Student Support: applying in Wales

15 November 2012

Update note: This information sheet was updated on 15 November to make an amendment to information in the Refugee status definition.

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What is Student Support?
- Public funds
Who is eligible for Student Support
How to apply for Student Support
Definitions of terms
Useful contacts

What is Student Support

Student Support is the name given to financial support provided by the Government to some students in the UK.

Student Support is not public funds as defined in paragraph 6 of the Immigration Rules.

If you meet all the requirements of one of the categories described in this Information Sheet, it is likely that you are eligible for some form of Student Support from the Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills in Wales.

Student Support is only available if you are studying on a designated course, namely:

undergraduate degree
Higher National Diploma (HND)
Higher National Certificate (HNC)
Diploma of Higher Education
teacher training course.

All of the above are higher education courses. If you are studying on a further education course, check with your institution whether any funding is available. For example, you might be eligible for the Assembly Learning Grant or the Education Maintenance Allowance. See the Student Finance Wales further education web information at: www.studentfinancewales.co.uk/portal/page?_pageid=616,6382442&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

You may not be eligible if you have previously received Student Support (or a mandatory award) to study a higher education course. The amount of Student Support you will receive, if you are eligible, depends on your and your family's income.

Student Support is composed of:

a loan, and in some cases a grant, for tuition fees
a loan for living costs
certain supplementary grants for specific categories, for example disabled students
a non-repayable Assembly Learning Grant.

If you are eligible for a full Assembly Learning Grant, you might also be eligible for an additional bursary from your university.

If you are entitled to Student Support in 2012/13, the amount you receive will vary depending on if you are starting your course in 2012/13 or if you are continuing a course in 2012/13 (that you started in an academic year prior to 2012/13):

New students in 2012/13

Your university or college can charge up to a maximum of £9,000 for tuition fees in 2012/13. If you are entitled to Student Support, you can get a Tuition Fee Loan to cover all or the first part of the tuition fees your university or college will charge you, up to a maximum of £3,465. If the actual fee being charged by your university or college is more than £3,465, you can get a grant to cover the difference between the maximum loan and the actual fee.

Continuing students in 2012/13

Your university or college can charge up to a maximum of £3,465 for tuition fees in 2012/13. If you are entitled to Student Support, you can get a Tuition Fee Loan to cover up to this amount. Alternatively, if eligible for Student Support, you might be eligible for a Tuition Fee Grant, if you meet the following three conditions:

You must normally live in Wales
You must be studying in Wales
You must have started your course in academic year 2006/07, 2007/08, 2008/09 or 2009/10 or you must have been a gap-year student in 2010/11.

You can get a Tuition Fee Grant of up to £2,085 to help pay for any amount of tuition fees over £1,380 that your university or college charges you. You should also still be able to get a Tuition Fee Loan to pay for the first £1,380 tuition fees that your university or college charges you.

See the Student Finance Wales information at: www.studentfinancewales.co.uk/portal/page?_pageid=616,6200699&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

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Who is eligible for Student Support?

If you meet all the requirements of one or more of the following categories, you may be eligible for Student Support. This is only a brief summary of persons who are eligible for Student Support. If you are unsure about whether you are entitled to Student Support, or if you need further information, check your situation with an adviser at your institution, your Students' Union or our Students' Advice Line.

Category 1: Settled status and living in the UK and Islands

In order to be eligible for Student Support under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria:

you must be settled in the UK on the first day of the first academic year of the course AND
on the first day of the first academic year of the course you must be ordinarily resident in Wales AND
you must also have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for the full three-year period before the first day of the first academic year of the course (for example, if your course begins in October 2012, you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands from 1 September 2009 to 31 August 2012) AND
the main purpose for your residence in the UK and Islands must not have been to receive full-time education during any part of the three-year period.

It is not necessary to have been settled in the UK for three years. For example, you may have been ordinarily resident for three years but have been given indefinite leave to remain shortly before the first day of the first academic year of the course.

If you are granted settled status after the first day of the first academic year of your course, or if you can show three years' ordinary residence in the UK and Islands only after that date, you will not become eligible for Student Support. This is because you must meet all requirements of this category on the first day of the first academic year of your course. If you think you are going to be able to meet all the requirements after the first day of the first academic year of a course you have not yet started, you might want to consider deferring your place until a later date.

Students from the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man

If you are in receipt of an award from your Island authority, you are treated differently as there is an agreement between the Island authorities and UK higher education institutions. If you are self-financing, seek advice from your institution, your Students' Union or our Students' Advice Line.

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Category 2: European Union nationals and family living in the European Economic Area and Switzerland

If you satisfy the conditions under this category, you are eligible only for a loan to pay your tuition fees. If you satisfy the conditions under Category 3 or Category 4 or Category 5, you will be eligible for full Student Support which also includes loans for living costs and certain supplementary grants, so you should check the conditions for these other categories first.

