Further education (FE) courses include GCSEs, AS and 'A' levels (and their equivalents), NVQs, GNVQs, BTECs, and Access courses. The info below explains the conditions you need to meet to be entitled to pay tuition fees at the ‘home’ rate on courses of FE in England. Check if your course is in higher education (HE) or FE.
You will be eligible as a 'home' student in either the 2020/21 or 2021/22 academic year if you come within one, or more, of the categories below and you are:
- studying a FE course (which is not an Apprenticeship course) in England; and
- aged 19 years or over on 31 August in the funding year in which you start your course.
A 'funding year' runs from 1 August in one year to 31 July in the calendar year which immediately follows.
Where a category has changed for the 2021/22 academic year, we have included details concerning the eligibility criteria for both the 2020/21 and 2021/22 academic years. Where a category has remained unchanged for the new academic year, we have not made any changes to those respective categories as below.
The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) is responsible for drawing up the funding rules. Further guidance on the ESFA's funding criteria can be found here.
For the 2020/21 academic year
If you started your course in the 2020/21 academic year, you will be eligible for funding for the whole of your course under these funding rules even if your course lasts for more than one year. If you start a new course which starts in the 2021/22 academic year, you will be assessed for funding under the rules in place for the 2021/22 academic year as below.
In order to be eligible for funding, you must meet all of the requirements as below:
- You are a citizen of a country that is in the EEA and;
- You have been ordinarily resident in the EEA for at least the three years immediately before your course.
For the 2021/22 academic year
In order to be eligible for funding, you must meet all of the requirements as below:
- You are an EEA national (not including Irish nationals); and
- You have obtained either settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme; and
- You must also have lived continuously in the EEA, Gibraltar or the UK for at least the previous three years on the first day of learning.
For the 2020/21 academic year
This category is entitled ‘Family members of EU and EEA nationals’ and makes a provision for those family members with or without the three years’ ordinary residence in the EEA. If as a family member you do not have the three years’ ordinary residence in the EEA, a provision is made for the ‘principal’ to possess the three years’ ordinary residence on your behalf instead.
If you started your course in the 2020/21 academic year, you will be eligible for funding for the whole of your course under these funding rules even if your course lasts for more than one year. If you start a new course which starts in the 2021/22 academic year however, you will be assessed for funding under the rules in place for the 2021/22 academic year as outlined in the 2021/22 academic year section below.
Family members with three years’ ordinary residence in the EEA:
In order to be eligible for funding, you must meet all of the requirements as below:
- You are the child/grandchild, spouse / civil partner, or dependent parent/grandparent, of an EEA citizen; and
- You have been ordinarily resident in the EEA for at least the three years immediately before your course.
There is no requirement about your own nationality - you can be an EU, EEA, or non-EU/EEA, national.
Family members without the three years’ ordinary residence in the EEA:
You may not have been ordinarily resident in the EEA for at least the three years immediately before your course. However, you will be eligible if one of the following sets of requirements applies to you:
- You are an EU citizen; and you are the child/grandchild, spouse / civil partner, or dependent parent/grandparent, of an EEA citizen ('the principal'); and the principal has been ordinarily resident in the EEA for at least the three years immediately before your course; or
- You are the child/grandchild, spouse / civil partner, or dependent parent/grandparent, of an EU citizen ('the principal'); and the principal has been ordinarily resident in the EEA for at least the three years immediately before your course. Your nationality is irrelevant; you can be an EEA or non-EEA national.
Example: A Swedish national who has not been ordinarily resident in the EEA for all of the three years before the course starts is married to a Norwegian national who has been. The Swedish national would be eligible under (1) (above) but not (2). Whereas a Norwegian national who has not been ordinarily resident in the EEA for the three years, but who is married to a Swedish person who has been, would be eligible under (2) but not (1). This is because Sweden is part of the EU and the EEA, whereas Norway is part of the EEA but not part of the EU.
