How do I find out for certain that my daughter will be considered a British citizen after 3 years for the purposes of higher education?

[Flamingoose]

16 yo daughter is a British citizen with a British passport. She was born in UK. Both parents are British citizens with British passports, and both born and (mostly) educated in UK. Whole family are native English speakers.

Daughter attends high school in another country. Unfortunately (for complicated and partly Covid reasons) we will be unable to move back to UK in time for her to spend 3 years in UK to be considered as a British resident and qualify for non-international university fees. International fees are beyond our reach. Daughter is certain to want to attend university. University is not an option for her in our current country.

Plan B is to finish high school where we are now, and then at the age of 18 she will move to UK and spend three years (working? Doing something useful?) and then to apply for university aged 21.

That's the backstory in a nutshell. It's very complicated and I've left out lots to avoid writing a book.

Here's my question: How do I find out for certain that as a British citizen with 3 years of residency in UK she will DEFINITELY be eligible to be treated as a non-international student and thus able to afford tertiary education? Where do I find this information for certain?

Many thanks if you can help point me in the right direction.

This is the gov.uk page that sets out the finance rules: www.gov.uk/student-finance/who-qualifies

@LIZS Why is that LIZS? Just curious about Scotland.

We just filled out the UCAS application and it's quite clear if you have studied abroad.

Unis in Scotland have a different fee structure and numbers of students admitted in each fee category are managed accordingly. Scottish residents do not pay tuition fees and similar applies for those from EU/EEA. Those with Home status from other areas of UK pay same fees as elsewhere in UK.

Thank you @LIZS. It sounds like that might be a good option for EU residents then. Not as much so for international though.

Info www.stir.ac.uk/study/fees-funding/undergraduate-tuition-fees/ for example. Although it looks as though the EU/EEA status may be changing post Brexit, I had heard there may yet be concessions for entry next year and will not affect continuing students.

and a British address

An ongoing connection with the UK is pretty central to most universities' requirements. A house that is owned by the family, but maybe rented out because the family is in the military or civil/diplomatic service, or the British Council, etc etc.

OP is your family eventually going to return to the UK? Do you or your partner have a short-term overseas working contract? These are the things which will be looked at.

@0DimSumMum0

From my experience of friends teenagers applying (we are also British Citizens living outside of the uk) they do check and it solely depends on the university. One friend had to supply something like 24 pages of evidence supporting their connection to the UK even going back to their grandparents education history. When it came down to offers though it was purely pot luck! It depended solely on the university and how badly they wanted them. One friends son even had a conditional offer stating that if they received a certain grade at A Level they would grant them home status. Also some of the more popular competitive universities never offer home status so it is worth checking how lenient they have been in the past.

Sorry but this is not true. All UK universities 'offer home status' - it's nothing to do with competitiveness. I'd also be EXTREMELY surprised if it's true that someone was offered home status conditional on grades. That's just not a thing...

One friends son even had a conditional offer stating that if they received a certain grade at A Level they would grant them home status. Also some of the more popular competitive universities never offer home status so it is worth checking how lenient they have been in the past.

Both of those sentences are complete rubbish.

@0DimSumMum0

Thank you *@LIZS*. It sounds like that might be a good option for EU residents then. Not as much so for international though.

If the family is EU-resident, then the student automatically qualifies for Home Fees status and student loan - for six years following Brexit. Special deal carved out for those families caught out by Brexit.

Which is why I asked if the family was resident in the EU.

But the OP has not said whether they are EU residents, just said they reside in "another country".

@shockthemonkey what six year special deal is that?

[quote crayray]@shockthemonkey what six year special deal is that? [/quote]
Oh I see, it's the one for UK nationals.