Fee Waivers and Fee Rebate Schemes

A number of fee waiver schemes and competitions, and a fee rebate scheme, are available for students who commence their MPhil or PhD programme. For information about fees, please click here.

FEE WAIVER SCHEMES

Alumni Discount. Any UEL alumnus enrolling on a postgraduate research (PGR) programme (MPhil, PhD or professional doctorate) is eligible for a 15% fee discount per annum. Applying is easy, all you have to do is make sure you put your UEL Student ID number on the application form for your PGR programme. If you qualify for an Alumni discount, you will receive this as well as any other scholarship to which you may be entitled.

If you have any questions about the Alumni Discount, please contact study@uel.ac.uk

25% Fee Waiver Competition. Twenty two-year partial fee waivers (equivalent to 25% reduction on fees) are offered in an open competition for students enrolling for the first time in the following Semesters A or B (starting September and February each year). The fee waiver competition is open to any applicant for an M.Phil or PhD programme, regardless of the student’s domicile status or mode of attendance. The deadline for receipt of applications for September 2013 start is Friday 14th June 2013.

If it is not possible to make all awards in the initial round, there will therefore be a second deadline of 10th January 2014 for students whose studies will commence in the following Semester B only.

 Students who have commenced their studies, and/or who applied but failed to gain an award in previous rounds may not (re)apply. Students applying after the January deadline will be entered into the June competition for Semester A or B start in the following academic year.

Please note that the fee waiver may not be renewed or extended beyond the maximum two year life of the award, that the award is not deferrable or transferable, and previously unsuccessful fee waiver applicants may not reapply. For instructions on how to apply, assessment criteria and full terms and conditions, please see below. We regret that this competition is not open to Professional Doctorate applicants.

Part Time MPhil or PhD students should be aware that there is an existing fee waiver scheme for individuals from low-income households of 50% up to a maximum of £500.

Please note that with the exception of eligible alumni who from 1 August 2010 may receive both the Alumni Discount and any other scholarship to which they may be entitled, none of these fee waiver schemes may be taken in tandem. If a student is eligible for two or more schemes, the scheme giving the highest discount will be applied. These fee waivers can be awarded only to students who are self-funded. Students who are concurrently applying or who apply for externally-funded postgraduate studentships, fees-only awards, or other sponsorship, if successful, must cede any fee waiver they hold.

FEE REBATE SCHEME

Completion Bonus Fee Rebate. Self-funded students who complete their PhD programme within four years (for full time students) or five years (for part time students) of commencing their studies will receive a rebate equivalent to 35% of their final year’s fee, regardless of their domicile status. In order to qualify students must have submitted their thesis, undertaken a viva voce examination, completed any corrections required, and submitted a final copy of their thesis in library-bound format or for library binding before the time limit expires. Periods of suspension of studies will not count toward the time limits given above.  However, write up time does count toward the time limits given above. Students who commenced their studies prior to 1 September 2008 are not eligible.

Students are expected to pay their final year’s fees in full as normal and will receive a rebate if they successfully meet the above criteria. The Completion Bonus Fee Rebate may be awarded to students already in receipt of a reduced fee courtesy of one of the above listed schemes, however please note that the 35% rebate will only be on fee actually paid. A rebate will not be paid to students whose fees are paid from external sources.

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25% FEE WAIVER COMPETITION

TO APPLY: In addition to the standard application form (see the Graduate School’s How to Apply web pages for more information on the application process) please include a statement of no more than 500 words outlining the academic grounds on which you believe you should be awarded the waiver. Your statement should not simply repeat information already presented in your application documentation. Rather you may wish to discuss, for example, the significance and impact of your proposed research, the extent of the original contribution to knowledge it will make, and/or the potential social, economic or cultural benefits of your research to the local, national or international community. The fee waiver is not means-tested nor intended to act as hardship or financial relief. Applications justifying the award on the grounds that this will ameliorate some financial or personal circumstances will be discounted.

Applications should be sent by email attachment to c.lake@uel.ac.uk or by post to:-

Graduate School, University of East London, Docklands Campus, 4-6 University Way, London, E16 2RD

In order to be entered into the competition, your application to undertake a postgraduate research degree at UEL needs to be accepted and you must be offered a place. This includes conditional offers (e.g., subject to successful completion of a taught master’s degree). We regret that these fee waivers are not open to Professional Doctorate applicants.

In the event that you have already submitted an application to study for a postgraduate research degree at the University of East London but have not submitted an application for a fee waiver, you may send the statement without resending your standard application documents, but otherwise as stated above, marked clearly as a 25% Fee Waiver application and including your name, contact details, title of your proposed research, and the School in which you intended to study, so that we can match your fee waiver application to your other documents.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA: The prime criterion is one of academic excellence. Applicants will be selected based upon the 500-word statement and the applicant’s academic ability as evidenced by their qualifications, and/or experience (e.g. relevant work experience, publications, presentation of conference and seminar papers, etc.) as outlined in their application form. 

