Dear Students,
I hope last week’s information about assessments at St George’s answered some of the questions you have and gave you a sense of the principles and drivers underpinning our decision-making.
Yesterday we held our first (experimental!) question and answer session which you can watch above, chaired by Beth Ward, SU Vice President (Education & Welfare). A group of staff answered questions posed on Unitu in response to the call from Beth and Jeff Saddington-Wiltshire, Student Engagement Officer, who together organised the session.
The aim is to hold these regularly in response to questions that you would like to see answered. They will develop and improve, but we felt it was important to make a start now without waiting for perfection in technological approach, format and question coverage.
In the future, we’ll be looking at shorter, streamlined sessions, alongside additional interactivity and live streaming. Also, while Unitu is a very useful way of flagging questions that are shared by large numbers of students (using the voting feature), we really want to ensure all students groups are heard. Even if you do not use Unitu as your primary way of raising issues, ideas, etc, please register so that you can participate in future question calls.
When we introduced Unitu earlier this year, little did we know how valuable it would be as a communication platform during this period of disruption due to Covid-19. It has enabled the University to hear and understand your anxieties, frustrations, questions and ideas (even sometimes what you appreciate) which continues to greatly inform planning and decision-making.
The majority of conversations are heartfelt whilst remaining professional, but the tone of some of the comments is having a real, damaging impact on staff and SU Reps who are doing their very best in an unprecedented situation. We want you to feel comfortable to express your opinions about our decisions and communication on Unitu, but please do this professionally and politely.
Finally, we are mindful of your questions about graduation and the start of next year and recognise how important this is for your forward planning. Much depends on how government restrictions change and the University is working hard on scenario planning for different eventualities. We will keep you informed about the conversations and let you know as soon as decisions are made.
Best wishes,
Professor Jane Saffell
Deputy Principal (Education)
St George’s, University of London
Frequently asked questions – new information on tuition fees added
Information for all students on queries we have received about tuition fees has been published this week on our website FAQs.
Self-paying students: third instalment of 2019/20 tuition fees due soon
If you are paying your own tuition fees in 2019/20 in the three instalments format, please note that instalment three is due for payment by 30 April 2020.
Please note that if you are receiving confirmed tuition fee funding from the NHS or Student Loans Company, or your tuition fees are paid directly to the Faculty of Healthcare and Social Care Sciences, this notice does not apply to you.
In these exceptional circumstances, our priority is to ensure that students can graduate and progress in their degrees. Following government advice, staff have been working very hard to provide remote teaching and support for students to enable them to meet the required learning outcomes for their programmes. Our teaching provision and student support services continue online and students can continue to access learning materials and undertake assessments.
We will also ensure that students can meet the requirements for practical and practice-based components of their degrees. Therefore, full fees are still due for all undergraduate and postgraduate students.
If you are having trouble paying your fees
With all the current uncertainty generated by the Covid-19 pandemic, including around individual financial circumstances, if you have any difficulty paying your fees - including if you are an international student and are having difficulty making financial transfers –please contact studentfinance@sgul.ac.uk as soon as you can.
When doing so, please enclose your St George's student ID number.
It is vital that you let the University know if you do think you will struggle to pay your next instalment, so that the Student Services team can support you in discussing revised arrangements to complete payment. Our student finance team will consider all requests for a payment extension sympathetically, and on a case-by-case basis.
Otherwise, if you fail to make a payment or make contact regarding a problem in making payment, a 3% late fee charge based on the amount outstanding may be added to your fees and you will enter the university’s debt collection cycle (see the University’s Tuition Fee & Tuition Fee Debt Collection Process Policies for further details).
How to pay your fees
Payments can be made as follows:
- By card – please call: 020 8725 5775/5028/2554
- Online (by bank transfer), via either –
- Student Invoice Pathway: This link is for students to make an online payment by credit/debit card or PayPal, using their student ID number and their Reference Number as printed on their invoice.
- Open Pathway:This link is for third party payments - parents, sponsors, and for paying deposits. The student ID number and student date of birth will be needed to make an online payment.
For further enquiries regarding tuition fee payments, current amounts outstanding and locked accounts on the online payment system, please email Accounts Receivable (acco-rec@sgul.ac.uk).
Hardship funds
Funding is now available to students in priority groups who are experiencing financial hardship as a result of Covid-19 and the current lockdown.
The Access to Learning Fund is for home (UK) students. Applications are invited from undergraduates who are care leavers, homeless, disabled or young carers; have children (especially lone parents); or meet other criteria relating to their financial circumstances (please check details at the website below for the full list of eligibility criteria). Applications are invited from postgraduates who have children (especially lone parents), are disabled or are self-funding and not eligible for forms of financial support.
The Fund will remain open until all funds are exhausted. We expect to invite applications from any home student, regardless of circumstances, down track but priority is given to the groups listed above at this stage.
The EU and International Hardship Fund is open to fully registered and enrolled full-time undergraduate and postgraduate EU and International students who are experiencing financial hardship due to unexpected circumstances which are beyond their control.
Access full information, including details of how to apply and supporting evidence required, in the student finance and funding section of the website.