This information only applies to Student Support decisions being made for the 2020/21 academic year. It does not reflect the Student Support regulations for students starting courses from 1 August 2021 onwards, which the Government published on 8 February 2021. Those new regulations are long and complex. It will therefore be a few weeks before UKCISA is able to update the information on this page. In particular, there will be significant changes to categories 1 to 8 for students starting courses from 1 August 2021 onwards, and the three-year residence test will disappear from categories 11, 13 and 15. For some background information on the announcements the Government made in the lead up to releasing the new regulations, see Brexit - fees and Student Support.
Student Support is, broadly speaking, composed of: a loan for tuition fees; a loan for living costs; certain supplementary grants for specific categories, for example disabled students; and a non-repayable maintenance grant. If you are eligible for a full maintenance grant, you might also be eligible for an additional bursary from your university.
If you meet all the requirements of one or more of the following categories, you will be entitled to some level, and amount, of Student Support. This is only a brief summary of persons who are entitled.
You should apply to Student Finance England. You will find guidance documents, and details of how to apply, on its website. The deadline for your application depends on when your course starts but you must apply within nine months (six months for part-time courses) of the start of the academic year.
The UK government produces the England Student Support regulations, and accompanying guidance, for students and assessors. You can read its policy guidance for practitioners, which can be useful if you are refused Student Support and you do not agree with that decision.
If you do not meet all of the requirements of a category at the start of your course, you may still become entitled to support later on if you experience a relevant change of circumstances. If you are unsure about whether you are entitled to Student Support or if you need further information speak to an adviser at your institution or Students' Union or on our students' advice line.
If you satisfy all the conditions under this category, you will be eligible for full Student Support. To be eligible:
(a) you must be settled in the UK on the first day of the first academic year of the course; and
(b) on the first day of the first academic year of the course you must be ordinarily resident in England; and
(c) you must also have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for the full three-year period before the first day of the first academic year of the course, for example if your course begins in October 2017, you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands from 1 September 2014 to 31 August 2017; and
(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 the three-year period.
Notes:
- It is not necessary to have had settled status in the UK for three years, eg you may have been ordinarily resident for three years but have been given indefinite leave to remain shortly before the first day of the first academic year of the course.
- If you are granted settled status after the first day of the first academic year of your course, or if you can show three years' ordinary residence in the UK and Islands only after that date, you will not become eligible for Student Support. This is because you must meet all requirements of this category on the first day of the first academic year of your course. If you think you are going to be able to meet all the requirements after the first day of the first academic year of a course you have not yet started, you might want to consider deferring your place until a later date.
Students from the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man
If you are in receipt of an award from your Island authority, you are treated differently as there is an agreement between the Island authorities and UK higher education institutions. If you are self-financing, seek advice.
If you satisfy all the conditions under this category, and no other categories, you are eligible only for a loan to pay your tuition fees ('tuition fee loan') and you should apply direct to the Student Loans Company EU Customer Services Team. (Check the information at that link for “EU students”. In this specific context “EU students” is shorthand and means anyone who is eligible for a tuition fee loan in this category, including a British Citizen, an EU national, or someone of any nationality who is eligible as the relevant family member of an EU national or British Citizen.)
If you are starting your course before 1 August 2021:
If you are starting your course before 1 August 2021, then to be eligible:
(a) you must be:
and
(b) you must have been ordinarily resident in the EEA and/or UK and/or Switzerland and/or Gibraltar for three years before the first day of the first academic year of the course; and
(c) the main purpose for your residence in the EEA/UK/Switzerland/Gibraltar residence area must not have been to receive full-time education during any part of the three year period.
If you are starting your course on or after 1 August 2021:
If you are starting your course on or after 1 August 2021, the criteria you will need to meet in order to qualify for Student Support under this category will be quite different, because of Brexit. We do not yet know what they will be. We will update this information when an announcement is made about what the criteria will be. All that we know so far is what is said in this statement from 23 June 2020 by England's Universities Minister:
"Following our decision to leave the EU, EU, other EEA and Swiss nationals will no longer be eligible for home fee status, undergraduate, postgraduate and advanced learner financial support from Student Finance England for courses starting in academic year 2021/22...It will not affect students starting courses in academic year 2020/21, nor those EU, other EEA and Swiss nationals benefiting from Citizens' Rights under the EU Withdrawal Agreement, EEA EFTA Separation Agreement or Swiss Citizens' Rights Agreement respectively. It will also not apply to Irish nationals living in the UK and Ireland whose right to study and to access benefits and services will be preserved on a reciprocal basis for UK and Irish nationals under the Common Travel Area arrangement."
