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Loophole for free tuition fees?
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MissMoneypenny
Posts: 5,324 Forumite
Martin and the MSE team. This seems like it might be a loophole for free student fees for those who are English, Welsh or from NI.
From reading immigration sites, a lot of Brits are getting around the laws of the UK by taking the more favourable EU laws. It seems you can’t use EU law to overcome laws in UK countries, if you are a UK citizen and live in the UK. However, if you exercise your EU rights and work in another EU country for 6 months (even by working in Ireland), then a UK citizen can use EU laws in the UK when they return to reside in the UK.
Scotland has free tuition fees for Scots and EU citizens. The only EU countries that can’t access these free tuition fees in Scotland are, England, Wales and NI. If UK citizens are using their EU rights (detailed above) to overcome UK immigration law, then why can’t the students use EU laws too to get free tuition fees? Perhaps Martin and his team could look into this?
From reading immigration sites, a lot of Brits are getting around the laws of the UK by taking the more favourable EU laws. It seems you can’t use EU law to overcome laws in UK countries, if you are a UK citizen and live in the UK. However, if you exercise your EU rights and work in another EU country for 6 months (even by working in Ireland), then a UK citizen can use EU laws in the UK when they return to reside in the UK.
Scotland has free tuition fees for Scots and EU citizens. The only EU countries that can’t access these free tuition fees in Scotland are, England, Wales and NI. If UK citizens are using their EU rights (detailed above) to overcome UK immigration law, then why can’t the students use EU laws too to get free tuition fees? Perhaps Martin and his team could look into this?
RENTING? Have you checked to see that your landlord has permission from their mortgage lender to rent the property? If not, you could be thrown out with very little notice.
Read the sticky on the House Buying, Renting & Selling board.
Read the sticky on the House Buying, Renting & Selling board.
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I'm really struggling to understand your post. Why does a UK citizen need to use EU law to get around immigration? There shouldn't be a problem for them. What laws and what problems are people trying to get around by working in the EU for six months?
There are residency conditions attached to the free tuition fees, you need to have been ordinarily resident for three years prior to the start of the course. Also, the fee situation is reciprocal, in that a Scot could go to France and not pay tuition fees. A Scot cannot go elsewhere in the UK for free, and actually most Scots can't go south because of the difference in educational systems.
Also, if an English/Welsh/NI student comes to Scotland they pay less tuition fees anyway, about half of those elsewhere.0 -
This might be beneficial regarding fees (although I doubt it) but what would the student live on? EU students aren't eligible for maintenance funding in the UK.0
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The_One_Who wrote: »There are residency conditions attached to the free tuition fees, you need to have been ordinarily resident for three years prior to the start of the course.
Yep..resident in the EU for at least 3 years.
So resident in England, Wales or NI and then 6 months working in another EU country, to exercise their EU rights in Scotland of free tuition as an EU citizen. That should meet the 3 year resident requirement?The_One_Who wrote: »Also, the fee situation is reciprocal, in that a Scot could go to France and not pay tuition fees.
From what I have read, an EU citizen is allowed to have the same rights as any citizen of that EU country, providing the EU citizen is exercising their EU rights, as this is EU law. That's why EU citizens can have free tuition fees in Scotland (if they meet the 3 year resident in EU rule) as the Scots get tuition for free. Therefore, under EU law, EU citizens can have free tuition in Scotland too.
As England, Wales and NI are in the UK with Scotland, they cannot have free tuition in Scotland, because, as stated above, they cannot ask for EU law in a country where you are a citizen and reside. By moving to another EU country (such as Ireland) and exercising their EU right by working there for 6 months, it seems they should then benefit from the EU law (as an EU citizen, in an EU country) which should mean free tuition in Scotland universities as an EU citizen.The_One_Who wrote: »A Scot cannot go elsewhere in the UK for free,
That's because a student can only have what others students resident in that country can have and there is no where else in the UK that has free student tuition.
From what I have read on other sites, this seems like an EU loophole to me and that's why I asked the MSE team to check this loophole.RENTING? Have you checked to see that your landlord has permission from their mortgage lender to rent the property? If not, you could be thrown out with very little notice.
Read the sticky on the House Buying, Renting & Selling board.0 -
Oldernotwiser wrote: »This might be beneficial regarding fees (although I doubt it) but what would the student live on? EU students aren't eligible for maintenance funding in the UK.
I was just looking at the tuition side of it, especailly as it looks like these are going to be even higher soon.
Looking at the maths of the living costs: what is the maximum student loan and how much are the tuition fees?
My children have finished universtiy, so I am out of touch with fees.RENTING? Have you checked to see that your landlord has permission from their mortgage lender to rent the property? If not, you could be thrown out with very little notice.
Read the sticky on the House Buying, Renting & Selling board.0 -
This thread is just an idea that I thought might be worth checking out as it seems EU law is helping other UK citizens overcome UK law.
I have an exam tomorrow and am meant to be studying today, so I'll need to bow out of any research until tomorrow evening. Even thought I would rather be doing this research than studying!RENTING? Have you checked to see that your landlord has permission from their mortgage lender to rent the property? If not, you could be thrown out with very little notice.
Read the sticky on the House Buying, Renting & Selling board.0 -
MissMoneypenny wrote: »Yep..resident in the EU for at least 3 years.
So resident in England, Wales or NI and then 6 months working in another EU country, to exercise their EU rights in Scotland of free tuition as an EU citizen. That should meet the 3 year resident requirement?
Not to my knowledge no. You would have been resident in Ireland for six months, so would still be classed as an English student. I believe for these purposes, the 'EU' excludes England, Wales and NI.
The SAAS website outlines all the residence conditions and everything else that is taken into account. Whilst it is possible for EU students to get a full support package, the conditions are complicated.0 -
" Students from other European Union countries are exempt from fees alongside Scots, but English and Welsh students will have to pay."
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=193428§ioncode=26RENTING? Have you checked to see that your landlord has permission from their mortgage lender to rent the property? If not, you could be thrown out with very little notice.
Read the sticky on the House Buying, Renting & Selling board.0 -
The_One_Who wrote: »I believe for these purposes, the 'EU' excludes England, Wales and NI.
It does, but once you have exercised your right and worked in another EU country for 6 months, you can then use EU law it seems.RENTING? Have you checked to see that your landlord has permission from their mortgage lender to rent the property? If not, you could be thrown out with very little notice.
Read the sticky on the House Buying, Renting & Selling board.0 -
MissMoneypenny wrote: »I was just looking at the tuition side of it, especailly as it looks like these are going to be even higher soon.
Looking at the maths of the living costs: what is the maximum student loan and how much are the tuition fees?
The student funding package varies depending on the student's situation but an 18 year old from a low income home can receive about £7,000 outside London.
It isn't really a question of maths though - there's no point saving money on tuition fees if you receive no money to live on while you study!0 -
It will go on your nationality. That loophole is non-existant. You'd be a British national applying to a British HEI.0
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