Full list of categories for HE in Northern Ireland

If you started your course before 1 August 2021:

In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must have met all of the following criteria:

(a) you must have been settled in the UK on the first day of the first academic year of the course; and

(b) you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK on the first day of the first academic year of the course; 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 began in October 2020, you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands from 1 September 2017 to 31 August 2020; 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 that three-year period.

Note: It was not necessary to have had settled immigration status in the UK for the full three years. You only needed to show that you had it on, at the latest, the first day of the first academic year of the course.

Extra note: If you meet all the criteria but the reason you moved to Northern Ireland from England, Wales, Scotland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man was to undertake a course, then you will be charged a higher rate of ‘home’ fee than a Northern Ireland student (for example it might be £9,250 instead of £4,750 for an undergraduate course).

British Overseas Territories Citizens (BOTCs)

Many British Overseas Territories Citizens (BOTCs) are also British Citizens. If this is your situation, but you were not 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, check Category C. Category C required three years’ ordinary residence in a wider residence area which included the British Overseas Territories.

Students from the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man

If you moved to the UK for your course of study (or a course of study you finished immediately before it), you were treated as being ordinarily resident in the Islands and as not ordinarily resident in the UK. You were therefore unable to meet (b) above. If you are in this position, check with your institution about what fee rate they will charge you (they might have a special 'Islands' rate).

If you started your course on or after 1 August 2021:

This category has been replaced. Do not read the information about this category given here. Instead, look higher up the page for information about the categories that replace this one. All of categories A to I have been replaced.

This category covers people who are British Citizens, or otherwise settled, and who move from the UK to the EEA/Switzerland, then return to the UK.

If you started your course before 1 August 2021:

Special note: For academic years that start on or after 1 August 2021, you are only allowed to use this category if you previously qualified under one of the following categories for the same course (or for a course you have transferred from):

• Those who are 'settled' in the UK and have exercised a 'right of residence' in the EEA/Switzerland
• EU nationals (or British Citizens), and family
• EU nationals in the UK
• EEA/Swiss workers, and family
• Child of a former EEA migrant worker
• Child of a Swiss national
• Child of a Turkish worker

This is because of regulation 5(1A)(b) of the Student Fees (Qualifying Courses and Persons) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007.

First, check you are not ruled out by the 'Special note' above. If you are not ruled out by the 'Special note' above, and you started your course before 1 August 2021, then in order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:

(a) you are settled in the UK; and

(b) you left the UK and exercised a right of residence before 11pm on 31 December 2020, having already been settled in the UK;

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 went 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 went 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 went to the state in the EEA/Switzerland of which they or their family member was a national.

and

(c) you are ordinarily resident in the UK on the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually begins; and

(d) you have been ordinarily resident in the EEA and/or UK and/or Switzerland and/or the overseas territories and/or Gibraltar for the three years preceding the first day of the first academic year of the course; and

(e) in a case where the ordinary residence referred to in (d) above was wholly or mainly for the purposes of receiving full-time education, you have been ordinarily resident in EEA/Switzerland/UK/Gibraltar immediately before that three-year period.

Extra note: If you meet all the criteria but the reason you moved to Northern Ireland from England, Wales, Scotland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man was to undertake a course, then you will be charged a higher rate of ‘home’ fee than a Northern Ireland student (for example it might be £9,250 instead of £4,750 for an undergraduate course).

If you started your course on or after 1 August 2021:

This category has been replaced. Do not read the information about this category given here. Instead, look higher up the page for information about the new categories. All of categories A to I have been replaced.

If you started your course before 1 August 2021:

Special note: For academic years that start on or after 1 August 2021, you are only allowed to use this category if you previously qualified under one of the following categories for the same course (or for a course you have transferred from):

• EU nationals (or British Citizens), and family
• EU nationals in the UK
• EEA/Swiss workers, and family
• Child of a former EEA migrant worker
• Child of a Swiss national
• Child of a Turkish worker
• Those who are ‘settled’ in the UK and have exercised a ‘right of residence’ in the EEA/Switzerland

This is because of regulation 5(1A)(b) of the Student Fees (Qualifying Courses and Persons) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007. 