Depending on which conditions you satisfy under this category, you may be eligible for either full Student Support or only the loan for tuition fees.
If you are starting your course before 1 August 2021:
If you are starting your course before 1 August 2021, then to be eligible:
(a) you must be an EU national on the first day of the first academic year of the course. For this category, being a British Citizen doesn't count; and
(b) you must be ordinarily resident in England on the first day of the first academic year of your course; and
(c) for any academic year starting on/after 1 August 2016 -
- for the grant/loan for tuition fees, you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for the three-year period before the first day of the first academic year of the course; or
- for full Student Support, you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for the five-year period before the first day of the first academic year of the course (unless you made your application for Student Support, or have previously been assessed as eligible for support, before 25 March 2016, in which case you only need to have been ordinarily resident for a three-year period);
and
(d) if during any part of the period in (c) [above], the main purpose for your residence was to receive full-time education, you must have been ordinarily resident in UK/EEA/Switzerland/Gibraltar immediately prior to that period of ordinary residence in the UK and Islands. It does not matter if you were in UK/EEA/Switzerland/Gibraltar mainly in order to receive full-time education during this earlier period.
Note: If you do not meet the requirement in (c) to have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for three/five years because you have, instead, been ordinarily resident in the EEA and/or Switzerland and/or Gibraltar, see category 2 (above) for an alternative possible provision.
If you are starting your course on or after 1 August 2021:
If you are starting your course on or after 1 August 2021, the criteria you will need to meet in order to qualify for Student Support under this category will change, because of Brexit. The UK Government has not yet announced what they will be. We will update this information when an announcement is made about what the criteria will be.
If you satisfy all the conditions under this category, you will be eligible for full Student Support. To be eligible, you must meet all the following conditions (a, b and c):
(a) a requirement about the 'right of permanent residence':
If you are starting your course before 1 January 2021, then the requirement is that you have the right of permanent residence in the UK under EU law (EU Directive 2004/38).
If you are starting your course on or after 1 January 2021 but before 1 August 2021, then the requirement is that:
1. You had the right of permanent residence in the UK under EU law (EU Directive 2004/38) at 10.59pm on 31 December 2020; and
2. One of the following is true:
- You have 'settled status' under the EU Settlement Scheme; or
- Your course starts before 1 July 2020; or
- Your course starts on or after 1 July 2020 and you have made an application under the EU Settlement Scheme which has not yet been decided, or if it has been refused then you are still appealing against that refusal.
If you are starting your course on or after 1 August 2021, then the requirement about the 'right of permanent residence' might change a little, because of Brexit. The UK Government has not yet announced how it will change. We will update this information when an announcement is made.
and
(b) you are ordinarily resident in England on the first day of the first academic year of your course; and
(c) you were ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for three years before the first day of the first academic year of the course; and
(d) if your three-year residence in the UK and Islands was at any time mainly for the purpose of receiving full-time education, you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and/or EEA and/or Switzerland and/or Gibraltar immediately prior to the three-year period of ordinary residence in the UK and Islands. It does not matter if you were in the UK/EEA/Switzerland/Gibraltar mainly in order to receive full-time education during this earlier period.
If you satisfy all the conditions under this category, you will be eligible for full Student Support. You should apply direct to the 'EEA Migrant Worker Applications' department of the EU Customer Services Team at the Student Loans Company.
If you are starting your course before 1 January 2020:
If you are starting your course before 1 January 2020, then to be eligible:
(a) you must be:
and
(b) you must be ordinarily resident in England on the first day of the first academic year of the course (unless you are an EEA/Swiss frontier worker or relevant family member of a frontier worker); and
(c) you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and/or EEA and/or Switzerland and/or Gibraltar for the three-year period before the first day of the first academic year of the course.
Note: If you or a relevant family member become an EEA or Swiss migrant worker part-way through your course, you might become entitled to Student Support. You should seek advice on this from your institution, from your Students' Union, or by telephoning our Students' Advice Line.
If you are starting your course on or after 1 January 2021 but before 1 August 2021:
If you are starting your course on or after 1 January 2021 but before 1 August 2021, then it seems likely the criteria you will need to meet in order to qualify for Student Support under this category will remain the same, although the regulations are not clear on this yet. We will update this information when the regulations are clear.
