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UK University Fee Status – The Basics Part 1

29 August 2023

You may never have come across the term ‘fee status’. But your university will give you one and it will make a difference to the tuition fees you pay.

What is fee status?

Your fee status determines the level of tuition fees you will pay when you go to a university in the UK that is publicly funded. There are two levels of fee status – a lower ‘home’ fee which is set at a capped amount by the government and ‘overseas’ which is often much higher and is not capped. Each university will follow regulations and guidance from the relevant UK government to determine each applicant’s fee status and charge tuition fees accordingly.

How do I know my fee status?

This is where it can get complicated. Each of the four UK nations (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) have a different set of fee status rules. Therefore, you will need to look at the rules that are relevant to the university you are applying for. If you apply to universities that are in different countries then, under each set of rules, it could be possible that you have a different fee status in say England as opposed to Scotland. You can find the rules for each country on the UKCISA website but the rules are complex and open to interpretation.

This means that for expatriate families, who are often to be considered to be on the borderline between home and overseas, each university may view their case differently. It is common that applicants could be classed as a home fee payer at one university but an overseas fee payer at another university, even in the same UK nation. This reflects the very subjective nature of the assessment that universities are required to undertake. It is however each university that has been given the autonomy to make the final decision on the fee status for those applicants on their courses.

What are the requirements for home fees?

It is important to understand that there are many different categories of home fee status and each have different eligibility criteria. A key step is to check the specific requirements that will be applicable to you and your application rather than rely on the experience of friends or family members. For British and Irish expatriate applicants you will generally have to demonstrate how you have an ‘ordinary residence’ in the UK or Ireland for the three-year period prior to starting university. Universities will ask for many details of your life including your home address in the UK, nationality and dual nationalities, travel pattern and parents employment. They will be looking to see that you have a regular and habitual life at your UK home or else otherwise that you have are only temporarily absent from the UK to take up employment abroad.

It is also possible to achieve home fees if you have a ‘relevant family member’ who is a British citizen even if you are not one yourself. If you have Indefinite Leave to Remain or another ‘settled’ status in the UK this could mean you get home fees if you can also meet the ordinary residence requirement. Additionally, temporary rules after Brexit mean that those who can show an ordinary residence in the EEA or Switzerland might also be eligible for home fees status.

Where can I get help with my fee status case?

UKCISA, the UK Council for International Student Affairs, provide guidance on how to understand the rules. This is a good place to start your research. We are experts in university fee status and provide personalised advice to expat families helping them to achieve home fee status. This service gives you comprehensive advice and support from the moment you engage our services until your child starts university. This includes support with any university fee status queries during the application cycle.

For a deeper understanding, check out UK University Fee Status: The Basics – Part 2

Fee Status Checker Tool: To make the process of determining eligibility even easier, we’ve introduced our new Fee Status Checker. This online tool allows families to quickly assess whether their child could be eligible for Home fees, providing instant results and relevant resources for further research. By simplifying this crucial first step, we ensure that families can move forward confidently with the university application process. Visit our Fee Status Checker to get started.

UK University Fee Status Myths and Assumptions

21 August 2023

Common myths and assumptions made by expats.

Myth: A British passport will get my son/daughter home fees at a UK university.

Not quite. British citizenship is just one factor that make you eligible. Alone it is not enough to meet the full eligibility criteria, there are other criteria you need to meet additionally to this. Actually, you might not have a British passport but you might still be eligible for home fees. There is provision for people with other UK immigration statuses, such as Irish passports holders, EU passports holders with EUSS pre-settled or settled status, ‘Leave to Remain’ or ‘Permanent Right of Abode’, that may be eligible (providing they meet the full criteria). Essentially, your passport alone doesn’t tell you much about whether you are eligible for home fees so more understanding of the full criteria is needed.

Myth: We’ll have to live in the UK for three years to get home fees.

Not necessarily. If you do live in the UK three years before UK university (and you meet the rest of the criteria), then you will qualify for home fees. However, it is not the case that if you don’t live in the UK, you won’t get home fees. Luckily for expat families living outside the UK, the legislation isn’t quite as explicit as this. What you need to do is maintain an ‘Ordinary Residence’ in the UK for three years prior to the start of university. This is not the same as living in the UK – see our blog ‘What Does ‘Ordinary Residence’ Mean For Expat Families (for fee status)’ to learn more about this term. Therefore, it is possible to live outside the UK and still achieve home status at a UK university.

