University and higher education

In the UK, most students are charged to attend university. The amount payable depends on:

• your immigration status
• the length of your residence, and
• your lawful residence in the UK.

There are two rates: ‘home fees’; and ‘international fees’. International fees are more expensive.

In some cases, you may start off having to pay international fees, and then later in your course become eligible to pay home fees. The rules determining who pays what can be complex.

European students who arrived in the UK before 31 December 2020 are eligible for home fees if they have either pre-settled status or settled status; and if they can meet the other fee rules. They also qualify for student loan funding. 

The UK Council for International Student Affairs has produced a guide on who pays home fees for higher education in England. It also provides advice for students via a telephone advice line (020 7788 9214, open from Monday to Friday between 1pm and 4pm).

To qualify for student finance, you must meet the long-residence criteria. This means you must prove you have:

• lived in the UK for at least half your life; and
• legally resided in the UK for three years.

You must meet these criteria from 1 September of the academic year in which your course starts.

If you do not qualify for student finance, you may still be able to secure a scholarship.

Student Action for Refugees (STAR) provides a list of scholarships for refugees and asylum-seekers. UCAS provides more information on the STAR scholarships.

Hope for the Young also provides grants and advocacy to support young people with insecure immigration status in the UK to access and complete higher education.

Find out more about scholarships from the charity We Belong, which has a campaign called Let Us Learn that champions the rights of those without permanent status.

If your immigration status comes with the ‘no recourse to public funds (NRPF) condition, you can access higher education without breaching of your visa.

You may be able to pay ‘home fees’, which are lower than ‘international fees’. The NRPF condition does not prevent this. More information is available under the section above titled 'Who is entitled to ‘home fees’ and ‘international fees?'.

If you need financial assistance through student finance, you will need to check whether you qualify. For eligibility requirements please visit the government website.

The NRPF condition does not automatically make you ineligible for this assistance. It may be that you have had lawful residence for more than 3 years with the NRPF condition and you have lived in the UK for more than half of your life – such a situation may make you eligible.

Refugees and people seeking asylum are not automatically prevented from pursuing higher education at university.

Refugees are normally eligible for student finance and home fees. Visit the UK Council for International Student Affairs website for details.

People seeking asylum will usually be on immigration bail, and there may be a no-study condition attached. You should double-check this.

If you do not have such a condition attached to your grant of bail, you will be allowed to study at university if you meet the entry requirements of your course and you can afford the fees. People seeking asylum are not usually eligible for home fees or student finance, but you may be able to secure a scholarship.

Student Action for Refugees (STAR) provides a list of scholarships for refugees and people seeking asylum. UCAS provides more information on the STAR scholarships.

Refugees are normally eligible for student finance and home fees. Visit the UK Council for International Student Affairs website for details.

Some institutions have been recognised as Universities of Sanctuary due to their commitment to creating a culture of welcome for people seeking sanctuary within, and beyond, their campuses. Find out more about Universities of Sanctuary.

If you have no legal immigration status in the UK, but have made an application to the Home Office to regularise your status, you are likely to have been issued a Bail 201 form. This document confirms that you are now on immigration bail, and explains the conditions of your bail. While you wait for a decision about your legal status, there are restrictions on what you can do.

Immigration bail comes with rules attached; these sometimes include a restriction on study. This is only likely to be imposed if you are over 18. The Home Office can change your conditions of bail once you reach 18 to include this condition.

If you are a young person (18 and over) who has been granted immigration bail with a no-study condition attached, you should get legal advice as early as possible. It may be possible to have this restriction lifted.

If you arrived in the UK as a student on a student visa, you may need to support yourself by working. However, you may be restricted on the number of hours you are allowed to work.

For example, students in full-time higher education (degree level or above) are allowed to work a maximum of 20 hours per week during term time. Some students in part-time courses are not allowed to work at all.

See the Home Office’s guidance for more detailed information about work restrictions on different types of student visas. The UK Council for Internal Student Affairs also has some helpful information.

If you are in the UK on a student visa, your ability to change your course depends on your circumstances. You can apply for a further course of study if you meet the academic progression requirement; and if the new course of study commences within 28 days of the expiry of your current permission period.

If you are applying to extend your permission, you must be academically progressing (unless you are exempt from demonstrating academic progression). This remains the case if you are extending your permission to continue the same course.

A sponsor can only issue a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) to you for a change of course if you have a current CAS allocation.

If you apply for further permission to start a new course with the same student sponsor, your eligibility depends on successful completion of the course for which your permission was originally granted.

The ability to change course depends on your particular visa conditions. The conditions and circumstances in which you can change courses are set out in the Home Office guidance (page 56).

If you want to change your current course, but under your conditions of permission you are not permitted to do so, you will need to first make a new student application from overseas.