This means that although British Citizens and their family members are mentioned in this category now, it is unlikely they will be able to use it in reality. They will need to have previously qualified under one of the categories mentioned above for the same course (or for a course they have transferred from), to be able to use this category. Before 1 August 2021, they were specifically excluded from using this particular category. Check through all the categories on this page to see if there is another category they qualify for. 

First, check you are not ruled out by the 'Special note' above. If you are not ruled out by the 'Special note' above, and you started your course before 1 August 2021, then in order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:

(a) on the first day of an academic year of your course, you must be:

• an EU national; or
• a British Citizen (but read the special note at the start of the category carefully); or
• the relevant family member of an EU national, and that EU national is in the UK as a self sufficient person, student, or worker; or
• the relevant family member of a British Citizen (but read the special note at the start of the category carefully);

and

(b) you must undertake the course in Northern Ireland; and

(c) you must have been ordinarily resident in the EEA and/or UK and/or Switzerland and/or the overseas territories and/or Gibraltar for the three years before the first day of the first academic year of the course (if you do not meet this requirement, see the Special Provision below); and

(d) the main purpose of your residence in the EEA/UK/Switzerland/overseas territories/Gibraltar residence area must not have been to receive full-time education during any part of the three-year period (if you do not meet this requirement, see the Special Provision below).

Special Provision about the residence requirement

You do not have to meet the Category C (c) or (d) criteria (above) if your course started on or after 1 September 2013 and:

1) you are the relevant family member of a:

• EU national, and that EU national is in the UK as a self sufficient person, student, or worker; or
• British Citizen, and that British Citizen has exercised a right of residence under EU law in an EU member state for more than three months as a self-sufficient person, student, worker, or a family member accompanying one of these types of people;

and

2) your relevant family member has been ordinarily resident in the EEA and/or UK and/or Switzerland and/or the overseas territories and/or Gibraltar for the three years before the 'first day of the first academic year of the course' that you are studying.

Extra note: If you meet all the criteria but the reason you moved to Northern Ireland from England, Wales, Scotland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man was to undertake a course, then you will be charged a higher rate of ‘home’ fee than a Northern Ireland student (for example it might be £9,250 instead of £4,750 for an undergraduate course).

If you started your course on or after 1 August 2021:

This category has been replaced. Do not read the information about this category given here. Instead, look higher up the page for information about the new categories. All of categories A to I have been replaced.

If you started your course before 1 August 2021:

Special note: For academic years that start on or after 1 August 2021, you are only allowed to use this category if you previously qualified under one of the following categories for the same course (or for a course you have transferred from):

• EU nationals in the UK 
• EU nationals (or British Citizens), and family
• EEA/Swiss workers, and family
• Child of a former EEA migrant worker
• Child of a Swiss national
• Child of a Turkish worker
• Those who are ‘settled’ in the UK and have exercised a ‘right of residence’ in the EEA/Switzerland

This is because of regulation 5(1A)(b) of the Student Fees (Qualifying Courses and Persons) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007.

First, check that you are not ruled out by the 'Special note' above. If you are not ruled out by the 'Special note' above, and you started your course before 1 August 2021, then in order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:

(a) you were 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 were ordinarily resident in the UK on first day of the first academic year of the course; and

(c) you were ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for the three-year period before the first day of the first academic year of the course; and

(d) if for the three-year period, the main purpose for you residing in the UK and Islands was to receive full-time education, you must have been ordinarily resident in the EEA and/or UK and/or Switzerland and/or the overseas territories and/or Gibraltar immediately prior to the three-year period of ordinary residence in the UK and Islands.

Extra note: If you meet all the criteria but the reason you moved to Northern Ireland from England, Wales, Scotland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man was to undertake a course, then you will be charged a higher rate of ‘home’ fee than a Northern Ireland student (for example it might be £9,250 instead of £4,750 for an undergraduate course).


If you started your course on or after 1 August 2021:

This category has been replaced. Do not read the information about this category given here. Instead, look higher up the page for information about the new categories. All of categories A to I have been replaced.

