The rules that determine whether or not the following categories of student can insist on paying ‘home’ fees for higher education in England are changing a little, for academic years that start on or after 1 August 2023 (even for students who are already on courses):
- Refugees, and family
- Those granted humanitarian protection, and family
- Those granted stateless leave, and family
- Those with Section 67 leave
- Persons granted Calais leave to remain
- Person granted indefinite leave as a victim of domestic violence or abuse
- Those with indefinite leave as a bereaved partner
- Evacuated or assisted British nationals from Afghanistan
It will be slightly easier to qualify for these categories.
Background
The rules about who pays ‘home’ fees for higher education in England are set by England’s Department for Education (they are not set by UKCISA). They are set out in regulations, which the Department for Education amends over time. The regulations identify all the different ‘categories’ of student who can insist on paying at the ‘home’ rate. They set out all the requirements a student needs to meet, to fit one of those categories.
The Department for Education is amending the regulations for the groups listed above.
The changes
The following changes are being made:
- Those requirements that relate to the first year of a course will be tested against the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually begins, rather than a standard date like 1 September.
- Where one of the immigration statuses in the list above is awarded after the start of a course, it will not matter whether a student’s presence in the UK on the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually began was lawful or not.
Points 1 and 2 explain roughly what is happening, but for the full details of all the requirements for each of the categories affected, go to the UKCISA website. We have divided up the information so that you can read separately about:
Fees for any academic year that starts on or after 1 August 2023:
Fees for any academic year that starts before 1 August 2023:
Action for fee assessors
If you are a fee assessor, think about whether any of your existing students might be entitled to benefit from the change for years that start on or after 1 August 2023, as well as new starters.
Action for students
If you have previously been told you did not qualify for ‘home’ fees, check to see if you meet the new requirements. Remember that you need to meet all the criteria for any one category. If you do, talk to your fee assessor straightaway, about your fees for academic years that start on or after 1 August 2023. You might want to send them a link to this story.
Further reading
If you want to see the regulations that made the changes, they are the Education (Student Fees, Awards and Support) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 (S.I.2023 No.74).
You can read about other changes made by the regulations in the following news stories on the UKCISA website:
