Scotland: fee status

Last modified: 08 June 2017

Publicly funded educational institutions normally charge two levels of fee: a lower 'home' fee and a higher 'overseas' fee. Private sector institutions often have only one level of tuition fee, which all students must pay.

Whether you pay a 'home' or 'overseas' fee depends on whether you meet certain criteria.

Please read Home or Overseas fees? before looking at our explanation of the fees regulations/guidance for your relevant area of the UK.

Remember that, in the context of the fees regulations/guidance, certain terms mean what is explained for them in the 'definitions' and not what you might interpret from an ‘everyday’ understanding of the words.

Higher Education

Further Education

Definitions: for fee status assessment

Higher Education

Last modified: 18 August 2017

If you are commencing a course of higher education (HE) study in Scotland, you are known as a 'post 2011/12 student'. Publicly funded educational institutions in Scotland will charge you one of three levels of fee:

a 'home' fee; or
for some categories, but not all, a ‘rest of UK’ (‘RUK’) fee – capped at a middle-rate of £9,000 for students who are considered to be of 'RUK' status. Students who are not eligible for 'home' fees may, in some categories, qualify for this and institutions have agreed with the Scottish Government to cap this fee for the foreseeable future; or
a top-rate ‘overseas' fee for all other students.

The Scottish Government has agreed that, in certain circumstances, you should be covered by the previous fees regulations, now primarily aimed at further education (FE) students. You should not use the information in this section but, instead, look at the information for Further Education, if you:

started your HE course in the 2012-13 academic year, or any time since then, having had a written arrangement with your institution before 1 August 2011 to defer your studies - you are a '(new) deferred student'; or
are continuing a HE course that you commenced in an academic year before 2012/13 – you are a 'continuing student'.

1. 'Relevant connection' with Scotland

To be eligible for ‘home’ fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:

(a) you must be settled in the UK on the relevant date; and

(b) you must be ordinarily resident in Scotland on the relevant date. However, if you are ordinarily resident in Scotland because you moved from elsewhere in the UK and Islands to undertake a course, then you are considered to be ordinarily resident wherever you moved from; and

(c) your ordinary residence in Scotland on the relevant date must not be attributable to / connected with any period of residence in Scotland that was wholly/mainly for the purpose of receiving full-time education within the immediately preceding three-year period; if it is, then you will not be eligible under this category unless you acquired the right of permanent residence in the UK "as a result of residence for full-time education which has led to" this right; and

(d) you must also have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for the full three year period before the relevant date, eg if your course begins in October 2017, the date in (a) above will be 1 August 2017 and you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands from 1 August 2014 to 31 July 2017; and

(e) the main purpose for your residence in the UK and Islands must not have been to receive full-time education during any part of that three-year period. However, if you have the right of permanent residence you are excluded from this 'main purpose' test, as long as you were ordinarily resident in the EEA and/or Switzerland immediately prior to the five-year period of UK residence which led to you obtaining this right.

Eligibility for the middle rate fee

If you fail to meet (b) and/or (c) but meet all other requirements, you will still be eligible for the middle rate fee of £9000, as long as you are ordinarily resident in the UK on the relevant date. However, if you are ordinarily resident in the UK having moved from the Islands to undertake a course, then you are considered to be ordinarily resident in the Islands.

If you are in receipt of an award from your Island authority, you are treated differently as there is an agreement between the Island authorities and UK higher education institutions. If your are ‘self-financing’, seek advice from your institution, Students’ Union or UKCISA.

2. 'Settled' people who exercise a 'right of residence' in the EEA and/or Switzerland, and family members of 'settled' UK nationals

3. EU nationals and family

Update: This category was amended on 17 August 2017, to include provision in (a)(2) for a UK national who has exercised a right of residence, at any point in the past, as a family member of a UK national worker/self-sufficient person/student. Such provision was previously omitted in error.

To be eligible for ‘home’ fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:

(a) on the relevant date, you must either:

1. be a non-UK EU national, or be a family member joining or accompanying such a non-UK EU national in the UK; or

2. be a UK national who has exercised a right of residence, at any point in the past, for more than three months in another EEA member state / Switzerland as a:

worker; or
self-sufficient person; or
student; or
family member of such a worker/self-sufficient person/student (immediately above);

or be a family member joining or accompanying such a UK national in the UK.

For UK nationals who also have another EU nationality, the utilisation of a right of residence can include time spent in the country other than the UK of which the student is also a national;

and

(b) you, or the person that you are a relevant family member of, must have been ordinarily resident in the EEA, Switzerland and/or the EU overseas territories for the three years before the relevant date; and

(c) where eligibility depends on you (the student) being the person who has been ordinarily resident in the residence area for the three years before the relevant date, the main purpose of your residence in that area must not have been to receive full-time education during any part of the three-year period.

Up until August 2012, a student studying in Scotland and paying the ‘overseas’ fee could potentially become a ‘home’ fee payer from the following academic year if: the country of their nationality joined the European Union (EU); or they were a relevant family member of someone whose country joined the EU; or they acquired citizenship of an EU member state; or they were a relevant family member of someone who acquired citizenship of an EU member state. The Education (Fees and Awards) (Scotland) Regulations 2011, which introduced new provisions from 1 August 2012, limited this provision so that only those who are nationals of a country that joins the EU can benefit from this provision.

4. Non-UK EU nationals and family, ordinary residence in UK & Islands

5. Non-UK EU nationals and family, right of permanent residence in UK

6. Non-UK EEA and Swiss migrant workers and family

7. Children of Swiss Nationals

8. Children of Turkish workers

9. People with refugee status and family

10. Those not recognised as refugees but allowed to remain in the UK and family

11. Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and children of asylum seekers

12. Reciprocal exchange students

13. Temporary protection

14. Iraqi nationals granted indefinite leave to enter the UK under the Locally Engaged Staff Assistance Scheme (Direct Entry) and family

15. British Overseas Territories Citizens and family

16. Syrian (Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme) nationals and family

17. Long residence

Further Education

Last modified: 21 February 2017

This information primarily explains the conditions you need to meet to be entitled to pay tuition fees at the ‘home’ rate on courses of further education (FE) in Scotland. The Scottish Government provides funding to FE institutions for 'home' students. It advises institutions to determine 'home' fees eligibility using The Education (Fees and Awards) (Scotland) Regulations 2007 (as amended).

This information also applies to you if you are a higher education (HE) student, if you:

started your HE course in the 2012-13 academic year, or any time since then, having had a written arrangement with your institution before 1 August 2011 to defer your studies - you are a '(new) deferred student'; or
are continuing a HE course that you commenced in an academic year before 2012/13 – you are a 'continuing student'.

Finally, certain extra categories of FE-only student are eligible for a complete fee waiver, irrespective of their fee status under the 2007 regulations. We have included these categories of student here, too, as they would effectively be funded by the Scottish Government as 'home' fee payers. But note that these categories do not apply to '(new) deferred' and 'continuing' HE students.

13. Iraqi nationals granted indefinite leave to enter the UK under the Locally Engaged Staff Assistance Scheme (Direct Entry), and family

Definitions: for fee status assessment

Last modified: 12 July 2017

This section explains the words and terms which occur in our information, above. These explanations should not be read in isolation but, instead, combined with the appropriate fee status category.

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Scotland: fee status

Higher Education

Eligibility for the middle rate fee

Eligibility for the middle rate fee

Eligibility for the middle rate fee

Refugee Status: where someone gains British citizenship

Eligibility for the middle rate fee

Eligibility for the middle rate fee

Eligibility for the middle rate fee

Further Education

Refugee Status: where someone gains British citizenship

Definitions: for fee status assessment