Certificate of Higher Education in Astronomy

Fees

Students will be required to pay a tuition fee, which for the year 2009/2010 is £820 per annum.

The fee may be paid either in full at the start of each academic year or – provided your application can be processed before September – you may opt to pay in equal instalments in October and January of each year.  There is a provision to pay your fees on line via UCL's PORTICO Registry software.

If you have lived abroad recently please read the section further below on Overseas Student Fees.

Equivalent or Lower Qualifications

In 2008, the Secretary of State withdrew Higher Education Council funding from students taking courses offering an equivalent or lower qualification to one already held.  However, a number of exceptions were made for science courses and it is our understanding that the Certificate of Higher Education in Astronomy is one of these, hence there is no plan to charge any higher fees for the Certificate other than those stated above, except for modest increases each year related to inflation of home student fees.

Overseas Student Fees

The College does not receive any government funding in respect of students who fall into the "overseas" category and so charges a much higher fee in such cases. The overseas student tuition fee for the year 2009/2010 is £8,040 per annum.

There are two criteria (and only two) which are considered in deciding whether someone can be granted "home or EC student" status.

For citizens of the EC the student must have been ordinarily resident in the European Economic Area wholly or mainly for non-educational purposes for the full three years preceding 1 September in the year the course is due to start.

For non-EC nationals the same criterion as above applies PLUS the student must have been granted the right of permanent residence in the UK by the Home Office before 1 September in the year the course starts.

For legal reasons the College must apply these rules rigorously. However, if you are resident in Britain and would like to follow our course but would not be able to pay the overseas fee we can enrol you as a Continuing Education student. You would then not be eligible for the award of the UCL Certificate but would receive a Certificate from the Department of Physics and Astronomy certifying the modules which you have passed. Please contact the Admissions Tutor for further details.