Tag Archive for: fees

Are you now eligible for Home fees in Scotland? 

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.

Tax Planning When Your Child Starts University in the UK

UK Study Options is proud to partner with Spice Taxation Ltd to make UK taxation services available to our clients. We have asked Martin Rimmer, Managing Director of Spice Taxation, to write a series of articles on the UK tax implications of various scenarios.


In this first article, Martin explores some of the main tax planning issues and opportunities arising when parents, who remain expatriates, send their child to university in the UK. 

Scenario 1 : Child only relocating to the UK 

The Case Study 

Paul and Lisa Manning are British and they live and work in Dubai with their two children, Amy and Alice. Amy (18) is shortly to begin a four year Undergraduate Degree in Neuroscience at Exeter University. Paul and Lisa have been abroad for over 10 years, are non-resident for UK tax purposes and have immediate no plans to relocate to the UK. They own a rented property in the UK which used to be their main home and they hold a portfolio of investments and pensions outside of the UK. Amy is looking forward to her first taste of independence and will be moving to the UK alone, living in halls for the first year. 

The Impact on Paul and Lisa 

From Paul and Lisa’s perspective, nothing changes. They continue to ‘test positive’ for non-resident status under the Statutory Residence Test – remaining liable to UK tax only on: 

  • Incomes arising from the UK (rental income, interest from bank deposits, dividends from UK companies and unit trusts etc 
  • Gains from the sale or gift of interests in UK land and property 
  • Professional earnings relating to duties performed in the UK which are not ‘merely incidental’ to those performed abroad 

Paul and Lisa file tax returns to report their UK incomes and their movements to and from the UK. They also pay Class 2 Voluntary National Insurance Contributions. 

When Amy moves to the UK nothing about Paul and Lisa’s tax position changes. They may spend a little extra time in the UK but, as Amy is aged 18, her becoming resident in the UK shouldn’t affect Paul and Lisa’s position at all, provided that they remain non-resident themselves. 

That said, Paul and Lisa probably need UK tax planning advice more generally in respect of their UK assets, the many planning opportunities for tax planning which exist for them whilst non-resident and ahead of an eventual relocation to the UK and in the area of Inheritance Tax in the UK, to which their global estate remains exposed even whilst living in Dubai. 

Amy’s Tax Position

However, Amy does become resident because of the amount of time she spends in the UK and because she has a home in the UK (the halls she will live in). The fact that her parents pay her costs in the UK does not create any kind of tax charge or reporting obligation on any of Paul, Lisa or Amy. The fact that the funding comes into the UK from Dubai does not create a charge to tax either in this case. 

Tax and Succession Planning Opportunities for Amy 

Paul and Lisa are keen for Amy to begin to acquire some investment and financial management skills. As a resident of the UK, Amy is entitled to invest up to GBP 20,000 per year into an Individual Savings Account – a type of investment account that generates income and gains which are completely exempt from Income and Capital Gains Tax. Amy can also contribute to a UK pension whilst she is resident, even whilst being a student. Although Amy can’t access the pension until she is 57 years old, Paul and Lisa want to encourage Amy to see the value of saving for retirement.

So, in addition to investing in an ISA for their daughter, they contribute GBP 2,880 per year (the maximum) to a pension scheme for Amy. HM Revenue & Customs adds GBP 720 (25%) to this on a tax-free basis, bringing the total investment to GBP 3,600. Paul and Lisa work with Amy to choose the investments for her pension and ISA. Amy is responsible for meeting with a financial adviser from time to time to monitor performance and generally get familiar with investing. 

In year 2, Amy has to move out of halls. Recognising that this presents a good opportunity to start to pass some of their own wealth on to Amy as well as to instil some further financial management values, all three agree that Paul and Lisa will put down the deposit on a 2 bedroom property in Exeter, and that Paul and Lisa will also act as guarantor on an interest-only mortgage.

After some thought, they decide to purchase the property in Amy’s sole name but the deposit is rendered as a non interest-bearing loan repayable by Amy, with Paul and Lisa retaining a charge over the property for this amount. The reason for this is that a highly-indebted asset is less likely to be subject to a relationship squabble later between Amy and a future partner, especially where Mum and Dad (as well as the bank) have a legal charge against it. 

