It is essential to plan your finances before you arrive in the UK as it is extremely difficult to obtain funding while in the UK and part-way through a course.
It is very important to plan ahead and ensure that you will have enough money to pay your tuition fees and living costs for every year of your course. If you don’t plan carefully, you may have financial problems when you are in the UK. This could affect your ability to concentrate fully on your studies or you may be unable to continue and complete your course.
Check our Student visas guidance for information about how much money you will need to show.
Before coming to the UK you could check whether you are eligible to apply for a scholarship or bursary. This might come from:
It is important to apply for any scholarships or bursaries as soon as possible and ensure you can meet the criteria as well as any stated deadline. These types of awards tend to be oversubscribed and issued well before the start of studies. It is extremely rare to be allowed to apply for a scholarship or bursary during your programme of study.
Although part-time work is a great way to top up up your income and gain work experience, it is not advisable to rely on finding a job to finance your stay in the UK for a number of reasons: your immigration permission will normally restrict the number of hours you can work so you may not be able to earn enough to support yourself, you may struggle to find adequate employment or hours; you could be made redundant even if you do find employment; you may find you cannot concentrate as much on your studies as you would like; or it may take you longer to find work than you expected. Once you are enrolled on your course at Queen Mary you can use the Careers Service which aims to help students find work either paid or voluntary to help them gain new skills and experience.
Read our guidance about working during your studies, including the rules for international students.
If possible, it is a good idea to have a contingency fund for unexpected expenses, such as the cost of a new immigration application, travel home for a family event or emergency or some extra funds if the cost of living in the UK increases. Some students find that they wish to carry out research for their project or thesis and need additional money to travel to another town or country. If you do not have enough money in your budget for these additional expenses, it could leave you in financial hardship, so it is sensible to try and allow for some extra contingency funds in addition to your main source of funding if possible.
Read our information on tuition fee amounts, how and when you pay, and tuition fee status deadlines.