Bournemouth University's fees from 2012

Tuesday 19 April 2011

A message from the Vice-Chancellor about changes to Bournemouth University's fees from 2012.

As you are aware, the amount of public funding from government is being cut dramatically and from 2012 universities will be able to charge tuition fees of up to £9,000.

Over the last few months many of you have been giving very careful thought to how best we can respond to this, and I would like to thank each and every one of you for your effort and support. It is essential that we continue to invest in an excellent experience for all our staff and students whilst maintaining the quality of our programmes. To that end, later today we will be announcing that from 2012:

• BU will charge a fee of £8,200 per year for 90% of our Honours Degree courses.
• A small number of our flagship Honours Degrees such as Tourism and Computer Animation will attract a fee of £9,000. We have decided which courses fall into this category on the basis of cost of delivery, reputation and competitive demand.
• A fee of £6,000 will apply to the majority of BU Foundation Degrees, which are predominantly delivered through our regional partner Further Education colleges. This fee reflects our commitment to the provision of flexible entry routes to Higher Education.

It is important to stress that these changes won’t affect current students - they will continue to pay for the cost of their remaining study under the current fee system.

The fees will be all-inclusive and there will be no additional charges for essential elements of the course. No full time student covered by the new fees regime will have to pay the cost of tuition while they are studying at BU. Government-backed student loans will be available which only start to be repaid once a graduate is earning at least £21,000 a year.

BU remains committed to providing opportunities for non-traditional students who have the potential to succeed in Higher Education. For 2012 entrants we will be offering a highly targeted and simple programme of financial support worth some £1m, based solely on need. This will include guaranteed year-round accommodation for those leaving care (free of charge in the first year of study) and a combination of fee waivers, bursaries and accommodation bursaries for students from Low Participation Neighbourhoods.

Further information, including the reasoning behind our decisions, is available in these frequently asked questions. If you have any further questions please do contact me directly at vice-chancellor@bournemouth.ac.uk.

These have been difficult decisions to make, however I am confident that they put our University in the best possible position going forward; offering an excellent experience to all, and maintaining the quality of our programmes together with the student experience that we are committed to delivering for everyone who makes the choice to study at BU.

John Vinney (Vice-Chancellor)