Further education (FE) courses include GCSEs, AS and 'A' levels (and their equivalents), NVQs, GNVQs, BTECs, and Access courses. The info below explains the conditions you need to meet to be entitled to pay tuition fees at the ‘home’ rate on courses of FE in Wales. Check if your course is in higher education (HE) or further education (FE).
The Welsh Government provides funding to FE institutions for 'home' students. Previously the Welsh Government has advised us that FE institutions should determine 'home' fees eligibility using its Guide to the post-16 planning and funding framework ('the Guide').
The Guide is based upon the Education (Fees and Awards) (Wales) Regulations 2007, as amended, which provide for both higher education (HE) and FE fees assessment (but which are primarily used for HE assessment). The Guide is now very dated. It was published in 2013. It is very out-of-sync with provisions in the much-amended Education (Fees and Awards) (Wales) Regulations 2007. From early on, it has, at points, been more restrictive than the HE fees regulations which underpin it. The Welsh Government has confirmed to us in the past that it did not intend the Guide to be more restrictive than the regulations. The Welsh Government has also told us for some time that it planned to make amendments to the Guide.
As at Autumn 2024, we understand that a new guidance document ('Learner eligibility 2024/2025') is being rolled out to FE institutions. UKCISA has been given sight of this document, and UKCISA members can access this in our online manual at Wales FE fees. Welsh Government assures us that this new guidance will shortly be available on the website of the new Commission for Tertiary Education and Research, at Funding for providers - Medr. Unfortunately, as at time of writing, there remains a very prominent link to the existing (and presumably outgoing) Guide. We have highlighted this to Welsh Government. We are seeking clarity from the Welsh Government about when the Guide to the post-16 planning and funding framework will be updated or superceded.
For the time-being, we will retain reference to the categories highlighted in the Guide, in our public web information, below. However, as these are now very dated, they may not serve much use to you any longer. If you are a FE student who does not appear to be eligible under any of the provisions below you should also check whether there is, instead, either:
- provision for you in the newer 'Learner eligibility 2024/2025' guidance which, we understand, your college should have received a copy of; or
- underpinning provision for you in the Education (Fees and Awards) (Wales) Regulations 2007, as amended, which we explain in Wales: HE fee status.
In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:
(a) you must be settled in the UK; and
(b) 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 - eg, if your course begins in October 2024, you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands from 1 September 2021 to 31 August 2024.
In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:
(a) you must be:
- an EU, or overseas territories, national (‘the principal’); or
- the spouse / civil partner, or child / grandchild, or dependent parent / grandparent of either the principal or the principal’s spouse / civil partner;
(b) you must have been ordinarily resident in the EEA and/or Switzerland and/or the overseas territories for the three years before the first day of the first academic year of the course.
In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:
(a) you must be:
- a non-UK EEA national / Swiss national / overseas territories national, and resident in the UK as a worker (‘the principal’); or
- the spouse / civil partner, or child / grandchild, or dependent parent / grandparent of either the principal or the principal’s spouse / civil partner;
and
(b) you must have been ordinarily resident in the EEA and/or Switzerland and/or the overseas territories for the three years before the first day of the first academic year of the course.
In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:
You must be:
- someone who has been recognised as a refugee by the UK government, who has remained ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands since being granted that status (‘the principal’); or
- the spouse / civil partner of the principal; or
- the child of the principal; or
- the child of the spouse / civil partner of the principal.
If you are the family member of the principal, you must have been his/her family member on the date that he/she made the application for asylum.
Additionally, if you are the child of the principal, or the child of the spouse / civil partner of the principal, you must have been under 18 on the date on which he/she made his/her application for asylum.
In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:
You must be a:
- person with humanitarian protection (HP), discretionary leave (DL) or exceptional leave to enter or remain (ELE/ELR) (‘the principal’); or
- the spouse / civil partner of the principal; or
- the child of the principal; or
- the child of the spouse / civil partner of the principal.
If you are the family member of the principal, then you must have been his/her family member on the date that he/she made the immigration application.
Additionally, if you are the child of the principal, or the child of the spouse / civil partner of the principal, or the step-child of the principal, you must have been under 18 on the date on he/she made his/her immigration application.
Note: This category is more restrictive in the Wales Guide than as presented here. The Guide places restrictions on eligibility for family members, which are greater than in the fees regulations.
In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:
(a) you must be the child of a Swiss national; and
(b) you must have been ordinarily resident in the EEA and/or Switzerland and/or the overseas territories for the three years before the first day of the first academic year of the course.
In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:
(a) you must be the child of a Turkish national; and
(b) your Turkish national parent must be ordinarily resident in the UK and must be, or have been, lawfully employed in the UK; and
(c) you must have been ordinarily resident in the EEA and/or Switzerland and/or the overseas territories and/or Turkey for the three years before the first day of the first academic year of the course.
Note: This category is more restrictive in the Wales Guide than as presented here. The Guide places an erroneous requirement that a Turkish worker is someone who is currently working. This is more restrictive than in the fees regulations.
In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet the following:
You are studying in the UK under a reciprocal exchange agreement
In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:
(a) you must be:
- an asylum seeker who is receiving support under The Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, The Children Act 1989, or The National Assistance Act 1948; or
- the spouse / civil partner, the unmarried partner, or same-sex partner, of such an asylum seeker, as above, and have been included in the asylum seeker’s application for asylum; or
- under 18 years old, and the child of such an asylum seeker, as above, and have been included in the asylum seeker’s application for asylum.
or
(b) you must be an asylum seeker refused asylum but eligible for, and granted, support under Section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.
or
(c) you must be an asylum seeker aged 16-18 years; this includes unaccompanied asylum seekers who are placed in the care of the local authority.
If you are aged 16-18 years, you are eligible as a ‘home’ student if you are:
(a) entering the UK and you are:
- a British or EEA or Swiss Citizen; or
- someone whose passport has been endorsed to show you have the right of abode in the UK; or
- someone whose passport has been endorsed to show you have no restrictions on working in the UK (Note: This provision is not actually made in the Guide. However, we previously understood from the Welsh Government that the Guide would be updated to relfect this); or
(b) accompanying or joining parents who have the right to abode or leave to enter or remain in the UK (including those with grant of leave as a Tier 4 dependant), or those who are children of diplomats; or
(c) a dependant of teachers coming to the UK on a teacher-exchange scheme; or
(d) a dependant of serving members of the British Armed Forces.
In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet the following criteria:
You have been granted settled status in the UK some time in the three years immediately before your course starts, eg you were granted Indefinite Leave to Remain, or the Right of Abode, or British Citizenship, during that period.
In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:
You are eligible if you are the spouse / civil partner of:
- a person with settled status living within the UK; or
- an EEA national living within the UK.
In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:
- you are a non-EEA national; and
- you have permission granted by the UK Government to live in the UK and that leave is not for educational purposes; and
- you have been ordinarily resident in the UK for at least the three years immediately before your course starts.
Note: This provision is not in the Guide exactly as worded here. Instead, the Guide provides for “a non-EEA national who is in the UK with work-related immigration permission […] after completing three years of residence in the UK with any work-related permission, or the family member of such a person”. We welcomed this new provision in Wales. However, this wording meant that there is no provision in Wales for over-18 year old family members of those with Indefinite Leave to Enter/Remain, whereas there is in England’s FE provision.
Talk to your institution if you do not meet any of the above categories but think your case is 'exceptional'.
