Home Student or Overseas Student?

Please note that the information that follows is for guidance only. For an official ruling, please contact the universities or relevant government authority.

Most British universities and colleges of higher or further education in the state sector have two levels of tuition fees depending on the student's residential status. The higher fees are generally referred to as 'overseas fees' as distinct from 'home fees'. Entitlement to home fees status is determined by

1. The length and nature of residence in the UK/EU
2. Nationality
3. In a small number of cases, by immigrant status

The student's fee status for the duration of the course is fixed at the time of admission. The rules regarding what scale of 'home fees' are charged at undergraduate level depends on where the university is located within the United Kingdom and, in the case of British residents, where they are living. The Education Departments for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland set the regulations for their own territories. See links below for information on 'home fees' and loans in the constituent parts of the UK:

• England
• dfes.gov.uk/studentsupport
• Scotland
• student-support-saas.gov.uk
• Wales
• studentfinancewales.co.uk
• Northern Ireland
• studentfinanceni.co.uk

A useful summary chart [PDF] is to be found on the Learning Wales web site.

For a student to be eligible for home fee status, he or she must have been ordinarily resident in the UK or elsewhere in the European Union, EEA (= EU + Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) or Switzerland for the last three years preceding 1st September, 1st January or 1st April closest to the beginning of the first term of their course before the start of the course. Ordinary residence in the UK is defined as settled here without being subject under the immigration laws to any restriction on the period of stay. It specifically excludes residence wholly or mainly for the purposes of education, for example attendance at boarding school. Certain categories of immigrants to the UK, typically refugees, are excluded from this residential rule. In the case of those students who have been ordinarily resident in EU/EEA countries other than the UK, or Switzerland, for at least the last three years, they must be nationals of an EU country. There is no nationality restriction in the case of those who have satisfied the residential requirements within Britain.

British and other EU citizens may still be able to claim home fee status if they, or their parents, etc., can prove that their residence outside the EU during this three year period is temporary. To do this they will need to show that this absence is due to temporary employment abroad, that the employment itself is temporary and that but for that employment the person would be ordinarily resident in the UK/EU. A person may be resident in two or more countries at any one time. Property in the UK/EU may help to establish residence in the area in doubtful cases, but this will only be one factor among many taken into consideration.

• Student Finance
• Home Student or Overseas Student?
• Approximate Undergraduate Tuition Fees For Overseas Students (academic year 2006/7)
• Other Costs For All Students