Steward's Office Information for Graduates (fees and charges)

Fee invoices will be emailed to your personal email address by Friday 9 September 2022 and payment is due, in full, by Friday 23 September 2022, unless you have previously sent the College your Student Finance loan approval letter (PGCE and 2nd BM students only). Students holding postgraduate loans should send the confirmation letter in order that payment by instalments can be arranged.

Postgraduate students who have reached the end of their standard period of fee liability are required to pay a termly College continuation charge, and may also be required to pay a termly University continuation charge. For the Academic year 2022-23, this will be £137 per term.

If you have any queries regarding the payment and invoicing of course fees please contact the Steward’s office: fees@chch.ox.ac.uk

The Consolidated Fees for graduate students consist of:

1. University fees, covering the use of University academic facilities; and

2. College fees, contributing to tuition and supervision, and the provision of social and sporting facilities.

For those taking a postgraduate course, the University Fee may be paid by other award granting bodies and the relevant, written, confirmation must be supplied to the Steward’s Office at Christ Church.

Please note that fees are not payable by direct debit.  If an international bank or the bank used by the college imposes bank charges these are all payable by the Junior Member and payment in full must be received to clear outstanding balances, including any bank charges.

Initial payment for the first term's accommodation: for graduate students living in College

The accommodation rental charge for College rooms is payable termly in advance. This means that, if you are living in college, on first coming into residence in College, you will receive an initial bill (known as a ‘battels’ bill) for the full term plus any extra days if you arrive early. The Steward’s Office will ask for your bank details in advance and your bank account will be charged with the full outstanding battels balance on the Friday of Second Week of term. 

Students who currently live overseas may experience a delay in establishing a UK bank account. In that event, the Steward’s Office may ask you to pay your battels with a credit card. Please note that we do not accept American Express. No one living out of College will be asked for this payment, though they will be liable for an annual Establishment Overhead Charge of £168.05 towards the basic establishment costs of communal catering facilities.

Students’ charges are paid by the direct debit method and the direct debit form found on the 'Before you Arrive' page must be completed and a hard copy posted to The Steward’s Office, Christ Church, OX1 1DP, as soon as possible. Please note that direct debits can only be collected from a UK bank account.

Charges are billed, and collected by direct debit from the nominated UK bank account, generally four times a year, as detailed below (with the exception of your final term).

Invoice 1

Charges: ‘Lodging’ for weeks 1 to 8 of Michaelmas term, including pre-term early arrival period, and annual block insurance premium.  If you opt for a continuous discounted contract through the Accomodation Office you will also be invoiced for the Christmas vacation.

Invoice will be emailed to your Christ Church email address by Friday of 0th week of Michaelmas term

Collected from bank account on Friday of 2nd week of Michaelmas term: 21.10.2022

Invoice 2

Charges: ‘Lodging’ for weeks 1 to 8 of Hilary term plus additional charges incurred during Michaelmas term, to 31 December, (utility charges, pre & post term board and lodging, GCR levies etc.).  If you opt for the discounted continuous contract through the Accommodation Office you will also be invoiced for the Easter vacation.

Invoice will be emailed to your Christ Church email address by Friday of 0th week of Hilary term.

Collected from bank account on Friday of 2nd week of Hilary term: 27.01.2023

Invoice 3

Charges: ‘Lodging’ for weeks 1 to 8 of Trinity term plus additional your charges incurred during Hilary term, to 31 March, as above.  If you opt for the discounted continuous contract through the Academic Office you will also be invoiced for the remainder of contract period if past 8th week.

Invoice will be emailed to your Christ Church email address by Friday of 0th week of Trinity term.

Collected from bank account on Friday of 2nd week of Trinity term: 05.05.2023

Invoice 4

Additional charges incurred during Trinity term, to 31 July, as above.

Invoice will be emailed to your Christ Church email address in August.

Collected from bank account: 21.08. 2023

If you have any queries regarding the above, please contact the Steward’s Office: battels@chch.ox.ac.uk

The standard daily charge for accommodation rent (Lodging Charge) is £32.81 per night, which includes utility charges.  

Extended rental charges

Graduates have the option to subscribe to 40-week contracts at a reduced rate.

