How Jisc membership works

Your core Jisc membership subscription supports the nationally shared digital services that UK education and research rely on every day.

How your charge is calculated

Further education

For general FE and sixth form colleges in England, including academies that were formerly sixth form colleges, your membership subscription fee is linked to the level of core funding you receive from the Education and Skills Funding Agency for:

  • 16 to 19-year-old learners
  • 19 to 24-year-old trainees

If you are a college in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, your Jisc membership is funded by our funders, so you do not pay a subscription fee.

Higher education

Your institution’s contribution is calculated using a UK-wide, sector-agreed model that reflects differences in institutional size and activity across higher education.

The model is based on:

  • Institutional income (80%)
  • Research income (10%)
  • Student full-time equivalent numbers (10%)

These factors are weighted against sector totals to calculate each institution’s share of the overall contribution.

The same model applies consistently across the UK.

How we are funded

We are funded through a combination of public funding, member subscriptions and commercial activity. Any surplus generated from our commercial activity is reinvested to support our charitable objectives, reflecting our role as a trusted national organisation serving education and research.

Find out more about how we are funded

Invoicing and payment

Each year, before Easter, we contact your finance director and other relevant colleagues to confirm the core invoices your organisation will receive in the next academic year, to support your annual budgeting process.This includes:

  • Your core Jisc membership subscription
  • Your HESA subscription
  • The renewal charges for existing non-fully funded Janet Network connections

Invoices are issued in August, in line with the start of the financial year.

Tender and procurement requirements

Your core Jisc membership subscription is unique. As the UK’s sole National Research and Education Network (NREN), so you do not need to run a tender to meet procurement regulations.If your subscription cost exceeds the relevant procurement threshold and you want to demonstrate compliance, we recommend publishing a procurement transparency notice (UK5).

Other charges you may see

HESA subscription

Where your funder or regulator requires you to submit data to HESA, part of Jisc, you will receive an annual invoice for the statutory fees associated with the collection, quality assurance and dissemination of your data. Find out more about HESA annual subscription costs and how they are calculated. If you have any questions about your HESA subscription, please contact liaison@hesa.ac.uk.

Non-fully funded Janet connections

Non-fully funded Janet Network connections are invoiced separately from your core Jisc membership subscription.Charges follow published price increases from our connectivity providers. They do not include new circuits not yet live, or contracts agreed or changed after the end of February.

If you have any questions about your membership subscription, please contact membership@jisc.ac.uk or contact your relationship manager.