Finance

If you have any questions or worries about finance whilst studying at Corpus, feel free to contact the JCR Academic and Access Officer or any of the JCR Welfare Officers.

Costs in Corpus

For the academic year 2010–2011, these are some of the costs you may encounter or may wish to know:

  • Accommodation:
    • Average rent: £988.04 per term (30-week lease)
    • Lowest rent: £747.74 per term (30-week lease, room 6TS12)
    • Highest rent: £1253.50 per term (30-week lease, room O0)
    • Academic rate: £13.38 per night
    • Non–academic rate: £24.96 per night
    • Guest room rate: £30 per night
    • Conference room rate: £56.26 per night
  • KFC:
    • 30–week lease: £171 per term
    • Extended lease: £203.93 per term
    • Academic and non-academic rate: £2.44 per night
  • Catering:
    • Rough breakfast price: £1.50–£3
    • Rough lunch price: £2.85–£3.50
    • Rough dinner price: £2.85–£3.50
    • Formal Hall ticket price: £8.80
    • Formal Hall guest ticket price: £10.15
  • Miscellaneous:
    • Accommodation deposit: £150
    • Gym key deposit: £20
    • Internet charge: £25 per term

Information about Tuition Fees, College Fees and general living costs can be found on the main College website’s fees and costs page.

College account statements

At the beginning of each term, you will be emailed your “College Account Statement”. This bill covers all your charges that are due for payment by the date shown. Generally this will be your:

  • Room rent for that term,
  • Kitchen Fixed Charge for that term,
  • Catering charges for the previous term (except on your Michaelmas bill),
  • Electricity charges for the previous term (except on your Michaelmas bill),
  • Internet charge,
  • Deposit (a one-off charge at the beginning of your first term of residence in college accommodation),
  • One third of your College and University Tuition Fees (minus any contribution or loan from a Student Loan Company).

N.B.: Electricity meters are read on the first weekday following the end of each lease period to calculate your electricity charge and to ensure you are not charged for any electricity used by Conference guests etc. The date shown on your bill will be the date the electricity charge was added to your account, which may be quite a bit later than when the meter was actually read.

Around week 4 and again towards the end of each term, you will be emailed another College Account Statement. These are for information purposes only, so that you can see any charges you have for the previous month in order to budget effectively and so that any queries can be investigated quickly.

At the end of the year you will receive your “Final Account Statement”, which generally contains the following charges:

  • Catering charges for Easter term,
  • Charges for damage to the fixtures and fittings of your room or for missing items from your room.

If you have graduated, your Final Account Statement will also include a refund of your deposit, or what is left of it if you have damaged items in your room.

College account payment

Payment of your College account must be made to the Finance Office. You can do this in a number of ways:

  • Cheque (please put your name and account number, found on your bill, on the reverse of the cheque),
  • Debit card,
  • Credit card (please remember that a surcharge will apply),
  • Inter-bank transfer.

Details of the College bank account will be on your College bill.

You will have to pay your College Account Statement by the first day of each Full Term. Your Final Account Statement has to be paid by July 31st.

Statements that remain unpaid for two weeks will incur both an administration charge of £30 and an interest charge. You may also find that your University Card stops working so that you can’t add to the amount you owe College. If your account remains unpaid you may be asked to leave College accommodation or may be prevented from taking up residence in College accommodation in the following academic year, until the account is settled in full.

If you have any problems with paying your bill, or think that you may have problems in the future, you should email the Tutorial Office as soon as possible.

University cards

Corpus uses a cashless card system in Hall and the bar where your University Card can be used to pay for food and drink. This card is also used to pay for Formal Halls, meaning you can still eat and socialise even if you are short of cash!

It can be tempting to think of this cashless system as “fake money” though, so remember when using it that you will have to pay College back the following term. You can keep an eye on what you have spent using the card scanner in the Porters’ Lodge and when purchasing items in Hall.

Graduands pre–payment

You will not be permitted to graduate unless your College bill has been paid in full. In the past, this has caused some difficulties and therefore Easter Term charges are now paid in advance. You should plan ahead for the pre–payment addition to your College bills at the beginning of Lent and Easter Terms in the year you are due to graduate. If you want to, you can credit your College account in advance of the pre–payment to ease the pressure on your finances when your Lent and Easter Term bills are due to be paid.

The pre–payment is an estimation of your catering expenditure in Easter Term, based on your catering charges during Michaelmas Term. In addition to this, the pre–payment includes the following:

  • Network charge,
  • Corpus Association life subscription,
  • Contingency money to allow for unexpected expenditure,
  • Heating and electricity charges.

N.B.: The charge for the Corpus Association life subscription can be excluded if the Finance Office is notified in writing, stating that you do not wish to become a member, prior to the end of Lent Term.

The pre–payment is charged in two instalments. Half is charged to your College bill at the beginning of Lent Term whilst the remainder (along with any necessary recalculations) is charged at the beginning of Easter Term. If you are booking attendance at a club, society (or similar) dinner or event during Easter Term, you should pay in cash or by cheque for this, as it will not have been taken into account when calculating your pre–payment charge.

Your Final Account Statement will include a cheque to refund any credit on your account that may have resulted from an overestimation of your pre–payment.

If you are likely to experience difficulty in meeting the pre–payment charges, you should discuss this with your Tutor at the beginning of Lent Term.

Insurance

The College’s general insurance policy covers items provided by the College for the use of undergraduates in residence. The College cannot accept any responsibility for undergraduates’ personal property.

Therefore, you are strongly advised to insure all your personal possessions for the time you are at College. Your parent’s household contents policy can be extended to cover you whilst you are at University. Otherwise, it is not difficult to arrange separate cover, at a modest premium, from an organisation specialising in student insurance.

The College’s insurance also does not cover any items you may leave in storage or in your rooms over vacation periods. If you are leaving belongings in the store room, it is worth checking that you are covered for personal possessions in “secure storage designated by your College authority during a vacation”.

Useful websites

If you qualify for the Newton Trust Bursary, you could get up to £3400 deducted from your College bill (in the academic year 2010–2011).

The DirectGov website provides detailed information about costs and eligibility for financial support.

The College website gives financial information specific to Corpus students.

CUSU also provide a huge list of external financial websites that you might find useful.

If you are struggling…

Finance queries

If you have any questions about finance or the charges and fees in Corpus, please email the Finance Office. Alternatively, the Finance Office is located in A-staircase (room A5) and is open 9am–4pm, Monday–Friday. The Finance Officer is closed for lunch from 1–2pm. You can contact the Finance Officer on on 01223 3(38005).