Qualification for University when you have lived abroad/overseas

[LadyBrienne]

We are moving back to the UK (we are UK citizens)

Does anyone know what the rules are for qualifying for/being accepted to university as a citizen/resident?

I've read as much as I can but it seems very murky. Some say we have to be citizens (we are) and some say we have to be resident for 3 years to qualify. And as stupid as it sounds, I'm not sure on "resident".

We still have our house there, and haven't rented it out. We come back regularly. Does that qualify for the purposes of university, or do we physically have to have lived in the house?

Or does the term "resident" refer to your tax paying status?

Have you been on short term contacts when overseas? Apparently that can make a difference.
You might get more success asking in the living overseas board.

Resident means living in the UK. Citizenship has nothing to do with attending uni, residence is used to find out if you are eligible for student loans.

If you have been resident in the EU that counts (I think) but check.

Resident means having lived here.

Did you pay council tax as if your house was occupied? Did you pay tax abroad? How often were you back in U.K. and for how long at a time? Did you have jobs abroad?

It's often not clear cut. Whilst the rules are domiciled UK, it is possible for you to be assessed as such, even if you've been abroad.

However bear in mind the university may decide you're domiciled in one place, but student loans company may disagree.

thanks all - I'm not thinking loan perspective, but fees perspective - "international students" pay a different amount than "local students"

to answer questions:

1. yes we paid council tax
2. yes we paid tax abroad
3. back twice a year for a few weeks at a time, and then probably four longish weekends
4. yes jobs abroad for past 10 years

I think we don't qualify as resident, but I was hoping that the ownership of property combined with the citizenship might help

I think there are no hard and fast rules on this. It depends on the university. Some will let you in as home students with no bother. Others will ask you to make a case that the UK is still your home. This can be proof that you are in the UK often, that you have a house etc. I think you would be ok on this.
People i know have made a shortlist of about 10 unis and called round admissions depts asking if they would be considered home or international. Then only applied to the home ones.

Hmmm jobs abroad for the last ten years will be a issue. I'd suggest you email universities you're interested in and see what they say. Check the fees as well - not all international fees are significantly higher than home fees. If you're not too worried about the loan then presumably you can afford home fees anyway, international might only be a little higher.

Presumably prospective student was educated and domiciled abroad.

It depends what you were doing abroad. If you are HM Forces, FCO or MOD, or other Crown Servant, then you are counted iirc as a home student. Ds certainly was.

Were you and/or your husband expats? We lived abroad for a long while but our DC were give home fee status because we were ex-pats -

Another thing that helped our DC get home fee status was the fact that we only had work visas to live in the countries that we lived in overseas.

It is complicated.

But if you were temporarily overseas or the purpose of a parent’s/spouse employment (which sounds as if it the case) you can argue that you were still ordinarily resident in UK. Courts have already conceded that you can be ordinarily resident in more than one place. This is your guide. You need to look at the tab on “ordinary residence”

www.ukcisa.org.uk/Information--Advice/Fees-and-Money/England-fee-status#layer-6085

Are you asking for yourself or a child? I think I have seen something that a child can argue they did not have a choice but to go abroad with their parents so shouldn't be penalised in terms of being classed as a home student (assuming they were born in the UK & moved abroad after a few years)

So you’ve not lived or paid taxes in the UK for 10 years but you still want the advantage to get lower fees? Nice. How about the rest of us that have paid those taxes?

My son recently applied to university in uk and ime each university will send you their own form as the UCAS form does not contain enough information to determine fee status. The additional form will ask for the following (each one asked for different information -but this is a summary)

• where you were living

• house in UK?

• trips back to UK?

• does prospective student have a bank account in UK (one uni asked us this!)

• evidence of trips back to UK - boarding passes

• type of contract eg my husband was classed as a UK employee when we were overseas and this was stated in his contract. University asked for a copy of all his contracts.
  The difference in fees can be significant especially for science and medicine - 9250 v 23K and up.

• being a British citizen is not enough ime

I had this situation. Was living abroad for four years. Came back. Applied to three unis, accepted to two. Told the LEA (re fees) I was abroad temporarily and they paid the fees which were £1k. This was before the fees went up and I was covered as a mature student which I think Labour Govt scrapped

Phone the Universities you (or your child) wants to apply to. They will tell you! (It's a basic question which the admissions office in every University should be able to easily answer).

Phone the Universities you (or your child) wants to apply to. They will tell you! (It's a basic question which the admissions office in every University should be able to easily answer)

Some won’t answer until AFTER you have applied. It’s ridiculous that each University determines fee status individually. It should be centralized some how.

My DD was applying for medicine so didmt want to waste applications without knowing if the Universities would accept her as home fee status beforehand.

Even if the process can’t be centralized then you would think the Universities would at least agree to asking for the same information and using the same forms etc.

OP, I’d make sure you get proper up to date info.

It's a basic question which the admissions office in every University should be able to easily answer

It's not a basic question at all given OP's circumstances. Plus admissions offices don't deal with fee statuses always. Plus OP will need something in writing....

It’s ridiculous that each University determines fee status individually. It should be centralized some how

agree!

If you have been overseas for over a year you are no longer considered resident. There are exceptions eg you work for a British company/charity and are posted overseas temporarily. My friends son pays overseas student fees and wasn't eligible for a loan because his education was outside of the EU. It doesn't always sound fair but residency isn't the same as citizenship

Ok, so perhaps not a basic question, but given the variety in universities and that specifics are going to matter here, it's surely better that the OP gets the advice from the University in question, rather than advice from people over the internet which may not apply to a given University.

If you have been overseas for over a year you are no longer considered resident.

Well that;s not true for a start...

Agree with titchy - not true at all.

thanks all so much for everyone's very helpful guidance - you ladies ROCK

to the snarky poster who assumed that I am trying to take advantage

for what its worth, I've paid tax in the UK for 28 years and continue to do so - I also pay tax in the place I currently live