General Council Fee

[Lilith]

Ok, so I was just about to apply to graduate and know I find out I have to pay a General Council Fee of £50. I really can't afford this to be honest. Is there anyway I can get round this?

From all I can gather anyway, all you get is a crappy newsletter every year and the right to get married in either of the university chapels; I care for neither.

As soon as I fill out the form it takes me straight to the payment page, which I can't just ignore as I need to pay for garden party tickets this way too.

Help please?

[Al]

There's no way 'round it. You have to pay the fee.

[Jono]

There's no way around it unless you choose not to graduate. Membership of the General Council, oddly enough, is a statutory requirement. I thought it was a bit cheeky charging this extra hidden fee at the time, but given the choice, I decided that I'd rather graduate!

[Lilith]

So I just tried to pay it and an unexpected error occurred. Great! St Andrews uni at it's best once again.

[steelegbr]

Even better, having just paid this fee for the general council, no doubt the university will be asking us for donations in about a year's time. Always after your money this lot.

As for the general council fee itself - yes, incredibly cheeky. It seems to be of no real benefit to yourself.

[Al]

Yeah! Damn university sneakily making you pay a fee before you can graduate. It's outrageous. The university could at least have told you that you would need to pay. Oh wait. They did.

[donpablo]

I don't remember being told upfront about any of these fees but if I was then I no doubt just accepted it and forgot about them because they do seem quite fair enough. Your best option is to speak to student support and plead poverty. You might get a hardship payment to cover it.

[David Bean]

It should be in the prospectus, and the matriculation documents. The newsletter is pretty good, and the General Council meetings, which are held at cities across the country, can be very informative.

If you're having problems making the payment I'd recommend giving the Registry a call, or perhaps trying a different browser first.