Students with outstanding fee debts

If you are having difficulties paying your fees, please contact the Income Office as soon as possible, for advice and guidance.

Our Policy

Birkbeck aspires to achieve good practice in debt collection. Good practice is considered to be achieving the best possible cash flow for the university whilst ensuring that the liability to pay is calculated correctly, enforcement action is reasonable and those who are vulnerable are assisted in meeting their financial obligation to us.

It is our policy to use all proportionate, reasonable and legal means at our disposal to pursue unpaid student debts since this is fair to all its students who are required to pay their tuition fees.

We will generally be sympathetic to students experiencing unforeseen genuine financial difficulties whilst studying at Birkbeck, who contact the Income team at the earliest opportunity, and will try to agree to an alternative payment plan.

In particular, students should recognise that if they owe a significant overdue debt for tuition fees and have no means of paying this debt, it will not be in the student’s best interests for Birkbeck to allow them to continue their studies and increase the burden of debt.

What happens if you haven't paid your fees

If you potentially qualify for the award of a degree, you should note that we will have to withhold your award if you owe a tuition fee debt to the College. Your award will not be confirmed to you until the fee debt has been settled in full, and attendance at the graduation ceremony will not be permitted unless the whole of the fee debt has been cleared by the due date.

All other students who are in fee debt to the College will have their official results withheld and/or not be permitted to re-enrol at any future session until the fee debt has been settled in full.

If you are recorded as in fee debt when the results are released, you are advised that there will be a delay before we are able to publish your results.