Amy agrees to take responsibility for renting out the second bedroom, contracting with the tenant (a fellow student), collecting the rent, insuring the place, paying the bills and the mortgage and for providing a monthly account to Paul and Lisa on the financials. Paul and Lisa agree that they will match any profit, which will then be diverted into Amy’s ISA and pension. Paul and Lisa continue to cover Amy’s tuition fees and living costs. 

Amy can receive up to GBP 7,500 of rental income from the letting of the second bedroom in her main home completely free of tax, in addition to her Income Tax allowance of GBP 12,570. Although no Income Tax is due, a calculation of the profit from the rental is still worth doing each year. The property is her ‘Principal Private Residence’ for Capital Gains Tax purposes, which provides valuable tax relief if she decides to sell the property later. Amy also makes a will, dividing her possessions evenly between her parents and younger sister. This is because she is a responsible adult with assets and financial responsibilities.

 

Martin Rimmer is head of Spice Taxation, an independent Singapore-based UK tax consultancy which focuses upon the needs of British Expatriates around the world and those who move to the UK or have financial interests in the UK. Spice Taxation offers a free exploratory consultation to all clients of UK Study Options, for which we are very grateful. In addition, Spice Taxation has generously granted a discount of 20% on Tax Advisory services to clients and contacts of UK Study Options.

If you wish to avail yourself of this, please quote discount code UKSO23.

Visit: www.spicetaxation.com or contact Martin directly at martin@spicetaxation.com for more information. 

UK University Fee Status – A Guide for Expats (Part 2)

Baffled by UK university fee status and not sure how it applies to you? Get to grips with the basics with our two-part blog on fee status.

This blog post answers the question:

  • Who is eligible for Home fees?

See our blog UK University Fee Status – A Guide for Expats (Part 1), to answer the questions:

  • What is a fee status assessment?
  • What are the different fee statuses?
  • What are the tuition fee and funding options for the different fee statuses?

Who is eligible for Home fees?

Being a British citizen or holding a British passport is not enough to qualify you for Home fee status. Nor does owning property in the UK or having lived there previously. If you have left the UK and now live abroad or have recently returned to the UK after a period away, you may have lost your eligibility. Too many people take it for granted that when they return to the UK, they will automatically get Home fees but the reality is, it’s very easy to lose your Home status. Therefore, you have to pay much higher Overseas tuition fees for your UK university degree.

If you want to fully understand the rules and regulations around fee status, then we recommend that you visit UKCISA. UKCISA publish them in full detail. They are quite dense and complicated, so here we give you a brief overview.

Firstly, to be eligible for Home fees, you must meet the necessary immigration criteria by having ONE of the following statuses (this is a bare minimum of what is required):

  • A British citizen,
  • Indefinite Leave to Enter/Remain in the UK,
  • A Certificate of Entitlement to the Right of Abode in the UK,
  • Right of permanent Residence in the UK,
  • Settled or Pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme
  • Republic of Ireland citizen.

Ordinary Residence

Secondly, you need to demonstrate that you have been ‘ordinarily resident’ in the UK for at least three years prior to starting university. This means having a “regular and habitual mode of life in a particular place, the continuity of which has persisted despite temporary absence” (UKCISA). For example, maintaining strong connections that demonstrate that the UK country is your permanent home country even if you don’t currently live there. This can be demonstrated through a number of ways including, having a UK home and regularly visiting the UK, among others.

Thirdly, if it’s not clear whether someone has ordinary residence in the UK, then universities will look to see that any absence from the UK is of a temporary nature and that it is your (or your family’s) intention to return to the UK at some point. For this, universities will look at the parents’ current and previous employment, property ownership, rental agreements etc. There is no concrete rule about how long ‘temporary’ is. Universities will take a different stance on this some will have a strict cut off period and others will be flexible based on the student’s circumstances.

Generally, if a student fulfils the criteria for ordinary residence and temporary absence and is able to provide solid evidence for this. Then they will be perceived as Home. Although there are always anomalies due to the interpretable nature of fee status assessment. Completing university applications and forms correctly and presenting the right evidence is vital for a successful outcome. Whether you have Home fee eligibility is dependent on your specific background and living and working circumstances. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that if your friend got home status, so will you. Every family’s circumstances are unique and fee status assessments are made on individual, case-by-case bases.

UKSO are the 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.

