Additional Costs
Some of our degrees involve extra costs which are not covered by your tuition fees. To make sure that you budget accurately for university life, read this page to see which extra costs apply to you. For some costs, financial support is available.
Library overdue charges
Overdue charges apply to all library loans to encourage you to return any resources you borrow on time. Costs vary depending on the type of loan, eg long or short loan, and the resource involved, eg book, student text collection, e-book reader or laptop.
We use the income from overdue charges to buy new books requested by students, and extra copies of those in heavy demand.
Late fees and fines
You may incur fines or late payment fees during your studies, if you make late payments or register late for your course. Please visit our Student Financial Advice website for further information.
Medicine and Dentistry degrees
Immunisation costs
For some programmes, certain immunisations are required prior to the start of the course. Students should refer to the programme handbook and school office for details.
Disclosure and Barring Service checks
As your course will involve a high level of unsupervised contact with children or vulnerable adults you need to undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly Criminal Records Bureau) check as part of the admissions process. The School will pay for the £43 cost of obtaining this check.
Travel to clinical base units
Medical and Dental students are required to attend local hospitals and clinics for periods of time for clinical training and receive a travel bursary. Some students may also be able to receive an NHS bursary towards their travel expenses. Students should enquire at either the Medical or Dental Student Offices for full details.
Dietetics
Due to the professional and vocational nature of your course, during your studies there may be some additional activities and costs. These may be for equipment, uniforms, professional memberships, health and character checks etc. An outline of additional activities and costs (where appropriate) is provided below but please note that these may vary over time.
Books and other materials
The University library is well-resourced and stocks copies of books and reading materials from your reading lists. However, for some resources you may wish to purchase your own copy. For example, the PENG Pocket Guide to Clinical Nutrition (approximately £25) will be used routinely in Years 3 and 4, and on placements.
Printing, photocopying and stationery
Our virtual learning environment is a repository for various course materials, including lecture notes. Should you wish to print out any materials, or undertake any photocopying, there is a small charge per page. An initial printing allocation is provided, and students can top this up online using a debit or credit card.
Professional Memberships and Professional Indemnity Insurance
Students are encouraged to join the professional body for UK Dietitians, the BDA, as a student member. At the current time, membership is free during 1st year, with subsequent student membership charged at £37.50 annually. Membership includes professional indemnity insurance which is required for practice placements. Should a student choose not to be a BDA member, they will be required to secure, and provide evidence of, professional indemnity insurance from an alternative source.
Disclosure and Barring Service checks
Your course will involve a high level of unsupervised contact with children or vulnerable adults. You need to undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly Criminal Records Bureau) check as part of the admissions process. The School will pay the cost of obtaining this check. The School reserves the right to discontinue the studies of any student for whom an unsatisfactory DBS disclosure is received.
Health Screening and Immunisations
All students will be asked to complete an Occupational Health Questionnaire on entry, and will be required to comply with the Department of Health’s guidance on health clearance for healthcare workers. Students will be asked to provide proof of their immunisation status or undergo vaccination as appropriate. The cost for this is currently covered by the Faculty.
Food Hygiene Certification
To ensure that students understand and are able to demonstrate safe kitchen practice within module and during placement related activities, students will complete a food hygiene certificate as part of the course. This certification must be achieved in advance of the first food handling laboratory practical class. The cost for this certification is currently covered by the School.
Practice Placements
Practice placements are a compulsory part of this degree and one of these is undertaken during the summer vacation between the 3rd and 4th year. This means that undertaking paid work during that summer may be limited. Placement locations and experiences will predominantly be within the North East of England but any additional travel or dual accommodation costs may be reimbursed by the NHS Business Services Authority (subject to eligibility).
Find out more about this NHS Learning Support Funding
Students will be required to wear a uniform or other appropriate professional dress, during placement-related activities. Students will be fitted and supplied with a uniform in Year 1 of studies and the School will cover the cost of uniform purchase, however, students will be responsible for maintenance and laundering of all items. Where uniforms become damaged or for any other reason become unsuitable, replacement uniform items will be available at personal cost to the student.
Speech and Language Science
Due to the professional and clinical nature of your degree, there may be additional costs during your studies. Some of these are outlined below but please note that these may change over time.
