Admissions
Fees & funding
学费与资助
Fees
Enquire for fees
Fees depend on the programme, the study mode, the intake and what is included — supervised clinical practice, materials, assessment and any additional costs that vary between pathways. A single figure published for everybody would be misleading for most people, and impossible to explain properly.
So we do it the other way round. Ask us about the programme you are considering and we will send you a written fee schedule: the tuition fee, the registration fee, the deposit, what each of them covers, when they are due, and the instalment options available. You do not need to have applied, and there is no charge for asking.
If you are comparing colleges, ask all of them the same question: what does the fee include, and what will I have to pay for separately? The answer matters more than the headline number.
No fee figures are published here — deliberately
There are no prices on this website. That is a decision, not an omission: fees are confirmed on application and published on request, so that every applicant receives figures that apply to them, in writing, with an explanation attached. If you are ever unsure whether a figure is current, ask us and we will confirm it in writing.
1. Ask
Email or telephone admissions, or use the form at the bottom of this page. Tell us which programme and whether you are considering on-campus, blended or online study.
2. Receive a written schedule
We send the tuition fee, registration fee and deposit for your programme, what each covers, and the instalment options — in writing, so you can compare it with anything else you are considering.
3. Apply with the figures in hand
Nothing is payable until you accept an offer. If you need sponsor invoicing or a payment plan, tell us and we will set it out before you commit.
What you are paying for
What tuition fees cover
Included in the tuition fee
- Teaching and tutorial time, in person and online, across the whole programme.
- Supervised clinical practice: supervision, clinic time and clinical teaching for programmes that include patient contact.
- Assessment, marking, moderation, feedback and the external examiner arrangements.
- Learning materials — handouts, course notes, reading lists and teaching resources.
- Recorded lectures and access to the lecture archive, so that a missed session can be caught up.
- Library and reference access, including the college's herb and text collections.
- Core consumables used in teaching: needles, herbs, dispensing materials and equipment for practical classes.
- Induction, health and safety training, and pre-course materials, including sharps handling and infection prevention.
- Student record, portal access and academic administration while you are enrolled.
Not included in the tuition fee
- Travel to and from campus, and accommodation during teaching blocks or clinical placements.
- Personal equipment: clinic tunic, your own supply of needles for practice outside class, and textbooks you choose to buy.
- The enhanced DBS check required before supervised clinical work. The cost is confirmed on enquiry.
- Professional indemnity insurance, which practitioners must hold before treating anyone.
- Membership of a professional body or a voluntary register, and any registration fees those bodies charge.
- Optional short courses, CPD days, conferences and additional specialist training — these are quoted separately.
- Replacement certificates, transcripts and duplicate documents.
- Any costs associated with studying abroad, visas, or overseas criminal record certificates for applicants from outside the UK.
Ask us for these costs rather than budgeting from assumption — we will tell you what you will actually need to pay for, and what you can borrow, hire or buy later. Nothing on this page is a fee figure, and nothing on it is a quotation.
Clinical costs
Supervised clinical practice is included in the tuition fee for the programmes that include it. Optional clinical short courses, external clinical observation placements arranged at your request, and elective training beyond the programme are quoted separately. See the programme pages for what each programme includes.
Fees are reviewed annually
Tuition fees are reviewed each year. The fee that applies to you is the one set out in your offer letter and confirmed when you accept your place; if you defer, the fee in force at the point you actually start applies. This is stated in writing with every offer so there is no ambiguity later.
Paying
Deposit, registration fee and instalments
Registration fee
Payable when you accept a place. It covers the administration of your application, enrolment, your student record and the pre-course checks. It is separate from tuition, and the amount is confirmed on enquiry: [AMOUNT]. Whether it is refundable, and in what circumstances, is stated in the fee schedule and the fees policy.
Deposit
A deposit secures your place on the programme and is due by the acceptance deadline in your offer letter. The amount is confirmed on enquiry: [AMOUNT]. Whether the deposit is offset against your tuition, and how it is treated if you withdraw or defer, is confirmed in writing in your offer — ask us before you pay if it matters to your decision.
Instalments
Tuition can normally be paid in instalments rather than in a single sum — monthly by standing order, or termly, depending on the programme and its length. The number and timing of instalments is [NUMBER AND DATES OF INSTALMENTS], confirmed when you enquire. Whether any charge applies to an instalment plan is set out in writing with your fee schedule.
How payment works in practice
- Nothing is payable until you have an offer and accept it. Enquiries, open days, applications and interviews are all free.
- Your offer letter sets out the total fee, the deposit, the registration fee, the instalment dates and the deadline to accept.
- Instalment plans are agreed in writing before teaching begins, so that no one is surprised by a payment date.
- If your employer is paying, we invoice the employer directly against a purchase order or a letter confirming sponsorship. You remain responsible for the fee if the employer does not pay.
- If your circumstances change — redundancy, illness, caring responsibilities — talk to the college office early. It is far easier to agree a revised plan before a payment is missed.
- Students with unpaid fees may be unable to enrol for the following term or enter the teaching clinic, in line with the fees policy. See the student policies for the full position.
