 31 July 2025. All you need to do is tell us this is the case. To do so please contact us via our enquiry form.

Cooling-off period

Once you have made your deposit payment there will be a 14-day cooling off period from the date the payment was made. Should your circumstances change during these 14 days you can request a deposit refund by contacting us via our enquiry form (please include your full name, programme and Exeter reference number in the email).

By making a deposit payment you are agreeing to the terms and conditions of the Deposit Refund Policy. If you have any queries about the deposit payment or refund policy please contact us via our enquiry form.

Policy

After the 14-day cooling off period the University of Exeter policy on deposit refunds is that deposits are non-refundable except in cases where:

• A Tier 4 General (Adult) Student visa has been refused. In such circumstances you must email a scanned copy of the Entry Clearance Officer’s refusal letter, along with your full name and University reference number to the Admissions Office via our enquiry form.
• You fail to meet the University’s English Language requirements. Failure to arrange to take an appropriate English Language test prior to the start of your programme* will not be considered grounds for a refund. You must provide evidence of having taken a recognised test within 5 months, prior to the start of your programme, to qualify. In such circumstances you must submit a scanned copy of the relevant evidence, along with your full name and University reference number to the Admissions Office via our enquiry form or discuss your case in person if you are studying on the INTO University of Exeter pre-sessional course.
• On occasion, where you demonstrate the ability to meet the programme requirements and there are no UKVI visa or immigration implications, we may choose to accept a lower-level English Language requirement than published. If we offer you a place with a lower-level English requirement and you choose not to take up that place, your deposit payment will be retained.
• You fail to satisfy the University's academic requirements. You must submit academic results, along with your full name and university reference number via our enquiry form as soon as they are available and before the start date of your programme. If we subsequently offer you a place on the same programme and you choose not to take up the place, your deposit payment will be retained.

Deposits may be refunded in other exceptional circumstances. This would include but is not limited to the following:

• International emergencies (defined by your own Government, the World Health Organisation or the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office or similar) which may prevent you from travelling in time for the last date of arrival for your course.
• National circumstances in the UK (such as pandemics, security crises or similar) which make enrolment impossible or highly unadvisable as defined by the UK Government and/or Public Health England or similar statutory bodies.
• Personal emergencies such as your serious illness or a death in the immediate family.

For all of the above, documentary proof may be required, and decisions are at the University’s entire discretion.

All deposit refunds must be requested in writing via our enquiry form. The request must be submitted along with any evidence within 30 days of the official start date of your programme (start dates can be found on your University of Exeter offer letter).

Please note: If you are found to have provided fraudulent or incorrect documentation  in support of your University or UK visa application the above refund policy will not apply. In such circumstances any offer from the University will be invalidated and we will notify the UKVI and retain the deposit payment.

UK visa regulations require applicants to demonstrate the ability to pay all costs incurred as a result of study overseas and payment of the deposit demonstrates commitment in this respect. Applicants who need to obtain a Tier 4 student visa will be emailed their Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies statement only when  the deposit and, if applicable, any academic or non academic conditions of our offer have been satisfied. The CAS statement will include both tuition fees due and any advance payments received at the date of issue. Applicants who wish to make larger deposit against their tuition fees can therefore do so at their own discretion but please note the comments below about processing times.

Please visit the how to pay pages on our Student Finance website for the different methods of payment. Please note it can take up to 10 working days for your payment to be cleared and for confirmation of receipt to be sent by our Admissions Office.

If applicable, it can take a further 5 working days for us to update the UKVI system with the amount received. Offer-Holders needing to apply for a Student Visa should note that we will only send one CAS statement to you so should you wish to pay more than the compulsory deposit we recommend you do so at the same time or wait until you have obtained your Student Visa.

Please note that processing these transactions may be delayed at busy times such as around the deposit deadline and the start of term. 

If you are in receipt of an approved scholarship or studentship covering the full tuition fees and can provide documentary evidence of this, you will be exempt from paying a deposit.

No. Your deposit will be rolled over with your application to the next admissions cycle. If you apply to defer for a second year, you will need to reapply and your deposit will not be refunded unless there are extenuating circumstances.

If you're applying for a UK postgraduate loan we will automatically extend your deposit deadline until 31 July 2025. All you need to do is tell us this is the case. To do so please contact us via our enquiry form.

Please be aware that if you pay £1,000 of your deposit and subsequently apply for a UK postgraduate loan, that the deposit will be non-refundable except in cases that fall within the policy as outlined above.