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Fees and Funding

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Our student body is diverse and our students’ personal and financial circumstances vary widely.

With this in mind, we have a policy of billing tuition fee payments on a module-by-module basis or a termly basis so our students can spread the cost of their studies to coincide with Student Finance payments. Students can also pay upfront if they wish. Tuition fees are paid directly to CAT rather than to our validating partners.

All the information on this page is true for students starting their studies from September 2024. This page will continue to be updated with details on funding opportunities for new students as the year progresses.

Please click into each tab below to see tuition fees and to download the Fees Terms and Conditions for our courses starting in 2024. For continuing students who started studying prior to this date please see our current students page.

Fees

MSc Tuition Fees
Home Students Overseas Students
Full MSc (180 credits) £9,350 £12,000
Postgraduate Diploma (120 credits) £7,080 £8,800
Postgraduate Certificate (60 credits) £3,540 £4,400

Note:

Course fees can be paid on a module-by-module basis or on a termly basis coinciding with Student Finance payments. More details can be found in the MSc and MRes Fees Terms and Conditions.

Enrolment Deposit – Prior to the commencement of the course, a £50 non-refundable deposit must also be paid alongside the completion of the pre-enrolment form.

Sustainability in Energy Provision and Demand Management – Students on this course should budget a further estimated £300 for the purchase of data-collecting equipment, some of which will be needed during the first core module. Further information about this will be distributed to Sustainability in Energy Provision and Demand Management applicants closer to enrolment.

MRes Tuition Fees
Home Students Overseas Students*
MRes (180 credits) £9,350 £12,000

Note:

Course fees can be paid on a module by module basis or on a termly basis coinciding with Student Finance payments. More details can be found in the MSc and MRes Fees Terms and Conditions.

Enrolment Deposit – Prior to the commencement of the course, a £50 non-refundable deposit must also be paid alongside the completion of the pre-enrolment form.

MArch Tuition Fees

Tuition cost overall for the full MArch Sustainable Architecture Part 2 course*: £14,500

Year 4 (First Year of full time study at CAT) Year 5 (Second Year of full time study at CAT)
£7,250 £7,250

Details on payment schedules and for those wishing to study part-time can be found in the MArch Fees Terms and Conditions.

*Please note attendance on-site is required for our MArch in Sustainable Architecture. As we do not have a Student Sponsor license we are usually unable to accept international students to study on the course, although there are some exceptions to this.

Note:

Enrolment Deposit – Prior to the commencement of the course, a £50 non-refundable deposit must also be paid alongside the completion of the pre-enrolment form.

Masters in Sustainable Architecture Study Visit – Students should also budget an estimated £300 for participation in the study visit (costs vary depending on booking choice for accommodation, meals and transport).

Additional Fees: Accommodation and Food at CAT

If you choose to attend your modules on-site, we can provide accommodation and meals at CAT so you can make the most of our immersive learning environment. We have two on-site accommodation options available to students, please see the costs for students from September 2024 below.

Students staying in CAT’s bunkhouse-style shared accommodation or staying locally can also pre-book onsite vegetarian or vegan catering (including breakfast, lunch, and evening meals) for either £25 per day, or choose a lunch-only option for £40 over 5 days.

Any students who wish to arrive the night before teaching starts can normally be accommodated and offered B&B accommodation at CAT.

MSc and MRes module weeks

Accommodation for MSc and MRes students during residential study weeks is typically five days / four nights.

  Per (4-night) module week attendance
Standard shared accommodation in WISE building including breakfast, lunch, and evening meal

 

£230
Bunkhouse-style shared self-catering accommodation £100

MArch module weeks

Accommodation for MArch students during residential study weeks is typically six days / five nights.

  Per (5-night) module week attendance
Standard shared accommodation in WISE building including breakfast, lunch, and evening meal

 

£308
Bunkhouse-style shared self-catering accommodation £125

Accommodation offer from September 2023 – September 2025

To encourage students to join on-site teaching activities CAT is currently offering a free 4th week of accommodation for students who have already booked and stayed with us for 3 on-site teaching weeks. See our Accommodation Policy for more details.

Fees Terms and Conditions

These documents are for students starting their courses in 2024. For students that started studying prior to this date please see our current students page for Fees Terms and Conditions for continuing students.

Wales Institute for Environmental Education (WISE) building

Funding

Find out what funding options are available to help you study at CAT and allow you to explore sustainability and gain the skills, knowledge and inspiration to help make a difference. From CAT bursaries, scholarships for widening participation to funding opportunities like the postgraduate loan there are a range of opportunities available to explore.

