Tuition Fee Status Criteria

You can get detailed information and advice about fee status from the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA). The following is for information only, and is intended just as a general guide to the most significant points of the Regulations affecting Tuition Fee Status.

If you are classified as 'Overseas' for fees purposes, you are liable to pay full cost fees, whereas if you are classified as 'Home' or 'Home (EU)' for fees purposes, then you are eligible to pay at the lower rate.

To qualify for 'Home' or 'Home (EU)' fee status, you must fulfil all of the following criteria:

• be settled in the UK on the 'first day of the first academic year of the course'. 'Settled' in this instance means that you must be ordinarily resident in the UK without any immigration restriction on the period for which you may remain. The 'first day of the first academic year' varies according to when the course starts; have a look at the UKCISA guidance for a useful guide to the key date for you.
• have been 'ordinarily resident' in the UK and Islands for the full 3 year period before the 'first day of the first academic year of the course'
• not have been 'ordinarily resident' wholly or mainly for the purposes of receiving full-time education during any part of the three year period

Some people are able to qualify for 'Home' fees under various exceptions to the regulations;  these include:

• nationals of EU Member States ordinarily resident in the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland for three years
• refugees and persons with exceptional leave to remain
• EEA and Swiss migrant workers
• persons who would have been ordinarily resident but for the fact that they, their spouse, parent or guardian was temporarily employed outside the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland - this is known as temporary absence. While the Regulations are laid down by Government, it is the duty of each university to make the final decision;  thus it is possible for one university to consider that a person has been 'temporarily' employed outside the EEA while another university does not consider that the absence has been temporary, and classifies them as 'overseas'.

Please note that our assessment of an individual as 'Home' or 'Overseas' for fees purposes is independent of any decision which Student Finance England may make concerning their entitlement to financial support.

We follow the Government's regulations, and the guidance produced by the Department for Education and Employment.  We seek to ensure that all cases we consider are treated in a completely consistent manner. We are sometimes asked by potential applicants if we can tell them in advance what their fee status will be. We are always happy to help if we can, but we cannot guarantee to do this - it depends on how busy the Admissions Office is - and it will always be just an opinion, as the case will be re-assessed at the time of application. Please contact the Admissions Office if you have any questions of this kind.

Temporary Absence

How do we interpret "temporary" in the context of living outside the EU? What is its position on temporary contracts? What difference does having a house in the UK make?

These are all questions which we have been asked by potential applicants and their families, who want a clear idea of what ‘temporary’ means to us.The answer is that it varies from case to case. The guidance from the Government, and case law, are quite clear on this point; we must not have a ‘rule of thumb’ covering this, and all cases must be looked at on their own merits.

We understand that this is not as definitive to applicants and their families and to schools and colleges as we and they would wish, but we can assure them that we take our responsibility to assess fee status very seriously and are rigorous in applying the regulations consistently.

Changing Fee Status for Current Students

We determine your fee status on the basis of the information you have provided on your application form and Fee Status Questionnaire. We will let you know what your status is in your offer letter although in some cases we may ask you for additional information or ask you to fill in a Fee Status Questionnaire before we are able to make a decision. Once you have accepted the terms of your offer there are only exceptional circumstances where it will be possible to change your fee classification. So it is very important that you provide us with full information before you become a registered student. Once you have registered and started studying with us, we are only able to change your fee classification in very exceptional circumstances, relating to your immigration status, for example if you have been granted refugee status or citizenship of the UK/EU. If you are in this position you will need to provide the Admissions Office with evidence of this change.

Fee Status is governed by Government Regulations; the Education (Fees and Awards) Regulations 1997, (Statutory Instrument 1997 No 1972) and the Education (Fees and Awards)  (England) Regulations 2007 and any subsequent amendments.