Fee status

Can my fee status change once I have started my study?

The assessment of fee status is normally based on your situation immediately before you start a course.

Once you have registered with an agreed fee status, your fee status is unlikely to change. If in an exceptional circumstance we agree to change your fee status, this change cannot be applied mid-year, it will only ever apply to subsequent years of study after the change in fee status.

If you start a new course, then your fee status is re-assessed.

If you think that your fee status could change at some point after you are due to begin your course, you should request permission to defer the start of your course until the new fee status has been determined. Unless you clearly meet the criteria set out by UKCISA, there are no guarantees that your fee status will change.

It is never advisable to begin a course unless you have a guaranteed way of paying both your tuition fees and living costs for the entire length of the course. If you cannot pay your fees at the required time, your registration may be cancelled and you will still owe the amount of tuition fees that are due, even if you have not completed the academic year or the full duration of your course.

What if I am an asylum seeker?

Government regulations make no provision for asylum seekers to be entitled to pay the Home fee rate. The University of Huddersfield does not operate a discretionary policy to allow asylum seekers to pay Home fees.

If before the start of your course your asylum case is decided, please inform the University as your fee status may change to 'Home'. If a decision is made during your course and you are granted refugee status, then your fee status will change to 'Home' with effect from the following academic year.

How is my fee status determined?

Fee status is determined before the start of your studies and not during the course.

Your fee status is dependent upon your nationality, your immigration status in the UK, and where you have been living and what you have been doing for the 3 years immediately before the start of your course with us. 

The University Student Records Team will assess your fee status by looking at the information you provide on your application and in line with government legislation to assess which rate you should be charged.  

The legislation defines who is eligible for Home Fee status, setting out categories of students who are eligible to pay the Home rate of tuition fees. The decision to class a student as a Home or an Overseas student is set out by the government’s The Education (Student Fees, Awards and Support) (Amendments) Regulations 2021

The UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) is a national Advisory Body that provides general guidance on international student issues.  You can check which fee category applies to you via the UKCISA website. 

We may ask you to provide additional information to help us assess your fee status.  If this is necessary, we may ask you to complete a Fee Assessment Questionnaire.  We will also ask you to provide documents such as your passport or official letters to support the information you give. 

If you do not provide the requested documentation, we will assess your fee status on the information provided on your application. 

The information below gives you a summary of each category identified in the government regulations: 

Home

If you are a UK national, you will pay fees at the Home standard fee rate. However, if you are undertaking another course but already hold a qualification at that level, for example an undergraduate degree qualification, please be aware you may not be eligible to financial support from the Student Finance Company.

Sometimes applicants will mistake their Nationality with their Ethnicity when completing their application. Please note Nationality is your legal status as per your passport or other legal documents, whereas Ethnicity is related to your family cultural origins, for example, you may have a British passport (which would make you a British National) but your ethnicity might be Indian or Pakistani etc.

Channel Islands and Isle of Man 

Undergraduate and Postgraduate students meeting the criteria for classification as Home students will be charged the same fee as mainland UK students. 

Overseas/EU

If you are not a UK national and you have not lived in the UK, you will pay the Overseas fee rate. Even if you have been living in the UK, you most likely will not be eligible for Home rates if you have a time-limited visa to live in the UK.

Academic year 2021/22

From 1 August 2021, EU, other EEA and Swiss nationals and their family members who are not covered by the Withdrawal Agreements will no longer be eligible for home fee status, for courses starting in academic year 2021/22 or after. Children of Turkish workers arriving in the UK after 31 December 2020 will similarly not be eligible for home fee status and student financial support for courses starting on or after 1 August 2021.  

This change will also apply to Further Education funding for those aged 19+, and funding for apprenticeships.

These eligibility changes do not apply to Irish citizens living in the UK or Ireland whose right to study and to access benefits and services will be preserved on a reciprocal basis for British and Irish citizens under the Common Travel Area arrangement.

Regulatory amendments will give effect to these changes.  

EU, other EEA and Swiss nationals, and their family members who are covered by the Withdrawal Agreements will continue to have access to home fee status and student financial support on broadly the same basis as now.  Generally this covers those who: 

• are living in the UK by 31 December 2020 having exercised a right to reside under EU law, the EEA Agreement or the Free Movement of Persons Agreement, and;
• continue to live in the UK after 31 December 2020.

Such persons will generally have applied for pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) before 30 June 2021, apart from Irish citizens, who are not required to apply as their rights will be protected as a result of Common Travel Area arrangements.

Settled status

Those who have been granted settled status under the EUSS will generally be eligible for home fee status, tuition fee and maintenance support if they have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for at least 3 years.

Irish citizens are automatically treated as settled in the UK and do not need to apply to the EUSS to benefit from these rights.

Pre-settled status

EU nationals, and their family members, will generally be awarded home fee status where the student has pre-settled status and has 3 years’ residence in the UK, Gibraltar, EEA and Switzerland (unless that residence was wholly or mainly for the purpose of education).