If you are starting your course on or after 1 August 2021:
If you are starting your course on or after 1 August 2021, the criteria you will need to meet in order to qualify for Student Support under this category will be quite different, because of Brexit. We do not yet know what they will be. We will update this information when an announcement is made about what the criteria will be. All that we know so far is what is said in this statement from 23 June 2020 by England's Universities Minister:
"Following our decision to leave the EU, EU, other EEA and Swiss nationals will no longer be eligible for home fee status, undergraduate, postgraduate and advanced learner financial support from Student Finance England for courses starting in academic year 2021/22...It will not affect students starting courses in academic year 2020/21, nor those EU, other EEA and Swiss nationals benefiting from Citizens' Rights under the EU Withdrawal Agreement, EEA EFTA Separation Agreement or Swiss Citizens' Rights Agreement respectively. It will also not apply to Irish nationals living in the UK and Ireland whose right to study and to access benefits and services will be preserved on a reciprocal basis for UK and Irish nationals under the Common Travel Area arrangement."
If you satisfy all the conditions under this category, you will be eligible for full Student Support.
If you are starting your course before 1 August 2021:
If you are starting your course before 1 August 2021, then to be eligible:
(a) you must be settled in the UK; and
(b) you must be ordinarily resident in the UK on the day on which the first term of the first academic year of your course actually begins; and
(c) you must have been ordinarily resident in England and settled in the UK, immediately before leaving the UK and exercising a right of residence before 11pm on 31 December 2020;
Note: The meaning of having "exercised a right of residence" is very limited. It only covers two groups.
First, British Citizens and their family members who go to the EEA and/or Switzerland exercising European rights of free movement as workers or self-employed people, or as students or self-sufficient people.
Second, people with the European right of permanent residence in the UK, who either go elsewhere in the EEA and/or Switzerland exercising European rights of free movement as workers or self-employed people, or as students or self-sufficient people or go to the state in the EEA/Switzerland of which they or their family member is a national.
and
(d) you must have been ordinarily resident in the EEA and/or UK and/or Switzerland and/or Gibraltar for the three-year period before the first day of the first academic year of your course; and
(e) if, during that three-year period, you were ordinarily resident in the EEA/UK/Switzerland/Gibraltar mainly in order to receive full-time education, you must have been ordinarily resident in the EEA/UK/Switzerland/Gibraltar immediately before that three-year period. It does not matter if your main reason for being there before that three-year period was in order to receive full-time education.
If you are starting your course on or after 1 August 2021:
If you are starting your course on or after 1 August 2021, the criteria you will need to meet in order to qualify for Student Support under this category will be quite different, because of Brexit. We do not yet know what they will be. We will update this information when an announcement is made about what the criteria will be.
If you satisfy all the conditions under this category, you will be eligible for full Student Support.
If you are starting your course before 1 August 2021:
If you are starting your course before 1 August 2021, then to be eligible:
(a) you must be the child of a Swiss national, and your Swiss parent must be doing something in the UK that would have counted as "exercising a right of residence in the UK under European law" if Brexit had not happened (for example they are a self-sufficient person, a worker, or a student, in the UK);
and
(b) you must be ordinarily resident in England on the first day of the first academic year of your course; and
(c) you must have been ordinarily resident in Switzerland and/or the UK and/or the EEA and/or Gibraltar for the three-year period before the first day of the first academic year of the course; and
(d) if the main purpose for your residence in Switzerland/UK/EEA/Gibraltar was wholly or mainly for the purpose of receiving full-time education, you must have been ordinarily resident in Switzerland/UK/EEA/Gibraltar immediately before that three-year period. It does not matter if your main reason for being there before that three-year period was in order to receive full-time education.
Becoming eligible
Seek advice about whether you will become eligible for Student Support if you become the child of a Swiss national after the start of your course, for example if: you have a non-Swiss parent who marries or enters into a civil partnership with a Swiss national; or your parent is granted Swiss nationality.
