LSE Fees
Fees - The Finance Office
The guidance below is intended to try to smooth you fee-payment experience, and give you a better understanding of why problems occur and how you can help solve them. Remember that the Finance Office deals with fee payments. It does not have responsibility for loans, scholarships or hardship funds.
All of your financial information is now available on LSE For You. Login to find out how much you owe, how to pay and when you have to complete payments.
You do not have to queue. There are a range of payment methods available to you, including cheque, sterling Bank draft, credit card or debit card. There is a drop box for payments and forms outside the Student Services Centre. Please put your student number on the back of all cheques and note that American Express and Diners cards will not be accepted.
If you require a receipt for your cheque/draft/credit/debit card complete the Receipt Form and include it with your payment.
You do not have to pay fees before registration.
You may receive a discount. If you pay your fees for the whole year all at once, by banker's draft, cash or cheque, within one week of registration, you will receive a discount of £15 per full £1000.
If you are paying by cash, do so directly in the campus branch of NatWest - do not go to the Finance Office. Please also be aware of the safety and security issues of carrying that quantity of cash.
Payment can be made by cheque, debit card, credit card, sterling banker's drafts or by transfer as arranged through NatWest.
Some tips to speed the process:
-Read your induction information. It will tell you exactly how to make paying your fees a painless process. This information is also available on the New Arrivals website
-Make sure you inform LSE of changes in to your personal details. The Finance Office reads personal details such as your correspondence address etc. directly from the Undergraduate and Graduate School Registries. If you don't inform your registry of changes, the Finance Office won't know either.
-If you do have to queue, be patient and polite. Allow up to 5 minutes processing time for each person in front of you in the queue. If you cannot afford that length of time, try later. Remember that at the beginning of each term, the office will always be very busy. Remember your are in the UK, and the Finance Office is constrained by the UK's banking system - things may not work in the same way or take the same length of time as they do in your home country.
-If you are paying by cheque, fill it out before joining the queue, to save a little time. Also, don't forget to mark your student number on the back.
-If you are paying by credit card, take care not to exceed the card limit. Cards are not processed "live" (i.e. while you are at the office in person) in order to reduce queues and also because card security arrangements mean that a high proportion of cards (especially non-UK) can take up to an hour to be authorised. Remember to check that your fees have been credited to your account before using your credit card for other purchases that might put you over your limit. Please note that if your card is not authorised, there is nothing the Finance Office can do: they are not given any reasons, and are not allowed to discuss your account with your card provider.
-Sponsors will be invoiced after the first four weeks of term. However, you have responsibility for providing the Finance Office with all the necessary details of your sponsor - if you fail to do so, your fees will not be paid for you by your sponsor, and will be charged to you instead.
-Research students should make sure they register for the correct year of study, taking into account any leave of absence taken. Your registration information should include details of how to calculate your year of study, alternatively, contact the Graduate School Registry.
-Course changes. If you change courses after arriving at LSE, you will be expected to pay the appropriate fee for that course (which may mean an extra payment, or a refund!). The Finance Office will only be able to process this after your registry has done so. Again, remember the beginning of the academic year is very busy, and be patient.
-If there is a problem with your payment, you will be informed at the beginning of November when the Finance Office reviews the status of everyone's account. You will be given plenty of time and help in determining what the problem is, and how you can help deal with it. Remember, however, that if payment of your fees is delayed without good reason, LSE may chose to withdraw some of your rights, such as library borrowing rights, and ultimately, has the option of deregistration, withholding your exam results or degree.
-In the meantime specific enquiries should be addressed to feequeries@lse.ac.uk
- in most cases, there is no need to queue in the Finance Office. Please remember, however, that at the busiest time at the start of each term even email cannot be answered promptly if all the staff are dealing with individuals visiting the office in person.
-Don't worry! If you genuinely have paid, and the money has left your account, then your payment will be processed successfully eventually.
Fee Status
Fee status can be extremely complex, but if you feel that you have been misclassified, contact the Advice Centre who will be able to advise you. The LSE follows the DfES's guidelines. For more information, see: www.dfes.gov.uk/studentsupport/