 

UK University Fee Status – A Guide for Expats (Part 1)

Baffled by UK university fee status and not sure how it applies to you? Get to grips with the basics with our two-part blog on fee status.

This blog post answers the questions:

  • What is a fee status assessment?
  • What are the different fee statuses?
  • What are the tuition fee and funding options for the different fee statuses?

See our blog UK University Fee Status – A Guide for Expats (Part 2), to answer the question:

  • Who is eligible for Home fees?

What is a fee status assessment?

The fee status assessment is part of the Admissions process of all UK universities which aims to establish what fees a student should pay based on where the student is from. They need to make this distinction because they receive funding (tax-payer money) for Home students but not for Overseas students and therefore, Overseas students will pay more for their degree than Home students. The process of assessing a student’s fee status is to determine if they are eligible for that funding or not.

In order to do this, universities apply a set of rules and regulations published by UKCISA to a range of different student backgrounds and circumstances. UKCISA do not write the rules, they simply publish them to help universities understand the relevant government legislation which can be quite complicated.

For the most part, this assessment is quite straight forward but for some ‘borderline’ students it may be harder to assign a fee status. Such students might be British citizens living overseas (expats), refugees, asylum seekers or leave to remainers, for example. Here universities use their discretion and interpretation of the rules to determine fee status.

In these instances, universities may automatically assign an Overseas status and leave it to the student to contest it or they may require students to submit further information to assist with the assessment of their fee status. Because each university is using their discretion in these instances (and therefore, applying a slightly different policy), it’s often the case that a student will receive some Home offers and some Overseas.

What are the different fee statuses?

There are two factors that determine the different fee statuses; firstly, where in the UK (i.e. which UK country) is the university that the student is applying to. Secondly, where is the student themselves from.

Fee statuses differ depending on whether the university is in England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Universities in England and Wales have two fee statuses; Home (which applies to students from all UK countries and the Common Travel Area) and Overseas.

In Scotland, Universities have three fee statuses; Home (which applies to Scottish students), Rest of UK (which applies to students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland) and Overseas.

In Northern Ireland, Universities also have three fee statuses: Home (which applies to Northern Irish students), GB (which applies to students from England, Scotland and Wales) and Overseas.

All UK countries follow the same government legislation but may differ slightly in their assessment criteria and processes.

What are the tuition fees and funding options for the different fee statuses?

Tuition fees differ depending on where in the UK the student is applying to university. For universities in England, Home fees are currently set at £9,535 per year for any course. In Wales, they are the same – £9,535 per year. Overseas fees range from £14,950 to £70,554 per year depending on the course and university. Generally speaking, the more competitive the course or university, the higher the Overseas fees.

For universities in Scotland, Home students currently pay £1,820 per year for any course.  These Home places are capped so they can be very difficult to obtain by people with borderline eligibility. RUK students pay £9,535 per year for any course. Overseas fees range from £14,600 to £49,900. Scottish undergraduate degrees are usually 4 years (at other UK universities they are typically 3 years depending on the course) – it’s important to factor this in when budgeting for university.

For universities in Northern Ireland, Home students pay £4,275 per year for any course. Students from England, Wales and Scotland pay £9,535 per year for any course. Overseas students can expect to pay between £16,000 and £38,000.

In any of the four countries, most students who are eligible for Home fees are also eligible for a student loan (and sometimes a grant) to cover or part-cover their tuition and maintenance costs. Depending upon where the student lives, applications for student loans have to be made via the relevant student loans company such as Student Finance England  http://www.sfengland.slc.co.uk,  Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) www.saas.gov.uk, Student Finance Wales www.studentfinancewales.co.uk or Student Finance Northern Ireland www.studentfinanceni.co.uk. Student loan companies will make their own fee assessment of each student who applies for a loan, they do not always concur with the fee status concluded by the university. It is not uncommon for a university to categorise a student as Home but the student loans company to categorise them as Overseas and therefore, reject their application for a loan.

Overseas students may have to pay additional fees, such as college fees at Oxford or Cambridge, that can be around £11,000 per year on top of tuition fees. Maintenance (or living) costs for all students are around £11,000+ per year of study.

Overseas students cannot apply for student loans to cover their tuition or maintenance costs, so their funding options are very limited. They also may be required to pay more of their tuition fees upfront and/or pay an interest fee if they wish to pay in instalments.

