Northern Ireland: FE fee status

Introduction

Last updated May 14, 2025

Before you look at this page, you should read our introductory information in Find your fee status and check if your course is in higher education (HE) or further education (FE). If your course is a HE course, please refer instead to the page, Know the basics for HE Northern Ireland.

Access a full unfiltered list of our fees advice pages.

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Know the basics

Last updated May 14, 2025

Fee status is based on law and guidance, published by governments. Governments make the law, not UKCISA.

Law and guidance outline the different ‘categories’ of student who can insist on paying tuition fees at the ‘home’ rate and list the requirements you need to meet, to fit one of those categories. You only need to find one category that you fit (if you fit more than one, that is not a problem). You need to meet every single requirement listed for a category.

The regulations and guidance are different in the four different parts of the UK (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland). Only look at the page for the part of the UK you will study in. Governments make changes to the regulations (and how they interpret them) over time. Information that you read today might change tomorrow, so check the information on this website regularly.

Each educational institution uses the regulations and guidance to make its own decision about your fee status. Talk to each of them separately about their decision.

Educational institutions will ask you to give them some information about yourself and your family, to help them check if you fit into one of the categories for ‘home’ fees. You may be asked to provide documents (for example, a passport or official letters) to support the information you give.

If you think an institution has made a mistake about your fee status, do not sign any document or contract agreeing to pay the ‘overseas’ rate of fee. Contact the institution immediately and ask for an explanation of the decision. After this, if you still think the decision is wrong, give the reasons why you think there has been a mistake. It is important to communicate in writing and to keep copies of all correspondence. If you are still not satisfied with the decision, contact the student advice team at the institution or its student union. You can also telephone our Advice Line to discuss your concerns, but please note that we cannot get involved in individual disputes between you and your institution.

'Home’ fees do not count as ‘public funds’. So you will not be in breach of an immigration condition to have “no recourse to public funds” if you are charged ‘home’ fees.  The Introduction to the Immigration Rules gives a list of specific welfare benefits that count as ‘public funds’, and the list does not include education or any education funding.

Unfortunately, students sometimes have to leave their courses early, or repeat part or all of their courses due to accidents or illnesses during their studies. You may wish to look at options for buying insurance to provide a proportionate refund of your pre-paid course fees if you are worried about this. Whether or not you choose to buy insurance, you should be clear on what your place of study says about course fee refund options.

Private sector institutions often have only one level of fee, which all students must pay (instead of separate ‘home’ and ‘overseas’ rates of fee).

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Further Education - fee status

Last updated January 06, 2025

This part of the webpage is about the conditions you need to meet to be entitled to pay tuition fees at the 'home' rate if you are studying a course at a FE institution in Northern Ireland. This includes courses of higher education (HE) as well as courses of further education (FE).

For those studying a course at a FE institution in Northern Ireland, the categories of persons eligible for 'home' fees status are summarised in a guidance document published by Northern Ireland's Department for the Economy, FE Circular 04/24 - Further Education Residency and Funding Requirements. To read the criteria for each eligibility category, see Appendix 1, paragraphs 1-8 inclusive, on pages 5-10 of that document.

'FE Circular 04/24' (above) indicates that the residence requirements outlined in its Appendix 1 are provided for by the Further Education (Student Support) (Eligibility) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012, as amended. This is legislation laid by Northern Ireland's Department for the Economy. UKCISA members can access a consolidated version of these regulations, including up-to-date amendments, in the UKCISA Manual - see Northern Ireland FE institution fees.

The regulations provide the legal foundation for defining which people must be charged a 'home' fee when studying a course at a FE institution in Northern Ireland.

The circular "clarifies the student residency requirements to be eligible for ‘Home Fee’ status and support/maintenance funding". In many cases, the circular explains the residency requirements in a more reader-friendly way than in the regulations. As with previous versions of the circular(s), the current circular may also include eligibility for some students not covered by the regulations-alone.

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