Tuition fees play a key role in supporting your education, but they also contribute to many other parts of university life. From running our academic departments and engaging teaching staff, to providing support, and maintaining our campuses and cutting-edge facilities, tuition fees are essential to supporting the delivery of our world-class education and TEF Gold-rated student experience.
Here’s how your fees help make the University work for you.
Teaching and academic support
A significant portion of your fees goes toward teaching. This covers the salaries of lecturers and tutors, as well as the systems and support needed for your learning—such as assessments, feedback, academic advice, and access to digital tools like the virtual learning environment.
It also provides you with access to the University’s libraries, study spaces, and the staff who support your academic development.
Facilities and campus resources
Your fees help keep the University’s facilities running smoothly. This includes maintaining lecture theatres, labs, libraries, and accommodation, as well as keeping essential services like Wi-Fi, IT support, and learning platforms up-to-date, safe and accessible.
The spaces where you learn and study all rely on ongoing investment.
Student Support Services
Beyond the classroom, your fees help to fund a wide range of support services. These include careers advice, mental health and wellbeing services, counselling, and specialist support for students with disabilities or additional needs.
These services are designed to support your personal and academic journey, helping you stay on track and well during your time at university.
Research and Innovation
Whilst tuition fees do not directly fund our research (which comes instead from research grants and contracts), as a research intensive institution at the heart of the world-renowned Russell Group, our students benefit from being part of a vibrant research environment – not only taught by leaders in their field of study, but with privileged access to cutting-edge equipment, new technology, state-of-the-art labs and other teaching spaces, and postgraduate opportunities.
This work not only drives innovation and discovery but also enhances the quality of teaching you receive by connecting it to the latest knowledge.
Investing in the campus environment
Your fees also contribute to both short and long-term campus development. This includes building improvements, new teaching spaces, sustainable energy projects, and more social and collaborative spaces for students.
The goal is to ensure the University continues to be a safe, inclusive, and inspiring place to study and socialise.
Behind the scenes: operations and administration
Running a large university requires a lot of behind-the-scenes work. Your fees support essential teams and systems that manage finances, student records, compliance, planning, and more.
These operational functions ensure that your courses run smoothly, your records are accurate, and the University continues to meet national standards.
Further information on University finances
Carefully planning and managing finances is something that all universities do.
In 2023/24, the University had a total income of £705 million, with £367 million coming from tuition fees. These fees are a vital part of what allows the University to offer high-quality education, support services, and facilities—alongside public funding, research grants, and charitable donations.
So while tuition fees do pay for teaching, they also support every part of the student experience—helping you make the most of your time here.
Read in more detail about the most recent year’s financial records in our understanding University finances article here.