To be eligible for a tuition fee loan under this category (Category 2):

you must be a national of one of the European Union (EU) member states on the first day of the first academic year of the course, and you must be either a UK national or a non-UK national who is in the UK as a self-sufficient person or as a student OR you must be the relevant family member of such a person AND
you must have been ordinarily resident in the European Economic Area (EEA) and/or Switzerland for three years before the first day of the first academic year of the course AND
the main purpose for your residence in the EEA and/or Switzerland must not have been to receive full-time education during any part of the three year period.

If you become an EU national because your country joins the EU, you are treated as if you were an EU national on the first day of the first academic year of the course, even if you started the course before your country joined the EU. The same applies if you are the family member of someone whose country of nationality joins the EU. For the purposes of the residence conditions, any country that joins the EU is considered always to have been part of the EEA.

Note that you do not have to be the family member of an EU national on the first day of the first academic year of the course, although the EU national in your family must be an EU national on that date (unless the EU national's country joins the EU). If you become, or a relevant family member becomes, an EU national after the course has started, seek advice from your institution, your Students' Union or our Students' Advice Line about whether you or your family member will become eligible for Student Support. See also How to apply for Student Support.

If you do not qualify for Student Support only because the main purpose for your residence in the EEA or Switzerland was full-time education, and you have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for three years before the first day of the first academic year of the course, you might be eligible for Student Support if you meet the conditions in Category 3, Category 4 or Category 5 instead.

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Category 3: Non-UK European Union nationals living in the UK and Islands

To be eligible for Student Support under this category, you must be:

a European Union (EU) national, but not a UK national, on the first day of the first academic year of the course AND
ordinarily resident in Wales on the first day of the first academic year of your course AND
ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for the three-year period before the first day of the first academic year of the course AND
if during any part of the three year period, the main purpose for your residence was to receive full-time education, you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK or elsewhere in the EEA and/or Switzerland immediately prior to the 3-year period of ordinary residence in the UK and Islands. It does not matter if you were in the EEA and/or Switzerland mainly in order to receive full-time education during this earlier period.

A student who can be eligible under this category is, for example, a Latvian national who has spent four years in full-time education in the UK before starting a degree course. Although such a student's main reason for being in the UK might have been to receive full-time education, this student was ordinarily resident in the EEA (the student was in the UK) immediately before the three-year period of ordinary residence in the UK preceding the first day of the first academic year of the course.

If you become an EU national after the start of your course because your country joins the EU, you should seek advice from your institution, your Students' Union or our Students' Advice Line about whether you will become eligible for Student Support. See also How to apply for Student Support.

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Category 4: European Union nationals and family with the right of permanent residence in the UK

You are eligible for Student Support under this category if:

you have the right of permanent residence in the UK AND
you are ordinarily resident in Wales on the first day of the first academic year of your course AND
you were ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for three years before the first day of the first academic year of the course AND
if your three-year residence in the UK and Islands was at any time mainly for the purpose of receiving full-time education, you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK or elsewhere in the EEA and/or Switzerland immediately prior to the three-year period of ordinary residence in the UK and Islands. It does not matter if you were in the EEA and/or Switzerland mainly in order to receive full-time education during this earlier period.

If you acquire the right of permanent residence after the start of your course, you should seek advice from your institution, your Students' Union or our Students' Advice Line about whether you will become eligible for Student Support. See also How to apply for Student Support.

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Category 5: Non-UK European Economic Area and Swiss workers and family

You are eligible for Student Support if you meet the following criteria:

you must be an EEA national, but not a UK national, or a Swiss national, and resident in the UK as a worker OR you must be the spouse or civil partner or child or other relevant family member of such a worker AND
you must be ordinarily resident in Wales on the first day of the first academic year of the course unless you are an EEA or Swiss frontier worker or relevant family member of a frontier worker AND
you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK or elsewhere in the EEA and/or Switzerland for three years before the first day of the first academic year of the course

If you are the child of an EEA worker who is no longer working or living in the UK, you can still be eligible for Student Support if you came to the UK to accompany your EEA worker parent.

If you or your relevant family member becomes an EEA or Swiss worker part-way through your course, seek advice from your institution, your Students' Union or our Students' Advice Line about whether you will become eligible for Student Support. See also How to apply for Student Support.

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Category 6: Settled status and exercised a right of residence in the European Economic Area and Switzerland

To qualify for Student Support under this category, you must:

be settled in the UK AND
be ordinarily resident in the UK on the day on which the first term of the first academic year of your course actually begins AND
have been ordinarily resident in Wales and settled in the UK immediately before leaving the UK and exercising a right of residence (this means that, before leaving the UK, you must be either a UK national, or the family member of a UK national and you have settled status, or a person with the right of permanent residence, and you or your family member has been a worker or self-employed person, or a student or self-sufficient person somewhere in the European Economic Area or Switzerland, other than the UK) AND
you have been ordinarily resident in the European Economic Area or Switzerland for the three-year period before the first day of the first academic year of your course AND
if, during that three-year period, you were ordinarily resident in the European Economic Area or Switzerland mainly in order to receive full-time education, you must have been ordinarily resident in the European Economic Area and/or Switzerland immediately before that three-year period (this does include time spent there in full-time education).