An additional factor to consider is that some courses, such as Medicine, cap the number of places available to Overseas students and therefore, the competition to get in is much higher. Some Medical degrees have as few as 4 places for Overseas students but will still receive hundreds of exceptional applications.

UKSO are the 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.

Getting the Fee Status Questionnaire Right – Dos and Don’ts

If you are a borderline case for Home fees when applying to UK university, you may receive a Fee Status Questionnaire (FSQ) from one or more of the universities you are applying to. Borderline cases will be anyone who has lived outside the UK/EU for any period of time during your life. The FSQ form aims to get more information about you and your family’s background on which the university can make their final decision on your fee status. They will also ask for corresponding evidence to match what you write on the form.

Each university produces their own form and may ask for different information. Some will ask for information and evidence for the three years prior to the start of university (the most important years for establishing Ordinary Residence), others may ask for the last five years or even as far back as the birth of the student. So be prepared to explain your circumstances over a decade or more and dig out the evidence ahead of time so you’re not searching for it when you’re up against a tight deadline!

Most FSQs will ask for the following information:

  • Your immigration status.
  • Your residential history – and an explanation for any time lived outside the UK.
  • Details of visits to the UK when living outside of the UK/EU.

Dos for completing this form:

  • Explain your background fully yet succinctly – preferably use bullets points rather than paragraphs so it can be quickly read and understood.
  • Only include information/evidence that the university has asked for or that you think is very relevant.
  • Keep details/evidence in chronological order.
  • Be explicit – spell out strong evidence so they don’t miss it and explain any gaps or missing evidence.
    Clearly label corresponding evidence so it’s easy to find.
  • Get someone to sense check the form before you submit it to make sure it’s clear and logical.
  • Be aware of the deadline to return the form by.
  • Be transparent and honest.

Don’ts for completing this form:

  • Don’t lie on the form – if it unravels, you’ll jeopardise your university offer, not just your fee status.
  • Don’t waffle or write in long paragraphs which are hard to follow and time-consuming to unpick.
  • Don’t send masses of documents that have not been asked for or that are not absolutely relevant. There should be an opportunity to send further evidence later on, if necessary. If you’re not sure what is needed, give a list of available evidence on request/if required or call up the university and clarify what they need.
  • Don’t expect universities to work stuff out, hunt for information or fill in the gaps themselves. The onus is on you to explain your circumstances clearly.

UKSO are the 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.

UK/EU Expats – don’t lose your eligibility for Home fees!

Being eligible for Home or EU fees isn’t quite as straightforward as many expats think. Families assume that having British and/or EU citizenship and owning property in the UK or EU is enough to get an offer as a Home or EU fee payer. It’s not …but read on….!

Here are some points to help you understand what the universities are looking for when the UCAS applications go in each year:

  • The universities have to undertake due diligence to identify students who are eligible for a Home OR an EU offer.
  • Most students who are at school overseas will receive a Fee Status Questionnaire in order to gather the information necessary to assess the student’s eligibility. This document may be extensive to include other categories of students such as asylum seekers or immigrants who may also be eligible as well as expats.
  • You need to prove that your permanent residence is in one country: the UK OR EU and that you maintain your status by travelling back as a family for extensive periods of time each year to one particular place. (One parent and siblings should be enough).
  • You will need a permanent home address – only one! You can’t make a case for having a permanent home in say an EU country AND England. Each of the four UK countries has a different fee structure and loan company. Depending upon your offer you may then apply to the relevant loans company. International students are not eligible for student loans.
  • Initially, the universities look back at the student’s whereabouts for three years prior to the first day of the first academic term. A student applying for 2018 entry will have to show where they lived between 2015 and 2018. If the information is not clear the universities will request information about the student’s whereabouts since birth.
  • The rules and regulations governing fee status allow for a student to be temporarily based overseas if they maintain strong links to their home by returning for perhaps a month or so each year to one address.
  • There is provision for the parents being temporarily based overseas due to their work and therefore the student having to be based with the parents.
  • Each university may ask for a variety of documents as proof of your ‘ordinary residence’ in the UK or EU such as e-tickets in and out, utility bills, property deeds or rental agreements etc even shopping transactions in one place!

