You are required to pay the first term’s fees plus the bond before registration. The University reserves the right to refuse to register students without the required payment, in cleared funds. Please do not bring cash or cheques, unless bankers drafts, to registration. You can pay by debit or credit card on the day.
We are happy to deduct one quarter of the tuition fee loan if you bring original documents to registration confirming the award or, the University has received confirmation direct from the Student Loan Company. The remainder must be paid in full, on or before the date of registration. You should not rely on maintenance grants or loans to meet the shortfall in your tuition fees, you will not receive these funds until after you have registered. Visit the University’s Grants and Loans information for more information about eligibility for financial assistance.
Payments online
Fees may be paid via our Online Payment Portal https://extranet.buckingham.ac.uk/opp/ by two different methods:
- Travelex Wire Transfer – the Travelex Wire Transfers service is available to Buckingham applicants and existing students. Payments can be made to the University directly from your local bank in your local currency and because Travelex deal with the currency exchange, only one exchange fee is charged.
- Credit or debit card – students who are already studying at Buckingham can take advantage of this facility to made payments online via credit or debit card.
Payment by instalments
We can accept payment by instalment for tuition fees, accommodation fees or both, payable by Standing Order (SO) from a UK bank account, subject to a number of conditions.
The process starts with the student or sponsor contacting the fees office to request an instalment agreement. This should be at least two weeks before registration to allow time for the administration set out below:
- Fees office will confirm the amount to be paid in the first term and any subsequent terms to be covered
- The student or sponsor will need to pay one third of the first term’s fees plus the applicable bond by registration day:
- This will need to be paid by bank draft, credit or debit card
- If paid by cheque, it should be paid one week beforehand, to allow time for clearance through the banking system
- The student or sponsor will need to provide evidence of a reasonably well funded UK bank account, normally bank statements for the previous three months
- The fees office will prepare a written instalment agreement for each term for which instalment terms have been requested
- An administration fee of £50 will be charged to set up the arrangement (for the first term only)
- The student or sponsor will complete a SO payable from their UK bank account, evidenced by a copy of the bank’s confirmation slip, in favour of the University’s bank account
- The SO should provide for instalments to be paid on the first day of every month
To recap, before a student can be registered on instalment terms the university needs to have received:
- Payment of the bond and one third of applicable fees
- Signed instalment agreements
- Evidence of the UK bank account of the student or sponsor (whichever is paying)
- That bank’s confirmation that an SO instruction has been made
Completing the instalment agreements and the SO
An SO can cover several terms but there must be one instalment agreement for each term. You can however sign several terms’ instalment agreements at the same time.
You can complete the agreements; provide evidence of a UK bank account and SO, either in person in the fees office or by post, fax or scanned email attachment.
Funding SO obligations
Please ensure that you have sufficient funds in your bank account in good time before the due date of each instalment. Where the payment date falls on a weekend, the payment will be collected the following working day.
If the SO fails for any reason, e.g. insufficient funds or cancellation, the University will deem all your instalment agreements cancelled. Full fees for that term will become payable and the University will normally also levy a penalty charge of £50 and refuse to enter a new instalment agreement with payers who have defaulted.
This is less likely to happen if the payer communicates well. Please therefore advise the Fees Office if you know or suspect that an instalment payment will fail.
Updating with changes to contact details
Students and sponsors will be required to provide correspondence details on the instalment agreements. In the event of any changes to the information supplied on the instalment agreements, please email studentfees@buckingham.ac.uk any changes will be acknowledged.
Payment by direct transfer
For speed of clearance and simplicity we prefer payments to be made by direct transfer to the University’s bank account, details of which are as follows:
To assist us in crediting the correct account, the student’s family name and application number (in that order) should be the reference entered in “payment details (information for the beneficiary)” or equivalent. If any other narrative is given we tend not to receive the student’s name since your bank will generally transmit only the first few words of reference information.
Payment by cheque or banker’s draft (UK banks only)
We are pleased to accept cheques or drafts drawn on a UK bank and made out in favour of “The University of Buckingham”. You can bring such payments in person to the Student Fees Office between 09:30 and 16:30 Mondays to Fridays. Or you can send them by post to:
The Student Fees Office
The University of Buckingham
Hunter Street
Buckingham
MK18 1EG
United Kingdom
We regret that we are not able to accept cheques or drafts drawn on overseas banks from applicants, because of the slowness of the international clearing system.
Please note: students paying by personal cheque need to make payment at least five working days before they intend to register to allow time for the payment to clear the banking system. Personal cheques cannot be accepted at Registration.
Paying cash or UK cheques into the University’s bank account
You can pay cash or UK cheques directly into the University’s account (see above) at any branch of a UK bank. In practice the easiest place to pay in will often be the NatWest branch in Buckingham High Street.
It is essential that you bring the receipted paying-in slip to the Student Fees Office , so that we know whose account to credit. The bank advice says only where an amount is paid in, not what it is for.
Payment by cash
For reasons of security of students and staff, and of insurance, the Student Fees Office does not accept payment in cash. If the funds for your fees are held in cash, you are asked to pay the money directly into our account, as described above.
If you are considering bringing cash into the UK, please be aware that amounts over £10,000 in cash are required by law to be accompanied by documentation demonstrating their legitimate origin. For more information please visit: www.ukcisa.org.uk/student/info_sheets/arriving_in_uk.php#money
