What’s the 3 year rule for university fees?

[Hels20]

Just that - can someone explain the 3 year residency rule? If a British citizen moves away and then lives away until they are 18 for 4 years - can they pay the local rate for uni fees or are they considered foreign? Assuming of course they have a British passport?

does anyone know? I have seen it mentioned here but can’t find the rule.

You have to have been in the uk for three years immediately before university (and not only for education purposes) to qualify for uk student finance.

whether you are classed as a uk or international student is complex and depends on where you live and why

It also can depend on which university is being applied to

Unlkely unless the reason they are abroad is parent job postings such as with Forces or Government roles. Short term contracts may also be considered if otherwise UK based.

The passport is generally irrelevant. If the person is living abroad for the 3 years before they start university, they will be considered an overseas student unless they qualify for an exemption (children of diplomats and some other cases).

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/student-finance-eligibility-2021-to-2022-academic-year/eligibility-rules-for-home-fee-status-and-student-finance-from-the-2022-to-2023-academic-year-onwards this is the guidance

Have you read this

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/eligibility-for-home-fee-status-and-student-support-in-england/

So all these people who are allegedly fleeing to Dubai so they don't pay taxes on private school fees will pay out rather more in uni fees.

More usefully: the parents have to be resident as well as the child - sending them home to live with relatives/go to boarding school won't count, if that was a thought.

You're OK if you're in the EU or Switzerland up until 2028, if you were already there in 2020.

Thanks Ellamu - really helpful. It makes sense. And why should UK tax payers contribute to reduced rates for the children of those that haven’t paid taxes? Really interesting..

We did receive home fees for ds although we had been out of the UK for a long time. Dh’s contract stated that he was a UK employee and on secondment, although the secondment had lasted over 10 years when ds applied to university. The university wanted a copy of all his contracts and ds was awarded home fees status. We paid his fees and maintenance and ds now works in the UK.

https://www.ukcisa.org.uk/information--advice/fees-and-money/home-or-overseas-fees-the-basics

This (1) assumes that just because a child isn't living in the UK their parents aren't paying taxes (even ignoring the fact that some non-UK residents pay substantial amounts of UK tax, it could easily be the case that the child lives outside the UK with the mother and the father is still resident in the UK and paying completely standard employment income tax), and (2) that we currently only subsidize university tuition for children of parents who pay tax.

We don't link ability to get 'home status' to parental payment of tax, and absolutely shouldn't.

In terms of the 'three year rule' - it's three years ordinarily resident (not just for education purposes) and it's broadly left to the universities themselves to decide how they determine 'ordinarily resident' for students who argue they were only temporarily outside of the UK.

Thanks @travelwaffle - you make valid points.

does anyone know if a child with a UK passport were to move back to the UK at 16/17/18 and apply to university later than the norm (so, say at 21), would they qualify in their own right, or do parents need to be resident too?

Depends why they move and what they do in meantime. If only resident for education it would not count towards 3 years(unless one of the excepted circumstances like parents serving in Forces). Under 18s are expected to be in education or training.

If they moved at 18 to go to university at 21 then I don’t think it’s an issue. Under 18 and sent back to the uk for a levels without parents then unlikely to qualify for home fees unless parents in forces. When my son applied it seemed universities were not all interpreting the rules in the same way: he received home fees for Warwick and three of his other choices but overseas fees for Leeds. This was 2017