Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government plans to allow UK citizens currently residing in the EU to qualify for home-student tuition fees after the UK has left the EU.

Generally, to be eligible for student support from Student Finance England, a student should be resident in England, have ‘settled’ status, on the first day of the first academic year of the course and must have been resident in the UK and Islands (Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) for the three years prior to that date. The three year residency period should not have been “wholly or mainly” for the purpose of receiving full time education. The requirements for home fee status where students are studying in England are broadly similar. There are some, limited exceptions to these general principles.

There are currently specific provisions in the rules that provide access to student support for persons who hold settled status in the UK and have left England to exercise a right of residence elsewhere in the Economic European Area (EEA) or Switzerland.

The rules on eligibility for student finance support for UK nationals who are currently residing in the EEA and Switzerland, and who commence courses in England after the UK has left the EU, are under consideration.