A 9% discounted rate ‘Lodging Charge’ of £29.85 per night is available to graduates who are residents of the Liddell Building or St Aldate’s Quad who elect, before the end of 1st Week of Michaelmas Term, to reside for a minimum 40-week (280 day) period, which normally runs from 1 September.

A 12% discounted rate ‘Lodging Charge’ of £28.86 per night is available to graduates who are residents of 12 Abbey Road who elect, before the end of 1st Week of Michaelmas Term, to reside for a minimum 40-week (280 day) period, which normally runs from 1 September.

A 15% discounted rate ‘Lodging Charge’ of £27.88 per night is available to graduates who are residents of the Liddell Building or St Aldate’s Quad who elect, before the end of 1st Week of Michaelmas Term, to reside for a minimum 10-month period, which normally runs from 1 September.

Graduates living in Treasury accommodation in the Botley area will have different charges which will be indicated on your tenancy agreement.

All deposits will be refunded once students have completed their studies and all of their battels bills have been settled in full. If you suspend your studies, refunds will not be made until you have completed your course. The battels account for each term is due on presentation and must be paid by direct debit – credit card payments are not acceptable. Where members domiciled overseas experience a delay in establishing a UK bank account, current credit/debit card details must provided to the Steward’s Office without delay.

The payment of breakfast, lunch and brunch, which is served in Hall, is made via prepaid credits direct to your University card.

You must ensure that you ‘top up’ your University card before you attend Hall for the above services and bring it with you every time you attend. (You will not have this card for the Sunday dinner or Monday breakfast when you arrive at the start of freshers’ week. You will be given it at registration on Monday.)

It is essential that you notify the Steward’s Office of any change to your University card number as prepaid credit is recorded to the number held within the finance system. Failure to do so will result in your card being invalid. If you lose your card, you must contact the Academic Office.

Any unused credit at the end of Trinity term will automatically be refunded to your battels account.

The procedure is as detailed below:

• Go to web page https://topup.chch.ox.ac.uk and log in using your University card number.
• Your password, in the first instance, is the last four digits of your University card number.  You will be able to change your password after you have logged in for the first time, if you wish.
• Click on Top-Up Card icon and choose your card type from the drop down menu i.e. visa, mastercard etc.  If you’re paying by credit card a transaction charge of 1.58% will apply and be added to the total value.
• Enter the value – there is a minimum top-up value of £20.00.
• Select continue and this will transfer you to the secure hosting site.
• Complete all sections of the Secure Payment Form that are highlighted with a red * (please note:  the CV2 field is where you would enter the 3-digit security reference displayed on the back of the card) and click ‘complete payment’.

You will receive a transaction complete message confirming the total amount that you will be charged and a transaction reference number and an email to confirm.

The site will allow you to view your transactions, both top up values and purchases, by entering the relevant dates that you wish to search on.

If you experience any difficulties with the above process please contact: battels@chch.ox.ac.uk

All graduates will be required to pay a £300 refundable deposit upon arrival with their first battels bill. This refundable deposit will be held until after the student has completed their studies and all battels bills have been settled in full. Refunds are made during the following Michaelmas Term. Refunds will not be made to those who have suspended.

In accordance with its constitution, the GCR has agreed that there will be an annual levy charge by the GCR of £23.00, This will cover tea, coffee, GCR fob, punt levy and a contribution to the Staff Appreciation picnic. This will be charged to battels in the Michaelmas term and is on-refundable.

Apart from accommodation charges and fees, your termly battels bill will include charges for any expenditure you make in the GCR and Buttery; and any other miscellaneous costs you incur.

In addition, you should make allowance for payments for books, clothes, entertainment, travelling expenses, and expenditure in vacation. You are advised to budget carefully in advance, and to check your expenditure regularly. Recent experience suggests that students need to take great care to manage on their income and freshers can soon find themselves in financial difficulty if they are not economical. Please refer to the University's guidance on living costs: https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/fees-funding/living-costs

NB:  All charges detailed above are subject to an annual inflationary increase

All freshers in college accommodation will need to sign the licence agreement; this is done online and you will receive instructions on how to do this.