Problems arise when students and parents are not clear about their ‘ordinary residence’. Many expat families that we deal with have multi-national families and could ostensibly make a case for being either UK (Scotland, England, N Ireland or Wales) with regards to their ‘ordinary residence’ as well as perhaps an EU address. I have a number of families that have several properties and/or addresses they could use in the UK and perhaps an alternative property in the EU where they may spend several weeks each year. In this case students are at risk of losing their eligibility by not maintaining links to one particular place – their ‘ordinary residence’!

Problems also arise as the rules and regulations are open to interpretation and there is no blanket policy across the universities as to information they need from the student. If a university or course is competitive they are likely to have a large team dealing with Fee Status Questionnaires. The outcome from each institution as well as the evidence they ask for varies a great deal.

Be Prepared! Contact us for your personal fee status assessment

Home tuition fees for expatriate Medical/Veterinary students

UKStudyoptions.com offers a Fee Status Appraisal specifically for expatriate families based overseas to prepare students and their families BEFORE they apply via UCAS. By completing a brief Fee Status Form we can assess the strengths and weaknesses of your case and offer you tips and advice to maximise your eligibility for Home/EU fees.

  • International student fees for medicine and veterinary reaches £300,000 (five years)
  • Home/EU fees in England totalling £45,000 (five years)
  • Scottish/EU students pay just £9,100 (five years) RUK pay £45,000

Many expats don’t realise that they are at risk of losing their eligibility because they have been based overseas on a succession of ongoing ‘temporary’ contracts. The rules and regulations governing Fee Status decisions are for guidance only and they are open to interpretation. It is therefore incumbent on each institution to decide on acceptable criteria and the basis on which they decide whether a student should be categorised as a Home or Overseas fee payer.

In addition, although the rules and regulations governing Home/EU fees versus overseas have not changed, there is a new immigration law in England that has recently come into being. This will, in due course, impact upon the length of time a student is able to be temporarily out of the UK without losing their rights for Home/EU fees and a student loan. This new law currently states that a student should be in the UK half their life or seven years, whichever is the greater. This law is currently being adopted in England and is expected to be rolled out to other UK countries.

Many expat families are confident in obtaining Home/EU fees without realising that they are at risk of losing their eligibility quite easily by not being proactive in maintaining their ‘ordinary residence’ in the UK by returning to their ‘home’ regularly (for extended periods of time as a family) and keeping track of the evidence they need to support their case.

Maintaining eligibility for Home/EU fees is particularly crucial for medical students as the difference between being admitted as a Home/EU student can amount to £250,000 with no student loans available for international students. In addition just 7.5% of places are allocated to international fee paying medical students due to the tie in with the NHS.

UKSO are the 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.

Fee status top tips

Each year I visit international schools where many students are UK/EU expats. I try to give accurate and updated advice to students and their families regarding fee status for university study.

Although there are no guarantees it does help you if know a little about the rules and regulations, whether you meet the criteria for Home/EU fees and, if you are eligible, how to compile a clear and strong case. You need to prepare in advance as once the UCAS forms go in it can become a stressful waiting game particularly if the institutions are waiting for information and evidence from you before making an offer.

It’s not just about having a UK/EU passport – you need to show the universities and the student loans companies that you actively live in the UK during the run up period of three years before the course starts.

British_passport_2002The rules and regulation governing Fee Status are published by each of the four UK countries; England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The outcome of your Fee Status may depend upon where your home is based and which country you are planning to study in.

Technically a student must be ‘settled’ in the UK on the first day of the first term of the course and ‘ordinary resident’ in the UK and have been ‘ordinary resident’ in the UK for three years prior to the first day of the first term of the course to be eligible for Home/EU fees at a UK university. Ordinary residence must not be for the purpose of receiving full time education so, even if the student has been in the UK at boarding school whilst the family remain overseas, this will not count as being ‘ordinary resident’.

Many expats ‘temporarily’ live overseas. Quite often temporary contracts of several years are extended many times so a student may actually have never lived in the UK at all!

Here are my top tips for the new 2016/17 academic year.

Decide where your home is!

It may seem obvious but I come across many UK students who have lived the expat life since birth. They may have family scattered over the UK to visit each year and perhaps a holiday home in Europe. Decide where your natural and habitual mode of living is with your family and stay there regularly, as a ‘family’ (at least one parent and siblings) for a number of weeks or months each year.