If you are starting your course on or after 1 August 2021:
If you are starting your course on or after 1 August 2021, the criteria you will need to meet in order to qualify for Student Support under this category will be different, because of Brexit. We do not yet know what they will be. We will update this information when an announcement is made about what the criteria will be. All that we know so far is what is said in this statement from 23 June 2020 by England's Universities Minister:
"Following our decision to leave the EU, EU, other EEA and Swiss nationals will no longer be eligible for home fee status, undergraduate, postgraduate and advanced learner financial support from Student Finance England for courses starting in academic year 2021/22...It will not affect students starting courses in academic year 2020/21, nor those EU, other EEA and Swiss nationals benefiting from Citizens' Rights under the EU Withdrawal Agreement, EEA EFTA Separation Agreement or Swiss Citizens' Rights Agreement respectively. It will also not apply to Irish nationals living in the UK and Ireland whose right to study and to access benefits and services will be preserved on a reciprocal basis for UK and Irish nationals under the Common Travel Area arrangement."
If you satisfy all the conditions under this category, you will be eligible for full Student Support.
If you are starting your course before 1 August 2021:
If you are starting your course before 1 August 2021, then to be eligible:
(a) you must be the child of a Turkish national; and
(b) your Turkish national parent must:
and
(c) you must be ordinarily resident in England on the first day of the first academic year of your course; and
(d) you must have been ordinarily resident in Turkey and/or the UK and/or the EEA and/or Switzerland and/or Gibraltar for the three-year period before the first day of the first academic year of the course.
Note: If you become the child of a Turkish worker after the start of your course, for example, if you have a parent who marries or enters into a civil partnership with a Turkish worker, seek advice about whether you will become eligible for Student Support.
If you are starting your course on or after 1 August 2021:
If you are starting your course on or after 1 August 2021, the criteria you will need to meet in order to qualify for Student Support under this category will be tighter, because of Brexit. The UK Government has not yet announced what they will be. We will update this information when an announcement is made about what the criteria will be.
If you satisfy all the conditions under this category, you will be eligible for full Student Support. To be eligible:
(a) you must be ordinarily resident in England on the first day of the first academic year of your course; and
(b) you must:
- have been recognised as a refugee by the UK Government and have remained ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands since then; or
- be the spouse / civil partner of such a refugee and have been in that relationship on the date on which he/she made his/her application for asylum; or
- be the child of such a refugee, or the child of such a refugee's spouse / civil partner, and be able to show that on the date that refugee made his/her application for asylum, you were:
- under 18 years of age; and
- the refugee was your parent, or your parent's spouse / civil partner.
If your permission to be in the UK has run out, you are still eligible for Student Support if you can show that you applied to extend or change your immigration status before your permission to be here expired, and you are still waiting for a decision on that application, or that you are in the process of appealing against a Home Office decision to refuse you further immigration permission.
Becoming eligible
If you are, or if your parent (or your parent's spouse / civil partner) is, or your own spouse / civil partner is, granted refugee status after the start of your course, seek advice about whether you will become eligible for Student Support.
Refugee Status: where someone gains British citizenship
The Immigration Rules revoke someone's Refugee Status once s/he subsequently obtains a new nationality, eg when a refugee gains British citizenship. If you have, or a relevant family member has, Refugee Status and you are, or the person with that status is, considering applying for British (or any other) citizenship, you should be aware that such an application could have an effect on your fees status or your eligibility for Student Support.
If you satisfy all the conditions under this category, you will be eligible for full Student Support. To be eligible:
(a) you must be ordinarily resident in England on the first day of the first academic year of the course; and
(b) you must be:
- a "person granted humanitarian protection", which means a person:
- who has been granted leave to remain in the UK under the Immigration Rules, on the grounds of 'humanitarian protection'; and
- whose leave to remain is 'extant', or in respect of whose leave to remain an appeal is pending; and
- who has been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the period since being granted their humanitarian protection;
or
- the spouse or civil partner of a "person granted humanitarian protection" (as above), and you must have been the spouse or civil partner of that person on the date on which they applied for asylum;
or
- the child of a "person granted humanitarian protection" (as above), or a child of that person's spouse or civil partner, and, at the time the person granted humanitarian protection applied for asylum, you must have been under 18 years old and the child of that person or of someone who was the spouse or civil partner of that person on that date.
New guidance about this category in March 2020
The Student Support regulations currently require that you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for the full three-year period before the first day of the first academic year of the course. However, the Department for Education (DfE) is now advising Student Finance England assessors to no longer apply this requirement to any student who would otherwise be eligible under this category. See our news item Humanitarian Protection: good news on fees and finance (27 March 2020).
Immigration status has expired
If the immigration permission of the "person granted humanitarian protection" has run out, he/she (or an appropriate family member of that person, as in (b)2. and (b)3. above) will still eligible for Student Support if that person: applied to extend/change his/her immigration status before his/her permission to be here expired and a decision is still awaited on that application; or is in the process of appealing against a Home Office decision to refuse further immigration permission.
