Understanding your tuition fee status

How the University determines your fee status and how this affects the tuition fees you pay.

What ‘fee status’ means

Your fee status depends on your nationality, where you live and how long you have lived there. The University decides your fee status based on information you give us. We will let you know your fee status in your offer letter if we can, but we might need to ask additional questions.

If you know your fee status, you can work out how much you will pay for your course tuition fees.

Home, VEU and Island students pay lower fees than Overseas students. This is because the University receives some additional funding to support teaching from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).

Fee status in England is governed by government regulations and any subsequent amendments:

  • Education (Fees and Awards) Regulations 1997, (Statutory Instrument 1997 No 1972)
  • Education (Fees and Awards) (England) Regulations 2007

Home (UK) and European Union (EU) fee status

If you have Home (UK) or EU fee status, you will be charged fees based on the UK government’s fee level for the year. If you are applying for an undergraduate or taught postgraduate course, you may also be able to apply for a student loan to help you pay your fees.

You are likely to have Home or EU fee status if:

  • you are a UK or EU citizen who has lived in the UK, an EEA member state or Switzerland for three full years before the first day of your course (except if you have lived there mainly for full-time education)
  • you have indefinite leave to remain or indefinite leave to enter and have lived in the UK for three full years before the first day of your course (except if you have lived there mainly for full-time education)
  • you, or your parent, guardian or spouse is a non-UK EEA or Swiss national who is living in the UK as a worker, and you have lived in the UK, an EEA member state or Switzerland for three full years before the first day of your course

You may also qualify for Home (UK) or EU fee status if:

  • you have been granted refugee status in the UK
  • you have been living outside the UK and EEA because you or your parent, spouse or guardian is temporarily employed abroad
  • you have been living legally in the UK for a extended period (usually half your life)

You can find detailed guidance on Home (UK)and European (EU) status from UKCISA, including explanations of the legal terms used in fee regulations.

Island fee status

If you have Island fee status, you will be charged fees based on the UK government’s fee level for the year.

You are likely to have Island fee status if:

  • you have been living in the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man before the first day of your course, even if you are a British citizen
  • you have been living in the UK for full-time education for three full years before the first day of your course having moved there from the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man

If you have lived in the Channel Islands or Isle of Man but moved to the UK before the start of your course to work (or for your parent, guardian or spouse’s work) then you may qualify for Home (UK) fee status.

Overseas fee status

If you do not have Home (UK), EU, or Island fee staus you will have Overseas fee status. This is likely if:

  • you have not lived in the UK, the Channel Islands, an EEA member state or Switzerland for three full years before the first day of your course
  • you live in the UK, the Channel Islands, an EEA member state or Switzerland but have immigration restrictions about how long you can stay
  • you have lived in the UK, the Channel Islands, an EEA member state or Switzerland at any point in the three years before the first day of your course mainly so you can receive full-time education

We may ask you in advance for written evidence that you, your family or sponsor can pay the tuition fees. You must make sure that you have sufficient resources to cover tuition as well as living expenses before you accept any offer we make to you. If you need further advice on how to fund your studies, contact Student Funding or the International Office.

Changing your fee status after accepting your offer

We will let you know what your status is in your offer letter. In some cases, we may ask you for additional information or ask you to fill in a Fee Status Questionnaire before we make a decision. It is very important that you provide us with full information before you become a registered student.

You can’t change your fee status after you have accepted the terms of your offer, except under exceptional circumstances relating to your immigration status. For example, if you have been granted refugee status, or citizenship of the UK or another EU country, we may be able to consider changing your fee status, but you will need to provide the Admissions Office with evidence of this change.

In most circumstances, you need to meet any rules regarding where you have lived by the time you start your course regardless of any changes to nationality.