For the 2021/22 academic year
Family members with three years’ ordinary residence in the UK and/or EEA:
In order to be eligible for funding, you must meet all of the requirements as below:
- You are the husband/wife, civil partner, child, grandchild, dependent parent or grandparent of a UK or EEA national; and
- Where required to do so, you have obtained pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme; and
- You must have also been ordinarily resident in the UK and/or EEA for the previous three years on the first day of learning.
Family members without the three years’ ordinary residence in the UK and/or EEA:
The provision for the principal to have accrued the three years’ ordinary residence on behalf of the family member does not appear to have been extended in the 2021/22 academic year. We understand that if this is the case, this will affect many cohorts of students. We are currently querying this with the ESFA and will update this page when we hear any further information on this.
- You are a UK national;
- You were living in the EEA on or before 31 December 2020 (or you moved back to the UK immediately after living in the EEA);
- You have lived in the EEA, Gibraltar or the UK for at least the previous three years on the first day of learning; and
- Between 31 December 2020 and the start of your course, you have lived continuously in either:
- the EEA;
- Gibraltar; or
- the UK
- Your course is starting before January 2028
For the 2020/21 academic year
In order to be eligible for funding, you must meet all of the requirements as below:
- You have a Certificate of Entitlement to the Right of Abode in the UK; and
- You have been ordinarily resident in the EEA for at least the three years immediately before your course.
For the 2021/22 academic year
In order to be eligible for funding, you must meet all of the requirements as below:
- You are a UK national or other person with the right of abode in the UK (this may be evidenced by possessing a Certificate of Entitlement to the Right of Abode in the UK); and
- You have been ordinarily resident in the UK, British Overseas Territories, Crown Dependencies (Channel Islands and Isle of Man) for at least the previous three years on the first day of learning.
You are someone who has Indefinite Leave to Enter/Remain in the UK, or you are the child of such a person, or you are the spouse / civil partner of such a person.
Those with Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP) status, are included in this category.
You have, or your parent or your spouse / civil partner has, Refugee status in the UK.
You have, or your parent or your spouse / civil partner has:
- Humanitarian Protection; or
- Discretionary Leave; or
- Exceptional Leave; or
- Leave Outside the Rules.
This leave must have been granted by the UK authorities. However, there is no requirement that you, or your family member (as above), acquired this leave as a result of a failed asylum application.
Note - Please note that the intimidation policy ran until 31 March 2021 when it was replaced by the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP). The ESFA update confirms that those who have ARAP status are eligible for funding as long as they reside in England and the course of study takes place in England. Those who qualify under the ARAP, are also exempt from meeting the three-year ordinary residence test.
Version 3 of the ESFA funding guidance, now includes those with ARAP status under the category of Indefinite Leave to Enter/Remain.
You have, or your parent or your spouse / civil partner has, immigration permission under one of the following UK immigration schemes for Ukrainian nationals and their families:
If eligible under this category, you do not need to meet any three-year ordinary residence requirement.
For the 2020/21 academic year
You will be eligible under this category if you:
- are a non-EEA citizen; and
- have permission granted by the UK Government to live in the UK and not for educational purposes; and
- have been ordinarily resident in the UK for at least the three years immediately before your course starts.
For the 2021/22 academic year, this category is revised to "Other non-UK nationals". Please refer to category 10 below.
For the 2021/22 academic year
You fall into one of the following three categories:
You are a non-UK national; and
- have permission granted by the UK Government to live in the UK and not for educational purposes; and
- have been ordinarily resident in the UK for at least the previous three years on the first day of learning
You are a non-UK national who is also a non-EEA national; and
- you have obtained settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme; and
- you have been ordinarily resident in the UK for at least the previous three years on the first day of learning
You are an Irish national; and
- you are also not a UK national; and
- you have been ordinarily resident in UK and/or Ireland for at least the previous three years on the first day of learning
You will be eligible if you are an asylum seeker and you:
- have been waiting for longer than six months for a decision from the Home Office; or
- are in the care of a local authority and receiving support under section 23C or section 23CA of the Children Act 1989 or section 21 of the National Assistance Act 1948.