Questions about an invoice?
Fees, invoices, instalment plans and sponsor arrangements are handled by the college office.
Refunds
Withdrawal and refunds
Before teaching begins
You may withdraw within [XX] days of accepting your place, and tuition paid is refunded in line with the fee schedule. Whether the deposit and registration fee are refundable in that period is stated in your offer letter and in the fees policy.
After teaching begins
Liability depends on how far into the programme you are. The refund schedule — how much of the fee remains payable at each point in the year — is published in the fees policy and repeated in your offer letter, so that it is never a surprise.
If the college cancels or withdraws a programme
Tuition paid is refunded in full, and we will help you transfer to another programme or provider where that is possible.
Withdrawal for health or caring reasons
Considered individually, with evidence, and with a deferral offered where that is a better outcome than withdrawal. Speak to the college office before you stop attending — the options narrow once a term has been missed.
How to withdraw
In writing to admissions@scmat.org.uk. Notice given verbally, or simply by not attending, is not treated as withdrawal, and fees continue to fall due until written notice is received.
Funding
How students fund their study
Employer sponsorship
Employers fund study for several reasons: to extend a clinical team’s scope of practice, to develop a wellbeing or occupational health function, or to retain a valued member of staff. We invoice the employer directly against a purchase order or a letter confirming sponsorship, and provide the documentation finance departments usually ask for.
Ask us for a sponsor’s pack — a one-page summary of the programme, the fee schedule in writing, the attendance pattern and what the employer is committing to — that you can take to your manager or training budget holder.
Request a sponsor’s packSelf-funding
Most of our students pay their own fees, usually in instalments spread across the programme rather than in a single payment. Instalment plans are agreed in writing before teaching begins, and the college will discuss a revised plan if your circumstances change mid-programme.
If you are comparing the cost of training with the income you expect from practice, ask us — we would rather give you a realistic picture, including how long it typically takes graduates to build a practice, than let you budget from optimism.
Ask about instalmentsPublic funding and student loans
Most students self-fund or are sponsored by an employer. Students on these programmes are generally not eligible for UK student loans for this type of provision, and eligibility for any public funding depends on the programme and your circumstances.
Please ask us rather than assume, in either direction. Tell us the programme and your situation and we will confirm in writing whether any particular funding route applies to you. If it does not, we will say so plainly and explain the alternatives.
Ask about fundingBursaries and scholarships
The college intends to offer a small number of bursaries, and the details are being confirmed: [BURSARY NAME], worth [AMOUNT], with [XX] awards each year and an application deadline of [DATE]. There is also a hardship fund for students whose circumstances change mid-programme: [HARDSHIP FUND DETAILS]. We will publish both in full once they are agreed, and we will not advertise an award that does not exist.
Membership is separate from programme fees
Membership of the college is optional and separate from tuition fees. It is not required in order to study. Members receive priority booking for events, reduced rates on short courses and CPD days, dispensary access and the lecture archive — useful mainly to graduates and practising practitioners. See membership for what each tier includes.
Money should not be the reason you do not ask
If the cost is the obstacle, say so at the start. We can explain the instalment options, tell you what can be deferred or bought later, and give you a realistic view of what training costs in total — including the costs that are not tuition. What we cannot do is invent a discount, so we will never pretend otherwise.
Compare
What each programme's fee includes
| Programme | Level | Study mode | What the fee includes | Fees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acupuncture & Meridians针灸学 | Diploma |
| Tuition, supervised clinical practice and supervision, assessment, learning materials, recorded lectures and library access | Enquire — published on request |
| Chinese Herbal Medicine & Materia Medica中药学 | Diploma |
| Tuition, supervised clinical practice and supervision, assessment, learning materials, recorded lectures and library access | Enquire — published on request |
| Tui Na — Chinese Therapeutic Massage推拿学 | Certificate |
| Tuition, supervised clinical practice and supervision, assessment, learning materials, recorded lectures and library access | Enquire — published on request |
| Chinese Diet & Lifestyle Therapy中医养生学 | Certificate |
| Tuition, assessment, learning materials, recorded lectures and library access | Enquire — published on request |
| Chinese Health Literacy中医健康素养 | Foundation |
| Tuition, assessment, learning materials, recorded lectures and library access | Enquire — published on request |
Programmes with a supervised teaching clinic include supervision and clinic time in the tuition fee. Short courses and CPD days are quoted individually — see short courses & CPD — and corporate training is quoted per organisation: see consulting & advisory.
Request
How to get a fee schedule
- Say which programme and which study mode you are considering — on campus, blended or online.
- Tell us the intake you have in mind, so the schedule is accurate for that year.
- Mention if an employer is likely to pay, and we will include the sponsor information.
- Ask about anything that is unclear: what is included, what is not, what is refundable, and what you would need to budget for separately.
You do not need to have applied, and asking commits you to nothing. If you would rather read about the programmes first, start with the programme pages and how to apply.
Ask for the figures in writing
Fees are confirmed on application and published on request. Tell us which programme you are considering, and we will send the fee schedule, the deposit and the instalment options — with no obligation to apply.