Scottish uni for free after gap year?

[dylexicdementor11]

A friend’s DD is planning on taking a gap year before uni and spending it in the EU country her father is from. She is a dual national and lives in England at the moment.
She plans on applying to a Scottish university after establishing residency in the EU country. She’ll apply to a uni that treats EU students as home students. This seems like a brilliant way to avoid paying extortionate fees. Are there any downsides we aren’t seeing? Thanks!

Is it not three years to establish residency?

Did that go after brexit? I know Irish students didn't pay fees back in the day as they used to be charged home fees and theoretically there are no fees here. It is an administrative charge.

They should also be wary as there are limited places on some courses for EU students. I'm not sure though is that just for those who haven't done a levels or Scottish equivalent though.

You dont instantly get residency so she is likely to need to live in that country for several years so that will scupper her plans

As far as we can tell each uni is Scotland is allowed to decide how they will treat EU students. She would pick one that treated them like home students. She only needs to live in the EU country for a year for residency. I’m sure this varies depending on the country. It just seems too easy - I’m sure there must be some catch.

Which country is that?

Hate the game, not the player, good on her for working it out.

I’d rather not say so as not to be too outing. She is already a citizen.

When you say home students, do you mean they treat them the same as scottish students or as they would be treated in their home country?

Often to get residency you need to invest money or buy property there. You cant just be there and expect to get residency automatically. Has she looked at the ins and outs of what it entails?

Yes, she has. She is a citizen and her father lives there. She plans on working and taking a few further education courses in the EU country for a year. She’s had summer jobs in that country for several years so that shouldn’t be a problem.

‘Home student’ as in being treated like a Scottish student.

If she’s a dual EU/UK citizen, has she checked that she is not excluded from home fee status by Paragraph 1(2) of Schedule 1 to the Education (Fees) (Scotland) Regulations 2022?

If she passes that hurdle, has she checked that leaving the UK for a year would not break her requirement of 3 years ordinarily resident in the UK for the purposes of Paragraph 1 (1) (b) of the same Schedule?

A) you need three years residency to qualify as domiciled in any country for fees purposes
B) this isn't discretionary - no Scottish uni will be able to claim funding from the Scottish Funding Council even if they were from the EU. Scotland is still part of the UK and we have left the EU.
C) If she lived with her father for three years and legitimately gained EU domicile she loses here entitlement to fee and maintenance loans.

Thanks so much. This is exactly the kind of information we’re after. I’ll pass it on the my friend. I don’t think her DD has considered any of the above.

‘Following the UK’s exit from the European Union, the Scottish Government announced new higher education students arriving from the EU would no longer qualify for home fee status and free tuition from the 2021/22 academic year.’

https://www.savethestudent.org/student-finance/finance-system-for-scottish-students.html

The EU thing stopped after 2021, sadly.

If she lives out of the UK within 3 years of starting uni, she’ll be charged ‘international student’ uni fees, which are even more.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-53354933

@dylexicdementor11 Note that the relevant Regulation was amended in 2023 and 2024, I was slightly hasty in not referring you to the “as amended” version.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2022/156/regulation/2

But unfortunately I think she will fall at the first hurdle in Paragraph 1(1) of the Schedule by not qualifying as a person with “protected rights” under the EU Withdrawal Agreement. As a British national here she has not been exercising such rights as her right to live here derives from her nationality and not any international treaty.

Putting aside the ethics of just getting money from the SAAS for a course when she is neither Scottish resident or Scottish, as above she needs to actually commit to being in Scotland and be resident there for the allotted time now. This closes the loophole which a lot of (particularly ) English families have taken advantage of over the years. We are EU Scots and our kids would have to now be back in Scotland for the requisite time. And this is ok. It is as it should be. I assume the EU country isn’t free, like for instance Germany?

See ref to “a person with protected rights”.

Thanks everyone. This is very helpful and my friend and her DD are reading all the posts and taking notes.
I hate that her generation will not have the same opinions her mother and I had - in relation to tuition fees and the ability to live and travel in the EU. Such a self-inflicted mess.

@JessyCarr in this instance would the student have protected rights as the daughter of an EU National with 3 years residency if they stayed in the UK rather than doing the gap year in EU?

No. They need to be resident in Scotland or EU (not UK) 3 years prior to starting their course. That was my understanding when I looked into it for my DC.

@roobyred Protected rights are defined for the relevant purposes as follows:

Article 10 of the Withdrawal Agreement is here: