When are you 'officially' committed to first term uni fees?

[Jng1]

DS has firmed a uni place & accommodation for September, but is still on a reserve list for performing arts drama school.
There is a very very tiny chance he could be offered a place if someone drops out/can't get funding etc and I think he would want to consider it.

Does anyone know when it is that a student becomes contractually liable for first term fees? I've emailed the uni but they haven't yet responded and different people have told me all of the following:

• the date of the first fee payment
• after 14 days of the start of the course
• when a student registers for their course at the uni

Anyone know?

You can withdraw a couple of weeks post enrolment.

My understanding from having had dc at uni is that when they register enrolling on the course that triggers the payment of the terms loan instalment to the student and the uni will invoice the student loan co for the first term.

I have also sponsored staff through some uni courses via my work and the uni invoices for the course fees tend to come through a week or so after enrolment and only for specific modules that were chosen.
He should have (or will do soon) received something from the uni about enrolment dates together with all the other course info.

Pre Covid this entailed turning up in person to the uni usually the weekend before Freshers with some ID, registering on the course, getting a student ID card, passwords for the libraries, uni freebies, invites to ice breaker events etc.
Not sure how it works with Covid though and if they will be registering in person.
It might help if he finds out when both term start dates are and work around those but I would say he has until whichever course has the earliest enrolment date to decide.

Not sure about accommodation costs though, you'd have to check the actual contract for those.

LIZS

You can withdraw a couple of weeks post enrolment.

Yes you can withdraw from a uni course at any time but I suggest you check the small print as to whether fees will still be payable.

Today 11:37 igelkott2021

Not sure about accommodation costs though, you'd have to check the actual contract for those.

Yes - depending on the accommodation provider he maybe be liable for the full years costs.

Uni halls tend to be more flexible as they can usually fill the room from waiting lists but speaking from personal experience private halls aren’t and if you have signed up or stood guarantor for a 30 week lease they could hold you to it.

14 days from start of course.

We had 4 weeks to withdraw from the course after the official start date without being committed to pay uni fees, when I studied.

Accommodation charges worked differently but most first-years were in university accommodation or the nearby student accommodation, which both had the same rules - essentially if you left in the first four weeks, you could pay pro-rata for the time you'd been there, as long as they could find someone to take over your room.

When I was in student retention, I was told to 'Keep them in until December 2nd' then they would be liable for fees after that. This was a few years ago though

@NoNotYou

When I was in student retention, I was told to 'Keep them in until December 2nd' then they would be liable for fees after that. This was a few years ago though

That was for something else entirely!

Try Googling ‘name of university tuition fee liability points’ and see if that has any joy.

@EduCated

Try Googling ‘name of university tuition fee liability points’ and see if that has any joy.

THANK YOU! That brought up the exact page I needed which for some reason I simply couldn't find googling their site!

Basically he can withdraw up to 3 October without liability. Accommodation have already confirmed he would only be charged for whatever nights he actually stayed.