Special note: This category was removed and replaced on 1 August 2021 (even for people who were already on courses). If you started a course before 1 August 2021 and qualified for 'home' fees on the basis of this category then you can read about the replacement category you will be tested against for later years of your course in the category titled '3 years in UK and Islands, EUSS settled status connection', higher up the page.  

For academic years that started before 1 August 2021, in order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you needed to meet all of the following criteria, (a, b, c and d):

(a) a requirement about the 'right of permanent residence':

If you started your course before 1 January 2021, then the requirement was that you had the right of permanent residence in the UK under EU law (EU Directive 2004/38) on the first day of an academic year of the course.

If you started your course on or after 1 January 2021 but before 1 August 2021, then the requirement was 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 was true on the first day of an academic year of the course:

• You had 'settled status' under the EU Settlement Scheme; or
• Your course started before 1 July 2020; or
• Your course started on or after 1 July 2020 and you had made an application under the EU Settlement Scheme which had not yet been decided, or if it had been refused then you were still appealing against that refusal.

and

(b) you were ordinarily resident in the UK on the first day of the first academic year of the course; and

(c) you were ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for the three-year period before the first day of the first academic year of the course; and

(d) if for the three-year period, the main purpose for you residing in the UK and Islands was to receive full-time education, you must have been ordinarily resident in the EEA and/or UK and/or Switzerland and/or the overseas territories and/or Gibraltar immediately prior to that three-year period.

Extra note: If you meet all the criteria but the reason you moved to Northern Ireland from England, Wales, Scotland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man was to undertake a course, then you will be charged a higher rate of ‘home’ fee than a Northern Ireland student (for example it might be £9,250 instead of £4,750 for an undergraduate course).

If you started your course on or after 1 August 2021:

This category has been replaced. Do not read the information about this category given here. Instead, look higher up the page for information about the replacement category, it is titled ‘3 years in UK and Islands, EUSS settled status connection’.  

If you started your course before 1 January 2021:

Special note: For academic years that start on or after 1 August 2021, you are only allowed to use this category if you previously qualified under one of the following categories for the same course (or for a course you have transferred from):

• EEA/Swiss workers, and family
• EU nationals (or British Citizens), and family
• EU nationals in the UK
• Child of a former EEA migrant worker
• Child of a Swiss national
• Child of a Turkish worker
• Those who are ‘settled’ in the UK and have exercised a ‘right of residence’ in the EEA/Switzerland

This is because of regulation 5(1A)(b) of the Student Fees (Qualifying Courses and Persons) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007. 

First, check that you are not ruled out by the 'Special note' above. If you are not ruled out by the 'Special note' above, and you started your course before 1 January 2021, then in order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:

(a) on the first day of an academic year of your course you must be:

• a non-UK EEA national, or a Swiss national, and resident in the UK as a worker; or
• the relevant family member of such a non-UK EEA national worker or the relevant family member of such a Swiss worker;

and

(b) you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK on the first day of the first academic year of the course (unless you are an EEA or Swiss frontier worker or relevant family member of a frontier worker); and

(c) you must have been ordinarily resident in the EEA and/or UK and/or Switzerland and/or the overseas territories and/or Gibraltar for the three years before the first day of the first academic year of the course.

Note:

• If you fail to meet requirement (c), and you are the family member of an EU national (that is, excluding nationals of Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland), see category C (above) for a 'special provision' which allows an EU national to meet the residence requirement on behalf of their student family member.
  
  

If you started your course on or after 1 January 2021 but before 1 August 2021:

If you started your course on or after 1 January 2021 but before 1 August 2021, then it seems likely the criteria you need to meet in order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category remain the same, although the regulations are not clear on this yet. We will update this information when the regulations are clear.

If you started your course on or after 1 August 2021:

This category has been replaced. Do not read the information about this category given here. Instead, look higher up the page for information about the new categories. All of categories A to I have been replaced.

