Accepting an offer and enrolling
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Once you have accepted your offer, the final stage to becoming a student at the RCA is enrolment.
We are delighted to be welcoming you to the Royal College of Art. The full process of accepting your offer and other key College information is available on our Information for Offer Holders page.
On this page, you’ll find a short summary of the steps you need to take to accept your offer and everything you need to know about enrolment at the RCA.
Accepting your offer has four key stages: (1) accepting your offer, (2) paying your deposit, (3) applying for a Student Visa, if you are an international student, and (4) enrolling to study.
Step 1: Accepting your offer
If your application is successful, we will send you a formal offer letter of a place to the programme you applied for, or to another programme we believe will help you transition to the programme you applied for.
- Your offer letter will include an offer pack which contains full details about how to accept your offer and what documentation is required from you.
- We will send the letter by email and you will need to accept your offer within five weeks from the date of the letter.
- To accept your place you must also pay a deposit. This amount forms part of the acceptance process and must be made within the same five weeks. Deposits paid count towards payment of your tuition fees for 2024/25.
- This is not applicable to applicants with a fee status of Home who are applying to study MA Architecture Part 2 and who intend to take out a tuition fee loan from Student Finance.
To find out more about accepting your offer, see our Information for offer holders page.
Step 2: Paying your deposit
New students are required to pay a non-refundable deposit in order to secure their place.*
The deposit is offset against your tuition fees for the first year of study. You will be asked to pay the deposit once you accept your place at the RCA.
* This is not applicable to applicants with a fee status of Home who are applying to study MA Architecture Part 2 and who intend to take out a tuition fee loan from Student Finance.
Please see below for deposit amounts to be paid per degree programme and for Home and Overseas/EU students. Your offer letter will state whether you have been assessed as a Home, Overseas or EU student for fees purposes.
Home and Ireland Students Deposit
- MA, MRes, MPhil, MDes, MEd, MFA and PhD: £1,000
- Graduate Diploma: £2,000
Information about how to make your deposit payment will be included in your offer letter.
Overseas and EU Students Deposit
- MA, MRes, MPhil, MDes, MEd, MFA and PhD: £2,000
- Graduate Diploma: £2,000
Information about how to make your deposit payment will be included in your offer letter.
Step 3: Applying for a Student Visa
Most international students need a Student Visa to study in the UK. For details on how to apply for a visa, see the Student Visa page.
Step 4: Enrolling to study
Enrolment begins in August and is the final stage to becoming a student at the RCA.
All enrolments will be completed online and you don't need to attend campus to become fully enrolled.
From 1 August 2024, you will receive an email into your RCA email account advising you on how to complete your enrolment.
The key information and documentation you'll need to provide at this stage will be:
- Proof of identity
- Confirmation of payment of fees, if applicable*
- Confirmation of compliance with visa regulations, if applicable)
- Emergency contact
- Term time address
Once you have met the fee payment conditions of your invoice*, uploaded evidence of your Student Visa (if applicable), and accepted the RCA Terms and Conditions, the Registry Team will check that everything is in order.
If we have everything we need, we will update your enrolment status and confirm to you by email that you have successfully enrolled on your programme.
If we have not received your tuition fee payment, you will not be enrolled or temporarily enrolled until we have received your payment.
* If you are a Home student studying a Master's (Level 7) programme or a PhD and you have an approved UK Postgraduate Loan or Doctoral Loan then you will be able to pay your fees in 3 instalments in line with your Postgraduate/Doctoral Loan payments. This means you can be enrolled (subject to the other enrolment conditions being met) and then pay your first instalment in September.
Home students studying MA Architecture (Part 2) may be eligible to apply for a fee loan to cover their fees. If you have an approved fee loan in place at the point of enrolment which covers your full fees, you will be enrolled and you will not be required to make any fee payments.
Student Status letter
Once you have fully enrolled, we will send a Student Status Letter to your RCA email account.
This is an official document which confirms your enrolment as a student at RCA. It also includes your personal details (full name, date of birth, term time address) as well as your study details (programme of study, level of study, programme start and end date).
Your Student Letter can be used to:
- Apply for council tax exemption
- GP (Doctor) registration
- Open a UK bank account
- For council tax purposes.
To receive your Student Status Letter to your RCA email account, you must:
- Be fully enrolled as an RCA student
- Add your full home address in the student portal
- Add your term-time address to the student portal (this is the address that you will be living at while studying at RCA).
Please find instructions on how to update your address in the video and document below.
If you have completed enrolment you can expect to receive your Student Status Letter within 24 hours, as of 3 August 2024. Please note:
- We are not able to provide proof of your student status before you are fully enrolled with the RCA.
- It will not be possible to issue Student Status Letters before 3 August 2024.
- If you have not completed your full enrolment, or are temporary enrolled, you will not receive your Student Status Letter until you become fully enrolled.
Contact us
Get in touch if you'd like to find out more about studying at the RCA.