News Centre

Tuition Fees

• Why has Cardiff University had to review its undergraduate fee arrangement?
  With reducing levels of government support the University, like other universities in the UK has had to act responsibly to ensure the fee level is sufficient to maintain learning and teaching at the high standard students rightly demand.
• How much will Cardiff University charge from September 2012?
  The University will charge £9,000 a year and will be providing a support package to ensure that students from all income groups can continue to access higher education. This fee will not represent additional income for the University but it will help to replace income lost from government grant.
• How has this decision been made?
  Cardiff has considered undergraduate fee levels as part of a review of its wider tuition fee policy, which has sought to ensure that fee structures are transparent and provide the ability for the University to invest in its future.
  
  The University's Fee Plan was approved for submission to Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) by the University's Council, following internal debate and discussion with the President of Cardiff's Students' Union.
  
  The Plan was accepted by HEFCW on 11th July 2011.
• Will the fee levels be different for different courses?
  No, the fee level will be the same across our entire portfolio of courses. This reflects the cost of delivering world-class, research-led teaching and learning across all disciplines and the quality of the student experience provided by the University.
• Will current students, already studying at university be affected?
  No. These charges only apply to students starting their course from September 2012.
• Will students starting their university course in 2011 be affected?
  No. Students who start their course in 2011 will be charged £3,375 per annum.

Students from Wales

• How will this affect students who normally live in Wales?
  As now, students from Wales will be liable for only approximately £3,375* of their annual fees and this cost will initially be met via a loan from the Student Loan Company. Students will start repaying this loan only once they are earning more than £21,000. The fees above this amount will be covered by a fee grant from the Welsh Assembly Government.
  The tuition fee grant will be paid for all eligible Welsh-domiciled students.** The grant will not be repayable and will not be means tested.
  
  * £3,375 is the current undergraduate tuition fee (2011-12) – this figure is expected to be adjusted each year in line with inflation.
  
  **Subject to Student Support Regulations

Students elsewhere in the UK and EU

• What about students from elsewhere in the UK?
  Students from England, Scotland or Northern Ireland studying at Welsh universities will not receive the Welsh Government's tuition fee grant and it is anticipated that such students will need to meet the cost of their tuition fees in full via a loan from the Student Loan Company.
• What about students from non-UK EU countries?
  Eligible students from within the EU will be liable only for the first £3,375 of their annual fees.** The remaining amount will be covered by a fee grant from the Welsh Assembly Government.
  **Subject to Student Support Regulations.

Student Support

• What support will be available for students?
  The University is developing a comprehensive package of financial and academic support to ensure that all suitably qualified students will have the opportunity to study at Cardiff, regardless of their financial means. Full details of this support package will be available on our website in the coming months.
  
  We will also embark on a number of new initiatives to support individuals through their student journey including the development of employability and enterprise skills within the Cardiff experience.

Health-related courses

• How will this affect students applying for health-related courses?
  The National Health Service (NHS) is currently reviewing the tuition fee arrangements for those undergraduate courses commencing in 2012/13 which it currently funds. These courses include Dental Hygiene, Dental Therapy, Nursing and Midwifery, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, and Radiography.
  
  Currently, the NHS also pays tuition fees for Dentistry and Medicine students from the 5th year of studies onwards subject to certain eligibility criteria
  
  More information will be published as it becomes available.

Part-time, postgraduate and international students

• Will students studying part-time have to pay fees up front as under the current system?
  Earlier this year the Education Minister Leighton Andrews announced that subject to the Education Bill, he proposes to set the maximum amount for part-time tuition fees at £7000 pro rata rather than £9000.
  
  Welsh-domiciled part-time students will be entitled to a non-means-tested loan and grant to meet the up-front cost of their tuition fees. In line with the support announced for full-time students, a loan will be available to cover a proportion of the fee and a grant from the Welsh Government will be available to cover the remaining cost.
• How will this affect international students?
  The UK fee changes will not affect international students.
  
  International students are generally defined as those who are ordinarily resident outside of the UK and Islands, the EEA, Switzerland, and overseas territories. Tuition fees for international students will continue to be set separately and published on our website.
• How will this affect postgraduate students?
  Details of postgraduate tuition fees for 2011/12 can be found on our website at www.cardiff.ac.uk/fince/students/postgraduate/index.html
  
  The University has been reviewing its postgraduate fees from 2012/13 onwards and updated information will be available on the Prospective Students area of our website.
• Will there continue to be a limit to the number of students universities can recruit?
  Yes, we expect the current controls on UK and EU full-time undergraduate new entrants to continue. If universities exceed their agreed intake targets, they will be penalised financially to cover the costs of over-recruitment.

Deferrals to 2012

• What about students who wish to defer from 2011 entry to 2012?
  Students who indicated on their application forms that they wish to defer from 2011 entry to 2012 will come under the new arrangements in place from September 2012 and will be required to pay the revised fee.

Repayments

• Do students have to pay this fee "up front"?
  No. Students are able to take out a loan to cover the fee. The loan is available to all eligible UK and EU students and is not means tested. The money is paid directly by the Students Loans Company to the university.
• When will students have to start repaying their loan?
  Students will start to repay their loan after they have left their course and only when they are earning at least £21,000. Annual Repayments would then be a minimum of 9% of the difference between the repayment threshold and their income.
  
  If for any reason the graduate's annual income falls below £21,000 their repayments will be suspended.
• How long will students be making repayments for?
  All outstanding repayments will be written off after 30 years.