Who is Scottish/Welsh?

pjread

Bear with me, I know it sounds silly... But if someone buys or otherwise establishes an address in Scotland or Wales prior to deciding to study, are they then "covered" to avoid/minimise tuition fees?

agrinnall

Not in Scotland when I last looked, you have to have been resident for 3 years prior to studying, and that residence cannot be solely for the purpose of study.

Actually, now I've checked, it's less clear cut than I remembered. The 3 years is UK residence, in addition you have to be "ordinarily resident in Scotland" before 1 August. That seems to suggest that you can move your home from England to Scotland in July and be eligible, but also says "We will not treat you as being ordinarily resident in Scotland if your main purpose in coming here has been to receive full-time education and that you would have otherwise been living elsewhere."

More details here and in the embedded link on that page.

http://www.saas.gov.uk/full_time/ug/young/eligibility_residence.htm

pjread

Yeah I thought it sounded ambiguous. What's a 'main purpose', can it not be your 'main purpose in coming here' but you change your mind once you're there, etc etc...