Finance Information

PAYMENT BY A SPONSOR

It is a condition of registration that students accept liability for their tuition fees. Remember that even if your fees are to be paid by a sponsor, such as an embassy or employer, it is your personal responsibility to ensure that they are paid and to provide evidence of funding when you matriculate. Where any student has failed to provide written confirmation of funding within 28 days of the start of their programme of study, she/he will be deemed to be personally liable for payment of the fees, and an invoice will be issued to the student accordingly.

If your sponsor is a Health Board, you must obtain a Purchase Order number from them so this can be quoted on an invoice.

Self funding students who have a net tuition fee amount payable of £12,500 or more are eligible for a 5% discount on the fee payable, provided they settle in full prior to 31 October or by the due date of your invoice, whichever is the earlier. The discount will be calculated at 5% of the net fee payable (i.e. after any scholarship). The same will apply to students who start in January and have fees of over £12,500 less any scholarship award, and pay their fees, in full, prior to 28^th February or  by the due date of your invoice, whichever is earlier.

For all annual tuition fees of £12,500 and above, where the student is self-funding and the fee is settled in full by 31 October 2025, a discount of 5% will be authorised.

Through our Graduate Discount Scheme, Queen Margaret University is offering a 20% discount in postgraduate tuition fees for alumni who have graduated with an undergraduate degree, whether studied on the University’s Edinburgh campus or with one of our local or overseas partners. As of September 2025 onwards, a 20% discount is available for students who register for a full or part-time postgraduate degree. This discount applies both to courses delivered in-person and those delivered online.
 
The discount applies to the self-funding element of the postgraduate tuition fee only. Self-funded fees include those supported by a tuition fee loan. The discount does not apply to any part of the tuition fee which is covered by a scholarship, funding body, your employer, a company, or any another source of funding.  For online students on our QMU Online (flexible on-demand master’s courses), this discount level applies both to continuing students (who joined us prior to September 2025) as well as new students. (Terms and conditions apply)

CAS DEPOSIT

International students who have paid a tuition fee deposit will have this amount deducted from their overall fees.

PROFESSIONAL BODY REGISTRATION FEES

Students will be personally liable for payment of any professional body registration fees as detailed in the Registration & Membership fees sections on the appropriate tuition fees page. 

The University is pleased to offer a number of competitive Scholarships for new International students undertaking their first year of study on UG or taught PG degrees. The scholarship is granted as a reduction of the tuition fee and is available to students who are self-funding. 

LATE PAYMENTS

Unless you have chosen to pay by instalments, if your tuition fee remains unpaid 21 days after it is due, you may become liable to pay interest at 2.5% above the UK clearing bank base rate per annum on the full amount. Interest will run from the due date until the outstanding fees are eventually paid.

If you have chosen to pay by instalments, interest on a late instalment will run from the due date to the date when the instalment is paid.

DIFFICULTIES IN MAKING A PAYMENT

If you are experiencing difficulty in paying all or part of your tuition fees, you must contact the Credit Controller as soon as possible. The Credit Controller will help you to draw up a payment schedule, to which you will be required to adhere until your fees are paid in full.

REQUIREMENT TO LEAVE THE UNIVERSITY

Unless you have agreed a payment schedule with the Credit Controller, if tuition fees are still outstanding 8 weeks after the end of the 21-day period or if an instalment is over 4 weeks late, you may be asked to leave the University. The University will put your debt into the hands of a debt collector.

REINSTATEMENT ON PAYMENT OF FULL TUITION FEES

On payment in full of outstanding tuition fees before the end of the academic year in question, the University may permit your reinstatement on your programme of study. However, if you are behind with your studies you may have to repeat parts of the programme, thereby incurring further fees.

PROGRESSION

You will not be permitted to progress to the next year of your course if you have any debts due to the University from previous years.

DEGREE CEREMONY

The University may refuse to allow you to attend a degree ceremony if tuition fees are outstanding.

APPEAL PROCESS

If you are unhappy about a decision concerning payment of your fees, including a requirement that you withdraw from the University, you may contact the Student Funding Adviser, and bring a complaint under the University's complaint procedure.

EARLY WITHDRAWAL

If you leave your programme of study early, you must ensure that you submit a withdrawal form via this link https://www.qmu.ac.uk/current-students/thinking-of-leaving/if-you-want-to-leave-qmu/. The date of withdrawal will be deemed to be the date that the Registry department receives written confirmation of withdrawal. You will be liable for all or part of the fee for the full academic year as follows:

If you leave within 28 days of the start of your programme of study, you will be liable for an administration fee of £250.

If you leave more than 28 days after the start of your programme of study, you will be liable for the appropriate proportion of the fee based on the semesters attended wholly or in part.

If you are making payment of fees by instalments and withdraw from your programme of study, you must still meet any shortfall between the full fee determined by the University and the total amount of the instalments already paid.

IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING FINANCIAL HARDSHIP

If you are experiencing financial difficulties in paying tuition fees you should seek help at the earliest possible opportunity. The University will be sympathetic and assist where it can. However, in order to maintain the quality of teaching for everyone else, the University must act to recover debts. Initially you should approach Bill Stronach, the Student Funding Adviser within Student Services for a confidential discussion. More information on the support the University may be able to offer can be found here https://www.qmu.ac.uk/study-here/student-services/student-funding-service/.  You may also wish to speak to a personal tutor or someone at the Students’ Union for advice and support.