DEADLINES: The deadline for receipt of applications for September 2013 start is Friday 14th June 2013.If it is not possible to make all awards in the initial round, there will therefore be a second deadline of 10th January 2014 for students whose studies will commence in the following Semester B only.

Late applications will not be accepted.

Applications missing any relevant documents will not be accepted.

Results will be announced as soon as possible.

FULL TERMS & CONDITIONS:

1. The 25% fee waiver is open to applicants for MPhil and PhD programmes enrolling for the first time in either Semester A or B of the following academic year in the initial round of the competitionThe deadline for receipt of applications for September 2013 start is Friday 14th June 2013.If it is not possible to make all awards in the initial round, there will therefore be a second deadline of 10th January 2014 for students whose studies will commence in the following Semester B only.
2. Applicants for Professional Doctorate programmes are not eligible.
3. The 25% fee waiver is applied to the published fee for the course of study you have applied for, regardless of your domicile status or mode of study. This does not extend to any bench fees or other charges for which you may be liable, including penalty charges for late payment of the remaining fees. Please see the UEL Fees Policy for further information about late payment charges.
4. The 25% fee waiver is valid for two years only. It will not be extended or renewed beyond the original two year term.
5. The 25% fee waiver is not transferable or deferrable to commence outside the academic year for which you have applied. Applications received by the June deadline may be for fee waivers for studies commencing in Semesters A or B of the following academic year. Applications received by the January deadline may be for fee waivers for studies commencing in Semester B.
6. If you choose to defer your starting date outside the periods listed in clause 5 above, your application for a fee waiver will be withdrawn from the competition and/or you will be unable to retain an awarded fee waiver. However, subject to clause 14 below and assuming that either no decision has been taken on your application or your application was successful, you may re-apply in the competition appropriate to the academic year in which you intend to study. In these circumstances the application will not automatically roll over to the appropriate competition; it is the responsibility of the applicant to re-apply.
7. Applicants may not, other than in the circumstances given in clause 7 above, apply to the 25% fee waiver competition more than once. Students who have applied for a fee waiver but who are unsuccessful, should they then defer the commencement of their studies, may not reapply.
8. Once a period of study has commenced, should a waiver-holder suspend their studies through the proper channels, their waiver is similarly suspended and will be recommenced on the resumption of studies. Should the waiver-holder withdraw from their studies, the waiver will be terminated. Any refunds owing to the student will be calculated against fees actually paid. Please also note that on resumption of studies after a suspension, the Registry will require students to re-enrol for the entire academic year. The fee waiver will in some cases only cover a part of that academic year's fees and students will be liable to pay their remaining fees in advance.
9. Students eligible for and holding the alumni discount are also permitted to hold the 25% fee waiver. The 25% fee waiver may not be held in conjunction with any other fee waiver or similar scheme, including but not limited to other UEL studentships, staff fee waivers or subsidy schemes, or where a student is in receipt of external funding. Students may apply for a fee waiver simultaneously to application to other funding bodies for support, e.g. for a Research Council scholarship, however should they be successful for the latter they are required to inform the Graduate School as soon as possible thereafter. The application will be removed from the competition or the waiver must be ceded.
10. It is the applicant’s responsibility to pay the remaining proportion of the fees owing in the first and second years. The applicant should also be aware that they are liable for the full cost of their fees in the third year and beyond. This may represent a significant increase in the amount to be paid, for international students in particular, for whom this may be several thousand pounds.
11. While the Graduate School will make every effort to ensure that the results of the fee waiver competition are announced in sufficient time for students to pay the remainder of their fees in time to qualify for the Early Bird Discount, this cannot be guaranteed. If students choose to pay their fees in full in order to qualify for the Early Bird Discount, and are subsequently successful in the 25% fee waiver competition, they will be entitled to a refund of 25% of the published fee. Please see the UEL Fees Policy for further information about the Early Bird Discount.
12. There are a maximum of twenty two-year 25% fee waivers to be given out in each academic year. The Graduate School is under no obligation to award all twenty waivers in the initial round each year, or at all, should the quality of applications be insufficient to warrant it. Non-awarded waivers will not be rolled over into the following year’s allocation.
13. The Graduate School and the University of East London fully intend to operate this fee waiver scheme as described above each year, subject to annual review, the results of which will be made available as soon as possible. Similarly the assessment process, deadlines, criteria and terms and conditions may be subject to change and it is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure they have made use of the most up-to-date version.

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