How to pay tuition fees

Undergraduate students

You can opt for your tuition fee invoice to be split equally between three or six instalments, or split your invoice into monthly payments.

You'll need to pay a minimum of 1/6th of your tuition fees to register. You'll need to register each academic year.

Student loan funded (SLC) undergraduate students

If you're an undergraduate student, your tuition fee loan will be paid directly to ARU. If your tuition fee loan has been approved, you'll be able to provide us with the Student Support Number (SSN) or Customer Reference Number (CRN) when your register for finance to confirm your attendance for your tuition fee loan.

Please note: completing your registration with a CRN (Customer Reference Number) allows you to proceed, however, your funding remains subject to approval by the Student Loans Company (SLC). If the University has not received your Student Support Number (SSN) by teaching week 8, you'll be invoiced directly for your tuition fees.

To check the status of your application, please contact Student Finance at 0300 100 0607.

Postgraduate students

You can opt for the tuition fee invoice to be split equally between three or six instalments, or choose to split your invoice into monthly payments. Any available payment plans will be displayed within My Finance.

Student loan funded (SLC) postgraduate students

If you're a postgraduate student, your postgraduate loan will be paid directly to you. As part of your registration process you'll be able to set up a payment plan that is linked to the dates that Student Finance pay you on. 

Please note you'll have to make a payment of 0.4% of your tuition fees to set up this payment plan and complete registration. Then the remaining balance of your tuition fees is split equally between the three dates you'll be paid. Once you have registered, the University will be able to confirm attendance with Student Finance to release your loan.

You'll need to select the option ‘Tuition fees instalment payment plan (international students only)’.

Here, you will be offered two payment plans.

You can select either a two-part instalment plan or a five-part instalment plan.

When you enter the writing-up stage, you'll be liable for the pro-rated portion of the full year’s tuition fees, up until the date you enter Writing Up.

Your fees will be pro-rated to cover your pre-writing-up period of study and then you will be invoiced a writing-up fee separately.

If you had paid the full year’s tuition fees in full up until that point, you will be refunded the difference.

For example

If you start the academic year in September 2025 with a full year’s tuition fee liability of £6,000 and you enter the writing up stage in February 2026, the fee liability will be as follows (please note, these are illustrative amounts):

Pre-Writing up tuition fees September 2025 to January 2026 = 5/12 of a year
£6,000 x 5/12 = £2,500
Writing up fee = £1,200
Total revised fee = £2,500 + £1,200 = £3,700

If you have already made tuition fee payments totalling £5,000, your account will be treated as follows:
£5,000 - £3,700 = £1,300. Therefore a £1,300 refund will be processed to you.

If instead you have paid £3,000, after adjusting the fee, you would owe ARU an additional payment of £700.

Please note: The writing-up fee cannot be pro-rated if you submit your thesis early within the year. Also, you will be charged annually, at the point you enter into writing-up if you haven't submitted your thesis within the previous year.

If you have any questions about fees, please contact us the quickest and easiest way to get in touch is to use our Self-Service Portal AskARU which is available 24 hours a day.