Fee Status – Home or Overseas?

Publicly funded higher-education institutions in the UK typically charge two tiers of fees – a lower ‘UK’ fee, and a higher ‘Overseas’ fee.

Your fee status can be determined by various criteria, often tied to residency rather than nationality or citizenship.

In order to qualify for ‘UK’ fees, you must meet all of the following criteria:

  • (a) you must be settled in the UK on the first day of the first academic year of the course
  • (b) you must be ordinarily resident in the UK on the first day of the first academic year of the course
  • (c) you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands (the Islands means the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) for the full three year period before the first day of the first academic year of the course (for example, if your course began in October 2014, you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands from 1 September 2011 to 31 August 2014)
  • (d) the main purpose for your residence in the UK and Islands must not have been to receive full-time education during any part of that three-year period.

The UK has now formally left the EU. Students from the EU, EEA and Switzerland who start their programme of study in 2021 or later will no longer be eligible for the UK (Home) fee status and will pay fees at the Overseas rate.

EU nationals (except Irish nationals living in the UK or Ireland), and other EEA and Swiss nationals will no longer be eligible for home fee status for courses starting in academic year 2021/22 unless they are benefitting from Citizens’ Rights under the EU Withdrawal Agreement, EEA EFTA Separation Agreement or Swiss Citizens’ Rights Agreement respectively.

EU, other EEA and Swiss nationals who are covered by the Withdrawal Agreements will continue to have access to home fee status and student financial support on broadly the same basis as now. Generally this covers those who:
• are living in the UK by 31 December 2020 having exercised a right to reside under EU law, the EEA Agreement or the Free Movement of Persons Agreement, and;
• continue to live in the UK after 31 December 2020.

Irish nationals living in the UK or Ireland will have access to Home Fees without having to apply for the EU Settlement scheme.

 

Notes:

On 21 April the UK Government confirmed that EU students applying for university places in the 2018 to 2019 academic year would remain eligible for financial support.

Please be aware that regulation regarding fee status is subject to change, and that there are several exceptions and details to the above criteria. You may wish to read the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) guidance on Fee Status for the most up-to-date and thorough information.

If you have any queries regarding Fee Status, please contact us at ugadmissions@courtauld.ac.uk or pgadmissions@courtauld.ac.uk as appropriate.

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