Student Finance England & Wales Loans

Eligible students will be able to apply for a student loan to cover tuition fees through Student Finance England and Student Finance Wales. Students living in Wales may also be eligible for a combination of a loan and grant depending on your household income.  

We have now received confirmation of our designation from HEFCW for the academic year 2024-25. This means if you are eligible to apply for funding through Student Finance you will be able to apply for a student loan from Student Finance England and Wales. We received notification of our designation in March but it may take a couple of weeks after this for our courses to appear on the Student Finances database of eligible institutions.

(Updated 22/03/2024)

Postgraduate Loan

MSc & MArch students may be eligible for a Postgraduate Loan to cover both tuition fees and living costs via Student Finance England or Student Finance Wales (Available to students taking a full MSc or MRes only, as the Postgraduate Loan is not available for our Postgraduate Certificate or Postgraduate Diploma courses).

If you decide to study part time, to receive the Postgraduate Loan you must complete the course within double the time of the full-time option – three years.

These loans are currently only available for people who are normally resident in England or in Wales. Unfortunately, Scotland and Northern Ireland have confirmed that they are not currently offering postgraduate loans for courses from alternative providers like CAT.

For more details, please see our Postgraduate Loan Tipsheet.

Professional Undergraduate Loan

MArch Sustainable Architecture students may be eligible to continue their professional undergraduate loan. Students should note that if the tutition fees are above the maximum tuition loan available per year, they will need to fund the difference. Please see our MArch student loans tipsheet for more information. MArch Student Loan Tipsheet

CAT students in a futuring workshop

Bursaries

CAT’s Graduate School will offer multiple annual bursaries in 2024 to new postgraduate students thanks to donations and support from charitable trusts, CAT members and supporters. Past bursaries have enabled students who were otherwise unable to afford to study at CAT on a postgraduate course the support to pay their tuition costs. Bursary applications for students starting in September 2024 are now open.

Quarry at CAT

The Llwyngwern Bursary

The Llwyngwern Bursary, named after the transformed slate quarry CAT calls home, is given to two postgraduate students annually from our Sustainability and Adaptation course and our Sustainability in Energy Provision and Demand Management course.

Applications for the bursary will close on 31 May 2024.

sunflower

The Rose Jessica-Maia Bursary

Set up in 2020 in memory of Rose Jessica-Maia, this bursary is offered to new CAT students, starting on one of our courses validated by Liverpool John Moores University, who have experienced or are experiencing mental health difficulties. The bursary was launched on the 12 December 2020 what would have been Rose’s 21st birthday.

Applications for the bursary will close on 31 May 2024.

CAT students in a futuring workshop

The Sir John Houghton Bursary

Thanks to a generous donation from Sir John Houghton, CAT is able to offer an annual bursary of £4,500 to a promising new postgraduate student who demonstrates that they have an excellent academic record and a passion for tackling climate change.

Applications for the bursary will close on 31 May 2024.

Panoramic view looking down on CAT

The Ethel and Gwynne Morgan Trust Bursary

Thanks to a generous donation from The Ethel and Gwynne Morgan Trust, we are able to offer a bursary worth £4,500 to new students beginning on one of CAT's postgraduate courses in September 2023. This bursary is aimed at those who wish to apply the knowledge and skills they learn in a practical way to combat the climate and biodiversity crisis in Wales.

Applications for the bursary will close on 31 May 2024.

Widening Participation Bursary

CAT’s Graduate School of the Environment is pleased to offer 10 Widening Participation Bursaries to support Home students accepted onto our 2024 entry Masters courses with their tuition costs. The bursaries, which are worth £1,000 each, are open to those who may otherwise be unable to afford to study at CAT on a postgraduate course, and who meet our widening participation criteria.

Applications for the bursary will close on 31 May 2024.

Other funding opportunities

CAT students may also be eligible to apply for external sources of funding. Explore the links below for further funding opportunities open to postgraduate students:

Disabled Students’ Allowance

Disabled Students’ Allowance is extra funding to help higher education students with learning difficulties, health problems or disabilities. The type of support and how much you get depends on your individual needs – not your household income, and can support costs for specialist equipment, non-medical helpers including notetakers or BSL interpreters, travel, or other related study support including printing additional copies of documents for proof-reading.

We encourage applicants to declare additional learning needs and/or disabilities when you apply so that we can send appropriate information about funding, and support can be offered to you at the earliest opportunity.

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