Becoming eligible
If you are, or if your parent (or your parent's spouse / civil partner) is, or your own spouse / civil partner is, granted humanitarian protection after the start of the course, seek advice about whether you will become eligible for Student Support.
This is a new category and is only for students who are commencing a course on/after 1 August 2018.
In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet the following criteria:
(a) you must be ordinarily resident in England on the first day of the first academic year of the course; and
(b) you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the three-year period preceding the first day of the first academic year of the course; and
(c) you must be:
1. a "person granted stateless leave", which means a person who has:
- extant leave to remain as a stateless person under the immigration rules [within the meaning given in section 33(1) of the Immigration Act 1971(c)]; and
- been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the period since [having been] granted such leave;
or
2. a person who is the spouse / civil partner of a "person granted stateless leave" and, on the leave application date, was the spouse / civil partner of a "person granted stateless leave";
or
3. a person who is the child of a "person granted stateless leave", or the child of the spouse / civil partner of a "person granted stateless leave", and on the leave application date was under 18 and:
- the child of a "person granted stateless leave" or
- the child of a person who, on the leave application date, was the spouse / civil partner of a "person granted stateless leave".
If you satisfy all the conditions under this category, you will be eligible for full Student Support. To be eligible:
(a) on the first day of the first academic year of the course, you must be either:
(i) under the age of 18 and have lived in the UK throughout the seven-year period preceding the first day of the first academic year of the course; or
(ii) aged 18 years old or above and, preceding the first day of the first academic year of the course, have lived in the UK throughout either:
(aa) half your life; or
(bb) a period of twenty-years;
and
(b) you must be ordinarily resident in England; and
(c) you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the three-year period preceding the first day of the first academic year of the course; and
(d) your residence in the UK and Islands must not have been, during any part of the period referred to in paragraph (c), wholly or mainly for the purpose of receiving full-time education [unless you are to be treated as having been ordinarily resident in the UK & Islands due to either you, or a relevant family member, having been temporarily employed outside the UK & Islands].
Just for Kids Law have written two blogs about this new category, giving advice for people who are applying for the:
Read more about why this category was introduced.
This category is only for students who started a course on/after 1 August 2019.
If you satisfy all the conditions under this category, you will be eligible for full Student Support. To be eligible:
(a) you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for the full three-year period before the first day of the first academic year of the course; and
(b) you must be ordinarily resident in the England on the first day of the first academic year of the course; and
(c) you must be either:
1. a person with Section 67 leave (it doesn’t matter if the Section 67 leave is for a limited period, or an indefinite period); or
2. a dependent child of a person with Section 67 leave, who has been granted leave for the same period;
and
(d) you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the period since being granted your leave.
This category is only for students who start a course on/after 1 August 2020. See our news item on 7 February 2020.
If you satisfy all the conditions under this category, you will be eligible for full Student Support. To be eligible:
(a) you must be a person who has been granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK under any of the following provisions of the immigration rules, as defined in section 33(1) of the Immigration Act 1971(4)
(i) paragraph 289B (victims of domestic violence);
(ii) paragraph D-DVILR.1.1. of Appendix FM (victims of domestic abuse); or
(iii) paragraph 40 of Appendix Armed Forces (victims of domestic violence: partners of members of the armed forces);
(b) you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands since you were granted such leave; and
(c) you must be ordinarily resident in England on the first day of the first academic year of the course. [If you are applying for a further education loan, you are allowed to be ordinarily resident in the wider area of the UK on this day.]
This category is only for students who start a course on/after 1 August 2020. See our news item on 7 February 2020.
If you satisfy all the conditions under this category, you will be eligible for full Student Support. To be eligible:
(a) you must be a person granted Calais leave, which means “a person who has extant leave to remain in the UK under paragraph 352J, 352K, 352L or 352T (Calais leave and “leave in line” granted by virtue of being a dependent child of a person granted Calais leave) of the immigration rules, as defined in section 33(1) of the Immigration Act 1971”;
(b) you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands since you were granted such leave; and
(c) you must be ordinarily resident in England on the first day of the first academic year of the course [If you are applying for a further education loan, you are allowed to be ordinarily resident in the wider area of the UK on this day]; and
(d) you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for the full three-year period before the first day of the first academic year of the course.