Return regularly to your home for substantial amounts of time as a family.

You do not need to own a home (it may help if you do) but you will need to have a regular, mode of family life in one place. You will be asked to provide documentation to support your case. In the past families have provided: family deeds, rental agreements, Council Tax Statements, Utility Bills – anything to show a strong connection to one place in particular. The documents will have your family name on – utility bills may even show the difference in electricity and gas usage in the months you claim to be in the UK compared to the months you are not. Some institutions have accepted shopping bills or bank statements showing transactions from one particular place.

Keep e-tickets and travel documentation for each family member when travelling to and from the UK.

It really helps to show for instance that each summer the applicant and any siblings and at least one parent travel into the UK and out again at the end of the summer. If you travel regularly on one particular airline you will have a record of your flights along with your air-miles. If you don’t think you have any records it is worth going back into your email accounts to find them!

Gather documentation to support your temporary absence from the UK.

There is no definition in the case law or legislation to define what is meant by ‘temporary’ absence from the UK. This is where is gets tricky as the rules and regulations governing Fee Status are open to interpretation by the institution as to what they think is a temporary absence. Some universities have used a cut-off point in the past of six years – so anyone who has lived outside the UK over six years will be treated as an overseas fee payer whether they are a UK national or not!

Some universities will ask to see the parent’s work contract. It helps if this contract is awarded before the family travel outside the UK to live and it states that on completion of the contract the family will be repatriated to the UK. This shows a clear intention of returning to the UK and may well support your case.

Fee Status outcome depends upon the student giving correct, clear information about their circumstances, providing comprehensive supporting documentation and showing a regular, habitual mode of living in the UK as a family for substantial amounts of time each year.

The fact that the rules and regulations are interpreted slightly differently by each country and each institution means that students may be given different fee status decisions by their five universities.

Geraldine Raison’s team at UKStudyOptions offer a Fee Status appraisal as well as ongoing help and support for students if required. The UKStudyOptions team are members of UKCISA and receive regular training along with UK university admissions staff. We can help get you prepared and ready by offering a personal appraisal, explaining the rules and regulations, looking at your strengths and weaknesses and giving you a check list of documentation to gather before you apply!

Email: hello@ukstudyoptions.com for details

What You Could Be Paying In Overseas Fees Compared To Home Fees

Overseas fees can range from around £12,000 a year to up to £27,000 for a lab based degree (including Maths) at Imperial and £35,000 plus for medicine or veterinary.

Many expats are still eligible for Home Fees: being settled in the UK and meet the main residence requirements – having a British or EU passport is just one aspect of eligibility, there are many others. The universities will also look at where the student has been residing in the three years prior to the first day of their university degree, if this is overseas, they will ask for details of your ‘ordinary residence’ in the UK and want to know why the student and family are based overseas, which may include information about the parent’s work contract, as well as seeking general background information. They may also ask for evidence to support a case for Home Fees and can go back to the students birth date if necessary.

Most people don’t realise until after the university applications are submitted to UCAS that they are going to have to make a case for Home Fees and send in evidence to show that they have active connections to the UK. The rules and regulations governing Home and EU fee status are vague, based on case law dating to the early 1980s and are open to interpretation by the university admissions staff.

This year (2016 entry) many students have been given a deadline of three weeks by their university choices to provide relevant evidence to support their case – not meeting the deadline may mean the universities will cancel their application. To complicate matters the UK has four governments, four countries that approach establishing a student’s fee status in a different manner and if a student is successful in obtaining Home/EU fee status at the university they have to go through a second process when they apply for student tuition fee loans.

With the real cost of an undergraduate degree estimated to be around £16,000 per head per annum, the universities are looking for students who have cut ties to their UK or EU base and have lost the right to being subsidised by the UK taxpayers. Recruiting overseas fee payers is an important income stream for universities. The Scottish Referendum in 2014 and the General Election in 2015 highlighted the issue of student fees and funding which is politically and economically driven.

Don’t be one of the families that have let their eligibility slide – make sure you know what to do to maintain your eligibility and what evidence you need to have to support your case.

I advise over a hundred families each year on their eligibility for UK/EU Fee Status – many of them are confused as to what constitutes eligibility and what evidence they need to send in to support their case. Don’t be caught out – contact www.ukstudyoptions.com for a Fee Status appraisal now.

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