If you started your course before 1 August 2021:

Special note: For academic years that start on or after 1 August 2021, you are only allowed to use this category if you previously qualified under one of the following categories for the same course (or for a course you have transferred from):

• Child of a former EEA migrant worker
• EU nationals (or British Citizens), and family
• EU nationals in the UK
• EEA/Swiss workers, and family
• Child of a Swiss national
• Child of a Turkish worker
• Those who are ‘settled’ in the UK and have exercised a ‘right of residence’ in the EEA/Switzerland

First, check that you are not ruled out by the 'Special note' above. If you are not ruled out by the 'Special note' above, and you started your course before 1 August 2021, then in order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:

(a) on the first day of an academic year of your course:

• you must be the child of an EEA national (but it does not matter if you are now over 21 and are no longer dependent on the EEA national); and
• your EEA national parent must be someone who has been employed (not self-employed) in the UK, and at some point in time you must have lived in the UK as the child of that person whilst she/he was employed here. You should usually have started studying in the UK (not necessarily this course) while under the age of 21 or while still dependent on that person, and at a level lower than higher education. It does not matter if your EEA national parent is not employed now, or is no longer in the UK;

and

(b) you must be ordinarily resident in the UK on the first day of the first academic year of the course; and

(c) you must have been ordinarily resident in the EEA and/or UK and/or Switzerland and/or the overseas territories and/or Gibraltar for the three years before the first day of the first academic year of the course.

If you started your course on or after 1 August 2021:

This category has been replaced. Do not read the information about this category given here. Instead, look higher up the page for information about the new categories. All of categories A to I have been replaced.

If you started your course before 1 August 2021:

Special note: For academic years that start on or after 1 August 2021, you are only allowed to use this category if you previously qualified under one of the following categories for the same course (or for a course you have transferred from):

• Child of a Swiss national
• EU nationals (or British Citizens), and family
• EU nationals in the UK
• EEA/Swiss workers, and family
• Child of a former EEA migrant worker
• Child of a Turkish worker
• Those who are ‘settled’ in the UK and have exercised a ‘right of residence’ in the EEA/Switzerland

This is because of regulation 5(1A)(b) of the Student Fees (Qualifying Courses and Persons) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007.

First, check that you are not ruled out by the 'Special note' above. If you are not ruled out by the 'Special note' above, and you started your course before 1 August 2021, then in order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:

(a) on the first day of an academic year of your course 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 the UK on the first day of the first academic year of the course; and

(c) you must have been ordinarily resident in the EEA and/or UK and/or Switzerland and/or the overseas territories and/or Gibraltar for the three years before the first day of the first academic year of the course; and

(d) if for the three-year period, the main purpose for you residing in the large area described in (c) was to receive full-time education, you must have been ordinarily resident in the EEA/Switzerland/UK/Gibraltar immediately before that three-year period.

If you started your course on or after 1 August 2021:

If you started your course before 1 August 2021:

Special note: For academic years that start on or after 1 August 2021, you are only allowed to use this category if you previously qualified under one of the following categories for the same course (or for a course you have transferred from):

• Child of a Turkish worker
• EU nationals (or British Citizens), and family
• EU nationals in the UK
• EEA/Swiss workers, and family
• Child of a former EEA migrant worker
• Child of a Swiss national
• Those who are ‘settled’ in the UK and have exercised a ‘right of residence’ in the EEA/Switzerland

This is because of regulation 5(1A)(b) of the Student Fees (Qualifying Courses and Persons) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007.


First, check that you are not ruled out by the 'Special note' above. If you are not ruled out by the 'Special note' above, and you started your course before 1 August 2021, then in order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:

(a) on the first day of an academic year of your course, you must be the child of a Turkish national; and

(b) on the first day of that academic year of your course, your Turkish national parent must:

• be ordinarily resident in the UK; and
• be, or have been, lawfully employed in the UK;

and

(c) you must be ordinarily resident in the UK on the first day of the first academic year of the course; and

(d) you must have been ordinarily resident in the EEA and/or UK and/or Switzerland and/or Turkey and/or the overseas territories and/or Gibraltar for the three years before the first day of the first academic year of the course.

If you started your course on or after 1 August 2021:

This category has been replaced. Do not read the information about this category given here. Instead, look higher up the page for information about the new category for ‘Brexit protected rights: Child of a Turkish worker’.