F-E.4.2

Fee Status assessment for new (and existing) students

Fee Status definition: The University’s assessment of your fee status will determine whether you pay the lower ‘Home/EU’ Tuition Fee rate or the higher ‘International’ fee rate. You should expect your fee status to remain the same throughout your course unless your immigration status changes during the course. In such cases, you have the right to request a reassessment of your status. See below for more details of this process.

NB This information relates only to tuition fee status. The eligibility rules for Student Support differ from the fees regulations in significant ways. Please contact the Money Advice and Support Office for further advice on Student Support.

1. New students:

If you are a new student and have applied to study on an Undergraduate or Postgraduate course your Fee Status is determined by the Admissions Office, based on the information you have supplied on your course application form (or via your UCAS application) and on the University’s own fee assessment questionnaire (if applicable). The Admissions Office will confirm in your Offer letter whether you will be charged ‘Home/EU’ or ‘International’ Tuition Fees. (In some cases, further clarification will be sought to determine the correct status for you before a final ‘Offer’ letter is issued and/or you may be advised to defer your studies until such a time that your meet the essential requirements for ‘Home/EU’ rate Tuition Fees).

The University follow the guidance notes published by UKCISA (UK Council for International Student Affairs) when assessing a student’s Fee Status. These guidance notes interpret the Education (Fees and Awards) (Wales) Regulations 2007 and 2008 on tuition fee status.

To be determined as Home fee status you must fulfil the following three essential conditions: If,

  • you have been ordinarily resident in the UK for the 3-year period prior to starting your course (apart from temporary absences). The regulations calculate the 3 year period before either 1st January, 1st April, 1st July or 1st September, which ever date is nearest to and precedes the start of your course; and
  • you have not, at any time during that period, been resident in the UK solely for the purpose of receiving full-time education; and
  • you have “settled status” in the UK (i.e. you are not subject, under the UK immigrations laws, to any time restriction on the duration of your period of residence) on either 1st January, 1st April, 1st July or 1st September, whichever is nearest to and precedes the start of your course.

In addition, the following categories of students may be assessed as home students, if they meet all the conditions:

-EU nationals (or a family member of an EU national),

-Persons who have been granted refugee status or ‘leave to remain’ in the UK, or their family members,

-Students who are migrant workers (or the child of a migrant worker) from the EEA and Switzerland)

-Children of a Turkish worker in the UK

For further information and clarification, please refer to the UKCISA website ( in particular, the following two links: -

Will I pay ‘home’ or ‘Overseas’ rate? :

Student Support: applying in Wales:

2. Current students:

If your are a current student and your residency status, citizenship or certain other circumstances have changed after you have accepted your Offer and have started your course, you may be eligible for a review to your Fee Status.

This would normally only apply to students in the following instances: If,

  • you (or a family member of) have been granted Refugee status, or
  • you (or a family member of) have been granted HP (Humanitarian Protection) or DL (Discretionary Leave), or
  • you (or a family member of) have become an EU National or a family member of an EU National, or
  • you (or a family member of) have become an EEA or Swiss migrant ‘worker, or
  • you become the child of a Swiss National, or
  • you become the child of a Turkish ‘worker’

In each instance all relevant conditions must be met, as set out in the Education (Fees and Awards) (Wales) Regulations 2007 and 2008 and explained in the UKCISA guidelines.

If you meet one of the instances highlighted above, you can complete the attached Fee Questionnaire to apply for a review to your Fee Status. Please send the completed questionnaire (along with the required documentary evidence) to: - Alison Hutchings, Student Records Office, Singleton Abbey. Your case will be reviewed by a panel of representatives from the International Students Advisory Service, Money Advice and Support Office, Admissions Office and the Student Records Office (who may also liaise with your Local Authority with regard to your Student Support eligibility). The panel will meet once a term and you will be notified in writing of the outcome of your re-assessment.

If you are successfully re-assessed as Home or EU fee status, you will be charged the lower ‘home’ rate of Tuition Fees from the start of the following Academic Year.

Fee Questionnaire (attachment or link)

Enquiries:

  • Admissions:Tel: 01792 295111 E-mail:
  • International Students Advisory Service: Tel: 01792 602000 E-mail:
  • Money Advice and Support Office: Tel: 01792 602000 E-mail:
  • Student Record Office (Tuition Fees): Tel: 01792 295803 E-mail:

August 2009