UK University Fee Status Rules
If you are going to a UK university, your fee status, i.e. whether you are charged home fees or overseas fees, is determined by a set of rules.
The rules are set by the government, but summaries of the rules are published online by a charity called UKCISA who support students in understanding their fee status eligibility. Anyone can access and read these summaries of the rules online.
These rules differ in each of the four UK nations. The rules that apply to you are based on where the university you are applying to is located. For example, if you are applying to Scottish universities, you need to understand the Scottish fee status rules. If you are applying to English universities, you need to understand the English fee status rules and so on. If you are applying to universities in different parts of the UK you must apply all the relevant rules.
Here’s where to find them:
Northern Irish fee status rules
The rules are largely derived from case law of previous immigration or student finance court cases. This is often where certain terms and definitions within the rules are defined so you may also want to read this information also.
We understand that these rules can be confusing and it’s not always clear how your fee status would be determined.
UKCISA, who train us at UKSO and university staff on how to apply the fee status rules, offer free advice to students on their fee status and can be contacted here.
UKSO are the leading independent 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.
PLEASE NOTE: The guidance on fee status rules is regularly updated and the link to the latest guidance may change. The above links are the latest guidance at the time of writing, March 2025.
