The importance of understanding ‘home’ or ‘overseas’ fee status for huge savings on university fees

Date Posted:Thu, 22nd Sep 2022

The importance of understanding ‘home’ or ‘overseas’ fee status for huge savings on university fees

The latest intake of first year university students should now be settled in to their new academic surroundings… for those that have this all to come, new BBG Member Kate Raison - who is the Director of UK-based consultancy UK Study Options (UKSO) - shares the huge savings that can be made by planning now for university fees with regards to being classified as a ‘Home’ or ‘Overseas’ student

 

UK University Fee Status: Who is eligible?

The fee status that you are assigned when you apply to university in the UK will determine what tuition fees you pay for your degree. Being classified as a ‘home’ or ‘overseas’ student can be the difference in paying either £9,250 or up to £61,000* per year in tuition fees, depending on what course you intend to study and which university you go to. It can also impact how you finance your studies, as only home students can apply for a student loan. With such a disparity in what students pay for the same degree, many people will want to know what makes you eligible for home fees.

To be eligible for home fees, students must fit into a ‘category’ within the fee status rules. There are over 20 different categories which we can’t detail completely in this article, but we will talk about the most common category that effects British and Irish families living in Dubai and the surrounding region.

Firstly, ‘home’ students must meet the necessary immigration status – you must have British or Irish citizenship, or another form of ‘Settled’ status, by ‘the first day of the academic year’ (likely to be the 1st September of the year you start university). Unfortunately, due to Brexit, this no longer includes EU citizens who have not successfully applied to the European Settlement Scheme.

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”. Essentially, during any periods of living in another country, you are expected to have maintained connections back in your home country. This can be very subjective but common ways to prove this are by having a UK home and visiting the UK regularly.

 

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 family’s intention to return to the UK at some point. For this, universities will look at 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.

Finally, universities assessing your fee status will expect you to be able to evidence all of the above as much as possible. So it is key to prepare documentation that proves your connections to the UK and your living and working circumstances wherever you live outside the UK.

Although there are fixed rules and regulations on fee status, it’s not always clear cut who is eligible, even to the universities themselves. Universities often have to interpret a student’s background and make a judgement call on if they are home or overseas. Some universities may have their own policy on fee status which leads to inconsistencies among the different universities in how they would classify the same student. The subjective nature of fee status can mean that, unarmed with a good understanding of the criteria, many students get unnecessarily classified as overseas fee-payers and pay much higher tuition fees. Getting expert advice on this can help to reduce the uncertainty around your eligibility and strengthen your case for home fees. UK Study Options has been advising the expat community around the world on their home fee eligibility for over 10 years. Get in touch for a free review of your fee status eligibility. hello@ukstudyoptions.com