Myth: We don’t have to think about fee status until the university application.

By then, it might be too late. Fee status assessments used to decide if you are eligible for home fees typically look at the three-year period before university. By the time the university application comes around, much of this three-year period has passed and therefore you are less able to build a strong case for meeting the eligibility criteria. You should be planning for fee status 3-4 years before the start of university so that you can adapt your living/working/travel plans to make sure you have a good case for home fees by the time you are fee assessed (during university admissions).

Assumption: People we know got home fees, so we will too.

Fee status is highly personalised and everyone’s fee status case is unique as it is dependent on many factors such as citizenship, immigration status, residence history, travel pattern, employment terms, employment history, the university shortlist, the course applying to…the list goes on! It’s unlikely that anyone you know will have a similar fee status case to you and therefore, their chances of getting home fees will be different to yours. It’s recommended to get personal advice on your fee status eligibility as what supported another person’s case for home fees may not support your case.

Assumption: Owning property in the UK will get my son/daughter home fees.

More important than owning a property is the status of that property and how it is used. If the property you own is rented out to a tenant then it’s unlikely that it will support your fee status case. Rather than talk about properties, we talk about the ‘home’. There is an expectation that you have a home in the UK to claim that you are maintaining an Ordinary Residence. This may not necessarily be a property that you own, for example, it could be a rented property, but it should be somewhere that you use as a home when you are in the UK. Everyone’s circumstances are different so what might be a home in the UK for one family might look different to another’s.

 Assumption: Moving my child to a boarding school will get him/her home fees.

This may not be the case, even if your child has been going to boarding school and living in the UK for more than three years. The fee status rules include the ‘main purpose test’ which excludes any residence in the UK where the main purpose was to receive full-time education. If your child is at boarding school but you, the parents, live outside of the UK then universities are likely to apply the main purpose test and take the view that, if not at boarding school, your child will be resident with you. This means that they will not be able to give Home fee status on that basis and you will have a more complicated case to argue your eligibility.

UK Study Options are experts in UK University Fee Status who provide personalised advice to expat families helping them to achieve Home fee status. We visit schools all over the world on a regular basis to present seminars for parents – check our events page to see if we are in your region soon. Complete our  online form to receive a free appraisal of your case and see if you need expert guidance for your application.

Are you now eligible for Home fees in Scotland?

7 August 2023

Recently there has been a significant change to the Home Fees rules in Scotland, meaning that more people could be eligible for Home fees.

The Scottish government has introduced a new, amended regulation that came into effect on August 1st 2023. The regulation sees a change to the category ‘Relevant connection to Scotland’ and will also see the ‘Long residency’ category being removed after a recent court case. You can read more in this UKCISA article.

A new Home fees category has been established for individuals who do not possess “settled status” but maintain valid leave to enter or remain in the UK that has not yet expired. From now on, you don’t have to go through the hassle of proving that you’ve lived in the UK for half of your life to get Home tuition fees and financial aid for your studies. If you are starting your course this year or in following years, check the new eligibility requirements to see if you are now classified as a Home student.

And the good news is that even if you’re entering your second or third year, the changes to mean that any future fees you need to pay can be on the basis whether you would have fit into this category when you started your course. UKCISA explain that this has been confirmed by the Scottish Government. It is expected that many students may be able to change their fee status and pay less tuition fees for the remaining years of their course. If you believe that you could be eligible you should ask your university to reassess your fees based on the new rules.

Each nation in the UK has different fee status rules, so you may be eligible for Home fees in Scotland, but not in England. We understand that changes to Home Fees rules may be confusing. UKSO are leading experts in UK University Fee Status. We have been advising schools, families and students around the world on this complex topic for 10 years and have helped over 1,000 expat families with their fee status queries.

Fee Status Checker Tool: To make the process of determining eligibility even easier, we’ve introduced our new Fee Status Checker. This online tool allows families to quickly assess whether their child could be eligible for Home fees, providing instant results and relevant resources for further research. By simplifying this crucial first step, we ensure that families can move forward confidently with the university application process. Visit our Fee Status Checker to get started.

You may never have come across the term ‘fee status’. But your university will give you one and it will make a difference to the tuition fees you pay.

Common myths and assumptions made by expats.

Recently there has been a significant change to the Home Fees rules in Scotland, meaning that more people could be eligible for Home fees.

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