Students on King’s College London’s (KCL) remote and part-time Digital Economies MSc course told Roar they faced “unclear” course teaching and marking, launching a formal complaint about the University’s “unfair” course fees.
Course fees set to reduce by 29% for incoming students
Students on the Digital Economies MSc told Roar they felt “cheated” when they discovered that fees for the next cohort of students, beginning their studies in September 2025, had reduced from a total of £23,260 to £16,417 – a change which will not be extended to returning students.
The students were not told officially and only happened to “stumble across” the change when one student considered deferring for a year due to issues with course grading.
In May, the students launched a formal complaint to KCL, raising issues surrounding the fee change, as well as asking for clarity on academic grading. The students sought clarification from King’s on the fee change and whether any reassessment for their tuition fees would occur.
One student on the course told Roar:
“A small change of 3-5% would be understandable, but the scale of the reduction is harder to accept without any clear explanation of the reasoning behind it.”
In July, King’s formally responded to the complaint and emphasised that the change in tuition fees was permissible under the University’s terms and conditions.
KCL also told students this was influenced “heavily by the external market”. More Universities have begun offering similar online courses, meaning that King’s may look to the fee reduction as a competitive advantage.
A KCL spokesperson told Roar: “In relation to Masters course fees, all of our Masters fees are reviewed annually in line with external market standards.”
King’s also noted that the current students will not face a 6% inflation tuition fee rise, unlike most courses, which occur annually.
Within King’s reply, they offered support to existing students in the form of a ‘graduation package’ including gown hire, three guest tickets and basic photography.
“We complained and were offered a “graduation package” as compensation – essentially free gown hire and photos. I enquired about deferring for a year and rejoining in September 2026, but they confirmed I would still be paying my original fee rate.” – MSc Digital Economies Student
“The difference of having to pay an extra seven grand is so much to me, and it’s just a slap in the face that we’ll be doing and studying this course now with the next cohort at the same time, with the same materials, but I’ll be paying seven grand more for no reason.”
Across King’s online Master’s courses, only one other course, Digital Futures MSc, has had its fees reduced, whereas all other Master’s courses have increased in cost, following the rate of inflation. However, the most dramatic change does come from the 29% cut to the Digital Economies tuition fee.
Wider Course Issues
Students on the course told Roar that the issues did not just begin at the fee change, with their formal complaint to KCL containing issues surrounding academic support, consistency and feedback.
Roar was informed that the part-time course teaching was inconsistent, with assessments increasing at an unmanageable rate and drastic changes in marking. Students told Roar this made the course unsustainable alongside a full-time or part-time job as the course is marketed as a part-time course.
“The marks didn’t seem to reflect the level of forum and webinar participation, and I can’t recall receiving any meaningful feedback that would prompt us to stop, rethink, and adjust our approach.”
One student spoke to us about their coursework:
“We have no information on it. And I asked the course director, can we get some instruction? And they told us: we’re still putting together this, we still don’t really know. So it’s the little things that are frustrating.”
Within the students’ complaint to KCL, they requested clarification on any academic review or flexibility that could be given on their marking in addition to more support and feedback to prevent drastic changes in grades.
“So one person dropped out because they couldn’t deal with it. But the semester before, we all went from averaging 70s and then the second module, we got our grades, and some people didn’t even pass and they said that they weren’t going to change it.”
There are seven students currently enrolled on the course, with one deferring their studies for a year due to both issues raised.
A King’s College London spokesperson said:
“Supporting our students throughout their studies is a key priority and we value student feedback to help us make improvements in this area. This has guided our targeted and joined-up approach to strengthening academic support and assessment feedback, and we’re encouraged to see this reflected positively in this year’s Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) and National Student Survey (NSS) results. We know there is more to do and we’re confident that projects already underway, as well as King’s 2030 strategy will help drive further progress to deliver exceptional student experience.”
Grace Holloway is Roar's editor-in-chief managing the editorial side of our operation as well. She has gained valuable experience from Bloomberg as well as writing for Breaking Media, the Non-League Paper and Politics UK.
