Wales: HE fee status

Last modified: 16 August 2024

Before you look at this page, you should read our introductory information about 'Home' and 'Overseas' fees and find out if your course is higher education (HE) or further education (FE).

On this page special definitions are used for some words. They don't have the meanings used in everyday life, because they are the definitions used in regulations. Look at Definitions: for fee status assessment (at the bottom of this page) to find out about them. 

 

Higher Education

Last modified: 16 August 2024

Higher education (HE) courses include HNC and HND courses, undergraduate degrees (for example, BA, BSc, BEd), and postgraduate degrees (for example, MA, MSc, PhD). 

The rules about who pays ‘home’ fees for higher education courses in Wales are set by the Welsh Government (they are not set by UKCISA). They are set out in the following sets of regulations:

The regulations identify all the different ‘categories’ of student who can insist on paying the ‘home’ rate of fee. They set out all the requirements you need to meet, to fit one those categories.

If you meet all the criteria required by any one category, including any residence requirements, your institution must charge you the ‘home’ fee rate. You only need to find one category that you fit into (if you fit more than one, that is not a problem).

The regulations can be difficult to understand, so UKCISA has provided this information to help you. 

There are lots of different categories to look at. Most of them are described in this pdf guide:





The remaining categories are for very niche groups. They are described below, numbered 1 to 10b - open up the section if you think one of them might apply to you.

1. ‘Persons with leave to enter or remain’ (family life or Appendix FM or private life or Article 8 or discretionary leave), and family

2. Those with leave as a victim of domestic violence or domestic abuse, and children

3. Those with leave as a bereaved partner, and children

4. Refugees, and family

5. Those granted humanitarian protection, and family

6. Those granted stateless leave, and family

7. Those with section 67 leave, and children

8. Those with Calais leave

9a. Persons with leave under the Afghan Schemes, and family (use this category only if the academic year you are paying fees for starts on or after 1 August 2024)

9b. Persons granted leave under the Afghan Schemes (use this category only if the academic year you are paying fees for starts on any date in the period 1 August 2022 to 31 July 2024)

10a. Ukraine protection, and family (use this category only if the academic year you are paying fees for starts on or after 1 August 2024)

10b. Ukraine protection (use this category only if the academic year you are paying fees for starts on any date in the period 1 August 2022 to 31 July 2024)


Extra options if you started your course before 1 August 2021:

If you started your course before 1 August 2021, you have more options available to you. All the categories described below (at letters A to I) are open to you, as well as the categories described in the pdf guide, and a few of the categories described earlier on this web page (1, 4, 6 and 7).

So if you started your course before 1 August 2021, you have potential to use any of the following categores (if you meet every requirement listed for the particular category):

  • the categories described below (at letters A-I)
  • the categories described in the pdf guide
  • the categories described earlier on this web page that relate to 'persons with leave to enter or remain', refugees, stateless leave and section 67 leave (see numbers 1, 4, 6 and 7)

You have to meet every requirement that is listed for the category you want to use. If there is a requirement listed that says you must start your course after a particular date, check if you meet it.
 

A. Those who are 'settled' in the UK and meet the main residence requirements

B. Those who are 'settled' in the UK and have exercised a 'right of residence' in the EEA and/or Switzerland

C. EU nationals or British Citizens, and family

D. ‘EU Nationals in the UK’

E. Those with the 'right of permanent residence' in the UK

F. EEA/Swiss workers, and family

G. Child of a former EEA migrant worker

H. Child of a Swiss National

I. Child of a Turkish worker

 

Definitions: for fee status assessment

Last modified: 16 August 2024

This section has explanations about words and terms which occur in our information, above. These explanations should not be read in isolation but, instead, combined with the appropriate fee status category.

Dependent

European Economic Area (EEA)

European Union (EU)

First day of the academic year

Ordinary residence

Overseas Territories

Settled

UK and Islands

Relevant family members of EU nationals or British Citizens

Relevant family members of EEA workers

Relevant family members of Swiss workers

Meaning of 'child'

 

11 June 2020
Updates were made to the toggles above entitled 'Relevant family members of EU nationals', 'Relevant family members of EEA workers', and 'Relevant family members of Swiss workers', to incorporate changes to the definition of a 'civil partner'.

26 June 2021 
Changes throughout to reflect widespread changes to categories from 1 August 2021. 

23 October 2021
Version 1 of pdf guide 'Who pays 'home' fees for higher education in Wales?' (26 June 2021) replaced by version 2 (23 October 2021). 

14 January 2022
Version 2 of pdf guide 'Who pays 'home' fees for higher education in Wales?' (23 October 2021) replaced by version 3 (14 January 2022). 

8 April 2022
Information on category 17, 'Persons granted leave under the Afghan Schemes' included. 

22 July 2022
Information on category 18, 'Ukraine protection' included. 

29 April 2023
Version 3 of pdf guide 'Who pays 'home' fees for higher education in Wales?' (14 January 2022) replaced by version 4 (28 April 2023). 

4 May 2023
Layout of page adjusted, and categories A to I put into the past tense, for clarity. 

22 December 2023
Categories 9 and 10 split into a and b, because there is provision for family in the Afghan Schemes and Ukraine Protection categories, from August 2024. 

21 May 2024
Version 5 of pdf guide 'Who pays 'home' fees for higher education in Wales?' (21 May 2024) uploaded, to replace version 4 (28 April 2023).

16 August 2024
Categories 2 and 3 now include reference to the new Appendix Victim of Domestic Abuse and the new Appendix Bereaved Partner in the Immigration Rules. Those categories also now encompass leave to enter as well as leave to remain.


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