International teachers with children approaching uni age (NI) - home status?

[Lizay27]

What are teachers working abroad doing for their kids to get home status. I've been abroad majority of my life and teach abroad. From NI but rarely go as it's not 'home' to me.

I wanted to send my eldest to NI for college when she was 16 to be eligible for home status 3years later. She was emotional about this so i never did... so now am looking at potentially paying 18000 pounds per year.

My other child is about to start her gcses in September and i am debating whether to shift myself and kids to NI to get my children in for home status in their later years. They are dual national and have grown up abroad so UK is very alien to them. The one starting gcse is low academically and can be very anxious socially. I worry the move may negatively impact her but i also worry not moving may impact her future choices.

I am single parent and will barely afford one childs international fees, never mind two.

Has anyone been in the same situation?

I was interested in the answer to this, so I did a quick Google. It looks like you have to have been resident for a full 3 years before your first academic day of uni to be eligible for home status - is that correct? It does come across a bit like you've paid no tax into the UK for years, now want to find a way to take advantage for your children which doesn't sit well with me as a UK taxpayer. I'm sure someone more knowledgeable than me will come along and answer your question though.

I’m a parent of an international student in the UK system and one thing I’d really think about isn’t just fees but also it’s adjustment timing.
The hardest students I see are the ones who move countries right before GCSEs. The academics are manageable, but the social part hits hard: slang, humour, group work, how teachers expect you to speak in class, even things like lining up friendships at lunch. Quiet or anxious kids especially can end up very isolated for the first year and that affects grades more than ability.
If you do move, earlier than GCSE start (even a year) makes a huge difference because Year 9/10 is when friend groups form and teachers start informally deciding who they trust and support going into exam years.

What’s wrong with the universities in your current resident country?

It does indeed @CeciliaMars . Presumably you've worked abroad for better pay OP? I taught abroad in my twenties for a few years - paid full UK tax though as I was working for the British government still - and it was very well paid. Is it too late to save hard?