British born "EU" Student - info needed with student loans

marronne

Hi

We are a British family living in France since 2006. My daughter has been in the French education system since the age of 10. She has just been offered a uni place at Manchester.

It's clear that she can apply for the tuition fees loan but I'm more than concerned that she may not be eligible for a mainenance loan. The Student Finance Government website say full time UK student which she will be or do they mean that she has been !

I shall be calling them on Monday to see if they can clarify the matter but it the meantime does anyone have experience of this as we seem to be falling between two stalls ! We are French residents but are not French Citizens (which you can apply for after 5 years residency). May be the key is to become a Citizen and then we'd be entitled to some benefits from the French state ???

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

amiehall

In the UK, as long as you're an EU citizen, it's about residency. So you'd be entitled to support as an EU student not as British. What support the French government would provide to residents (at uni in France or UK) is well outside my expertise but I would look into it. It may well be residency based as well...

Voyager2002

The condition to be supported as a British student (maintenance loan and perhaps grants) is that you must have lived in the UK for the three years before your course, and must not have been in the UK solely to receive an education.

Perhaps your daughter would do better studying at the Sorbonne? The weather has to be better than Manchester...

asajj

As far as I know, above are correct. It is about residency - you don't have to be a British citizen but if you lived in the UK for more than 3 years , you were entitled to support (at least how it was when I wanted to go to uni!). However you'd get support from French gov. perhaps.

marronne

Well I phone Student Finance England this morning and it seems that my daughter is eligible for all loans and grants. As she is British born and has a British passport. She also spent 10 years in the UK school system before we moved to France. I believe the 3 year residency is for non-British born EU students.

So for us good news Thank you for all your replies.

agrinnall

I'd get that in writing because to be honest it sounds wrong to me - and you don't have to be looking at this board for long to realise that SFE often give out incorrect advice.

Taiko

SFE are correct, providing she is ordinarily resident in the UK before the 1st September. Schedule 1 of The Education (Student Support Regulations) 2011 confirms it.

agrinnall

Taiko wrote: »

SFE are correct, providing she is ordinarily resident in the UK before the 1st September. Schedule 1 of The Education (Student Support Regulations) 2011 confirms it.

But what does "ordinarily resident" mean? Does she just need to establish a UK address before 1st September?

Taiko

Yep, that's the definition.