Books and specialist equipment:
The University library is very well resourced and the books and journal articles you need for your studies are all available there. We do not recommend that you buy any books in advance of your studies but discuss with your module leaders if you think you would find a personal copy of a book useful. You will need to buy a voice recorder, but again we strongly recommend that you wait until you arrive and are given details of the type of recording device that will meet your needs.
Printing and copying:
All your learning materials are available on Canvas, our virtual learning environment. Each student is given a small printing credit allocation each year, which you can top up online when it runs out. When you are on clinical placement you will be given additional credits to cover printing of therapy resources for your client.
Disclosure and Barring Service checks (DBS):
Your course will involve a high level of unsupervised contact with children or vulnerable adults. You need to undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly Criminal Records Bureau) check as part of the admissions process. The School will pay for the cost of obtaining this check.
Clinical placement:
All placements are in the north east of England, with the occasional placement in Cumbria. Travel and accommodation expenses, when required, are met by students. If you are in receipt of the NHS Learning Support Fund these costs can be reimbursed. You are expected to provide your own smart clothing for clinical placements. A dress code is enforced but you will be given information about this in advance. A small number of external placements require the wearing of a uniform which will be provided on loan from the School.
Fine Art
We provide a list of materials you’ll need for the beginning of your BA in Fine Art degree. You can pre-order these from our Fine Art shop and collect them when you arrive. All first year students receive the first £70 of materials for free.
When budgeting for each year of your programme you should allow for materials costs, particularly if you choose expensive materials or projects. In Stages 2, 3 and 4, students receive a materials budget of £120 which can be spent in our Fine Art shop. The shop stocks consumable materials for individual practice such as paint, paper, wood, clay plaster, printing ink etc.
The department loans tools and equipment free of charge from the workshops but students who intend to specialise may wish to provide their own.
Field trips and fieldwork
The University seeks to minimise the additional costs incurred by students undertaking compulsory programmes of fieldwork, field trips or visits.
All compulsory visits, field trips and fieldwork on compulsory modules or compulsory field trips or fieldwork which has to be taken in a given year will receive some financial support from the University.
All visits, field trips and fieldwork in the UK that entail no more than one night away, will be met in full by the University.
Compulsory trips and fieldwork in the UK extending beyond one night away will be supported by the university at the equivalent of £55 per night up to a maximum of £385 per student per field trip.
Compulsory overseas trips and fieldwork will be supported by the University at the equivalent of £100 per night up to a maximum of £700 per student per field trip.
The cost of any optional visits and field trips or fieldwork will normally be paid by students.
To find out whether you can expect to attend field trips or take part in fieldwork as part of your course please see the module list for your course via our A-Z list of degrees. This list covers the modules that we now offer at the University and may vary for your year of study.
Contact the academic school delivering your course for an estimate of the field trip and fieldwork costs involved.
Outdoor and protective clothing
There are two categories of clothing that you may need for your course:
- clothing that we would normally expect you to own such as wellington boots and warm clothing – we expect you to supply these items
- protective clothing such as laboratory coats, safety boots or goggles
If protective clothing is compulsory for your course, your school will provide these free of charge.
Pre-entry interviews
If you're attending a pre-entry interview for one of the following courses at Newcastle University you could be entitled to receive expenses up to a maximum of £50 for your travel costs:
- Contemporary and Popular Music BA Honours (W301)
- Dental Surgery (A206)
- Dietetics MDiet (B401)
- Fine Art (W150)
- Folk and Traditional Music (W344)
- Medicine and Surgery (A100)
- Medicine and Surgery (Accelerated Programme) (A101)
- Music BA Honours (W300)
- Music BMus Honours (W304)
- Dental Therapy BSc Honours (A207)
To claim travel expenses, you must also meet one of the following:
- have been accepted onto the University’s PARTNERS Programme Supported Entry route
- have entered the University through the Realising Opportunities Programme
- have experienced local authority care for a period of longer than three months
- live in an area of the UK from which very few students progress to higher education (officially defined as a Low Participation Neighbourhood). To check your postcode, email us on visit.bursary@ncl.ac.uk
- download and complete this form