Additionally, you will be eligible if your asylum application has been refused and you:
- have appealed against the refusal of asylum and you have been waiting for longer than six months for a decision; or
- have been granted support under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 ("Section 4 support"); or
- are, for those commencing a course of study in 2014/15, in the care of the local authority and are receiving local authority support under section 23C or section 23CA of the Children Act 1989, or section 21 of the National Assistance Act 1948.
You will be eligible under this category, if you meet the following criteria:
(a) you must be ordinarily resident in the UK on the first day of the first academic year of the course; and
(b) you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the three-year period preceding the first day of the first academic year of the course; and
(c) you must be:
1. a "person granted stateless leave", which means a person who has:
- extant leave to remain as a stateless person under the immigration rules [within the meaning given in section 33(1) of the Immigration Act 1971(c)]; and
- been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the period since [having been] granted such leave;
or
2. a person who is the spouse / civil partner of a "person granted stateless leave" and, on the leave application date, was the spouse / civil partner of a "person granted stateless leave";
or
3. a person who is the child of a "person granted stateless leave", or the child of the spouse / civil partner of a "person granted stateless leave", and on the leave application date was under 18 and:
- the child of a "person granted stateless leave" or
- the child of a person who, on the leave application date, was the spouse / civil partner of a "person granted stateless leave".
If you started your course in the 2020/21 academic year, you will be eligible for funding for the whole of your course under these funding rules even if your course lasts for more than one year. If you start a new course which starts in the 2021/22 academic year, you will be assessed for funding under the rules in place for the 2021/22 academic year as outlined in the 2021/22 section below.
In order to be eligible for funding, you must meet all of the requirements as below:
For the 2020/21 academic year
- You are the child of a Turkish worker; and
- You have been resident in the EEA and/or Turkey for the three years immediately before your course starts.
For the 2021/22 academic year
You are the child of a Turkish worker and you:
- have been ordinarily resident in the UK/EEA and/or Turkey for at least the previous three years prior to the first day of learning; and
- you were resident in the UK on or before 31 December 2020
The Turkish worker also must meet the following criteria:
- they were ordinarily resident in the UK on or before 31 December 2020; and
- they have what is known as ‘Turkish European Community Association Agreement’ (ECAA) rights or extended ECAA leave
You have been granted leave under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016. This is also known as leave under the 'Dubs' amendment.
We updated this category summary on 25 June 2020 to acknowledge that whilst dependent children may be granted 'leave in line' with the principal, due to the age restrictions of this funding category, such children would not be eligible for funding.
You have been granted Calais leave.
We updated this category summary on 25 June 2020 to acknowledge that whilst dependent children may be granted 'leave in line' with the principal, due to the age restrictions of this funding category, such children would not be eligible for funding.
If you started your course in the 2020/21 academic year, you will be eligible for funding for the whole of your course under these funding rules even if your course lasts for more than one year. If you start a new course which starts in the 2021/22 academic year, you will be assessed for funding under the rules in place for the 2021/22 academic year as outlined in the 2021/22 section as below.
In order to be eligible for funding, you must meet all of the requirements as below:
For the 2020/21 academic year
You will be eligible if you are a member of the armed forces, Ministry of Defence personnel or a civil and crown servant and you:
- are resident in England; and
- the learning takes place in England.
Members of the British armed forces on postings outside the EU will be treated as being ordinarily resident in the UK together with their family members.
Members of other nations' armed forces and their family members will be eligible if you:
- are stationed in England;
- have been ordinarily resident in England for 3 years;
- the family member is also aged 19 years' and over.
The ESFA will not fund family members that remain outside of England.
For the 2021/22 academic year
You will be eligible if you are a member of the British armed forces, Ministry of Defence personnel or a civil and crown servant and you:
- are resident in England; and
- the learning takes place in England.
Members of the British armed forces on postings outside the UK will be treated as being ordinarily resident in the UK together with their family members.
Members of other nations' armed forces and their family members will be eligible if you:
- are stationed in England;
- have been ordinarily resident in England for the previous 3 years on the first day of learning;
- the family member is also aged 19 years' and over.
