tertiary education Tertiary education, also referred to as third-level, third-stage or post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank, for example, defines tertiary education as including univers ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, the term home student is used to refer to those who are eligible to pay university tuition fees at a lower rate than overseas students. In general,

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

, and

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

citizens qualify for home student status only if they have been "ordinarily resident" in the UK for three years prior to the start of university. From Autumn 2021, EU citizens lost their home student status and since have had to pay the higher international tuition fees. There are other criteria to be satisfied. All other students, even British citizens, who do not qualify as "home students" are considered to be overseas students and must pay higher overseas students tuition fees at university.

Eligibility for home student status

United Kingdom students

On the ''first'' day of the ''first'' academic year of the course, to qualify as a home student, all of the following criteria must be fulfilled by the student: *Be free from any immigration restrictions (e.g. British citizenship, exercising EU Freedom of Movement Rights, indefinite leave to enter/remain, right of abode, free from immigration control (as a diplomat or member of air crew)) *Be ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom *Have been ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom,

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

and/or

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

for the whole period of the three years directly preceding the first day of the academic course *The ''main'' purpose for the three years' residence in the UK and Islands must not have been to receive full-time education during any part of it, ''unless'' the student is a

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

citizen (but not a

British citizen British nationality law prescribes the conditions under which a person is recognised as being a national of the United Kingdom. The six different classes of British nationality each have varying degrees of civil and political rights, due to the ...

) and immediately prior to the three-year period was ordinarily resident in the

European Economic Area The European Economic Area (EEA) was established via the ''Agreement on the European Economic Area'', an international agreement which enables the extension of the European Union's single market to member states of the European Free Trade Ass ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

or qualifying overseas territories (see below).

United Kingdom students having lived in Europe

On the ''first'' day of the ''first'' academic year of the course, to qualify as a home student, all of the following criteria must be fulfilled by the student: *Be free from any immigration restrictions (e.g. British citizenship, exercising EU Freedom of Movement Rights, indefinite leave to enter/remain, right of abode, free from immigration control (as a diplomat or member of air crew)) *Be ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom for a whole period of three years directly preceding the first day of the academic course *Having previous lived in the United Kingdom free from any immigration restrictions, the student later moved to the

and/or

where he/she exercised his/her Freedom of Movement rights *If the ''main'' purpose for the three years' residence in the

and/or

was to receive full-time education during any part of it, the student must have already been ordinarily resident in the

and/or

immediately before the three-year period.

Irish students

Due to Irish citizens being free from any immigration restrictions and entitled to access all levels of education in the UK on terms no less favourable than those available to the citizens of the UK under the

Common Travel Area The Common Travel Area (CTA; ga, Comhlimistéar Taistil, ) is an open borders area comprising the United Kingdom, Ireland, Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands. The British Overseas Territories are not included. Based on agreements that are no ...

agreement Irish citizens are treated the same as British citizens for education purposes. On the ''first'' day of the ''first'' academic year of the course, to qualify as a home student, both of the following criteria must be fulfilled by Irish students: *Be ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom *Have been ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom,

and/or

for the whole period of the three years directly preceding the first day of the academic course.

European Union students

Until the British withdrawal from the EU, the following were the conditions that citizens of the European Union had to satisfy in order to be considered a “home student”: On the ''first'' day of the ''first'' academic year of the course, to qualify as a home student, all of the following criteria must be fulfilled by the student: *Be a

citizen, ''or'' the spouse or dependent direct descendant of an EU citizen (including British citizen), ''or'' the dependent direct descendant of the spouse of an EU citizen (including British citizen), ''or'' the self-sufficient direct descendant of an EU citizen (who is ''not'' a British citizen), ''or'' the self-sufficient direct descendant of the spouse of an EU citizen (who is ''not'' a British citizen) *Have been ordinarily resident in the

and/or qualifying overseas territories for the whole period of the three years directly preceding the first day of the academic course *The ''main'' purpose for the three years' residence in the

and/or qualifying overseas territories must not have been to receive full-time education during any part of it.

European Economic Area and Swiss workers and their family members

On the ''first'' day of the ''first'' academic year of the course, to qualify as a home student, all of the following criteria must be fulfilled by the student: *Be a

or Swiss citizen (who is not a British citizen) who is resident in the United Kingdom as a worker (employed, self-employed or a frontier worker (living in the UK but returning to his/her residence in an EEA state/Switzerland other than the UK at least once a week)), ''or'' be the spouse or dependent direct descendant of such a person, ''or'' the self-sufficient direct descendant of such a person, ''or'' the dependent or self-sufficient direct descendant of such a person's spouse *Be ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom *Have been ordinarily resident in the

and/or qualifying overseas territories for the whole period of the three years directly preceding the first day of the academic course

Qualifying overseas territories

The following overseas territories are considered to be 'qualifying overseas territories' in terms of determining home student status: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

{{Reflist

External links

UK Council for International Student Affairs: Tuition fees for study in England, Wales or Northern Ireland
Higher education in the United Kingdom

Eligibility for home student status

United Kingdom students

United Kingdom students having lived in Europe

Irish students

European Union students

European Economic Area and Swiss workers and their family members

Qualifying overseas territories

See also

References

External links