‘Home’ fees for HE in Wales: important change for students arriving from Republic of Ireland or Channel Islands or Isle of Man
August 15, 2025
Background
In a UKCISA news story on 5 February 2025, we warned that people who were moving from the Republic of Ireland or the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man to start a higher education course in Wales this autumn, needed to be careful about the date they arrived. This was because of a change in the Welsh Government’s regulations about who qualifies to pay ‘home’ fees under the category titled ‘3 years in Republic of Ireland/UK/Islands, settled in UK’. The change in regulations seemed to mean that instead of needing to arrive in time for the day the first term actually begins, students would need to arrive in time for 1 September.
The situation has now changed. On 10 July 2025 the Welsh Government issued an information notice to institutions titled ‘Tuition fee limits for students residing within the Common Travel Area (SFWIN 06/2005)’, in which it instructed that students using the category “need only be ordinarily resident in the UK on the actual start date of the course, and not before”, and that Welsh institutions must charge fees “as clarified within this advice”.
As a result we have changed the information on the UKCISA website about this category. The changes are to requirements (a) and (b).
Changes to UKCISA information
Requirement (a) used to say:
“(a) on the first day of the academic year you are paying fees for [note that here the term ‘first day of the academic year’ means 1 September in the case of all autumn-starting courses, because it has a special definition in the regulations], you must be ‘settled’ in the UK".
Requirement (a) now says:
“(a) on the day on which the academic year you are paying fees for actually begins, you must be ‘settled’ in the UK [note that here the date will be different for every course, it won’t be the standardised 1 September date].
Requirement (b) used to say:
“(b) on the first day of the academic year you are paying fees for [note that here the term ‘first day of the academic year’ means 1 September in the case of all autumn-starting courses, because it has a special definition in the regulations], you must not be someone who qualifies for ‘home’ fees under the category headed ‘3 years in UK and Islands, EUSS settled status connection’ ".
Requirement (b) now says:
“(b) on the day on which the academic year you are paying fees for actually begins, you must not be someone who qualifies for ‘home’ fees under the category headed ‘3 years in UK and Islands, EUSS settled status connection’ [note that here the date will be different for every course, it won’t be the standardised 1 September date]".
Where to find the new requirements
You will find updated information about the requirements for the category on the UKCISA website: under the 'Settled' heading, open up the box headed ‘3 years in Republic of Ireland/UK/Islands, settled in the UK’ and download the first of the two pdfs displayed there. There are five requirements in total, you need to meet all of them.
Where to find the Welsh Government’s information notice
If you want to read the information notice, it is available on the Welsh Government website and is titled ‘Tuition fee limits for students residing within the Common Travel Area (SFWIN 06/2025)’.
Action for students
If you will be moving from the Republic of Ireland or the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man to start a higher education course in Wales this autumn, send a link to this story to your fee assessor, to ensure they have seen it.
Action for fee assessors
If you are a fee assessor, check through any assessments you have already made for this autumn, to make sure they are in line with the new guidance.