This is the category that entitles you to full Student Support if you are a British citizen or the family member of a British citizen (as long as you have settled status yourself before you leave the UK with your British family member) if you have been living outside the UK but elsewhere in the EEA and/or Switzerland.

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Category 7: Child of a Swiss national living in the European Economic Area and Switzerland

You are eligible for Student Support if you meet all the following criteria:

you must be the child of a Swiss national, and note that there is no requirement that your Swiss parent is, or has been, economically active in the UK AND
you must be ordinarily resident in Wales on the first day of the first academic year of your course AND
you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK or elsewhere in the European Economic Area (EEA) and/or Switzerland for the three-year period before the first day of the first academic year of the course AND
if the main purpose for your residence in the EEA and/or Switzerland was wholly or mainly for the purpose of receiving full-time education, you must have been ordinarily resident in the EEA and/or Switzerland immediately before that three-year period. It does not matter if your main reason for being there before that three-year period was in order to receive full-time education.

A child can be an adopted child or any child for whom the Swiss national parent has parental responsibility or care.

If you become the child of a Swiss national after the start of your course, for example, if you have a non-Swiss parent who marries or enters into a civil partnership with a Swiss national or if your parent is granted Swiss nationality, you should seek advice from your institution, your Students' Union or our Students' Advice Line about whether you will become eligible for Student Support. See also How to apply for Student Support.

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Category 8: Child of Turkish worker living in the EEA, Switzerland, Turkey

You are eligible for Student Support if you meet all the following criteria:

you must be the child of a Turkish national who is ordinarily resident in the UK and who is, or has been lawfully employed in the UK AND
you must be ordinarily resident in Wales on the first day of the first academic year of your course AND
you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK or elsewhere in the European Economic Area (EEA) and/or Switzerland and/or Turkey for the three-year period before the first day of the first academic year of the course.

A child can be an adopted child or any child for whom the Turkish worker parent has parental responsibility or care.

If you become the child of a Turkish worker after the start of your course, for example, if you have a parent who marries or enters into a civil partnership with a Turkish worker, you should seek advice from your institution, your Students' Union or our Students' Advice Line about whether you will become eligible for Student Support. See also How to apply for Student Support.

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Category 9: Refugees and family

To be entitled to Student Support under this category, you must either have been recognised as a refugee by the UK Government and have remained ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands since then, or you must be the spouse or civil partner or child of such a person. You must also be ordinarily resident in Wales on the first day of the first academic year of your course. If your permission to be in the UK has run out, you are still eligible for Student Support if you can show that you applied to extend or change your immigration status before your permission to be here expired, and you are still waiting for a decision on that application, or that you are in the process of appealing against a Home Office decision to refuse you further immigration permission.

You must have been the spouse or civil partner of the refugee on the date on which your spouse or civil partner made an application for asylum. If you are applying for Student Support as the child of a refugee, you must be able to show that on the date on which your parent, or your parent's spouse or civil partner, applied for asylum you were:

under 18 years of age AND
the refugee was your parent, or your parent was the refugee's spouse or civil partner on the date of the asylum application.

A child can be an adopted child or any child for whom the refugee parent (or the refugee's spouse or civil partner) has parental responsibility or care.

See Definitions of terms for when someone when someone with Refugee Status becomes a British Citizen.

If you are granted refugee status, or if your spouse or civil partner or parent is granted refugee status, after the start of your course, you should seek advice from your institution, your Students' Union or our Students' Advice Line about whether you will become eligible for Student Support. See also How to apply for Student Support.

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Category 10: Those not granted refugee status but allowed to remain in the UK, and family

If you apply for asylum and the Home Office decides that you do not qualify for refugee status, you may still be allowed to stay in the UK. In such circumstances, the Home Office normally grants Humanitarian Protection (HP), Discretionary Leave (DL) or, in some cases, Indefinite Leave to Remain. Until 1 April 2003, Exceptional Leave to Enter or Remain (ELE/R) was granted in such circumstances.

Alternatively, you may wish to stay in the UK but choose not to apply for asylum; applying, instead, for discretionary leave to remain.

To be eligible under this category, on the 'first day of an academic year of the course', you must be a 'person with leave to enter or remain', as defined in the Wales regulations.

A 'Person with leave to enter or remain' means a person whom:

the Home Office has told does not qualify for recognition as a refugee but nevertheless should be allowed to stay in the UK and therefore has been granted humantiarian protection or discretionary leave; or
having made an application for discretionary leave, has been told by the Home Office that he should be allowed to stay in the UK and therefore has been granted such leave.

AND

whose period of leave is still current, or has been renewed and the new leave is still current, or who is waiting for the outcome of an in time application for renewal, or is waiting for an appeal concerning their leave; and
who has been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands since having been granted leave.

You are also entitled to Student Support if you are the spouse, civil partner or child of such a person.

You must be ordinarily resident in Wales on the first day of the first academic year of the course, and you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for three years before the first day of the first academic year of your course.

You must have been the spouse or civil partner of the person who applies for asylum, or discretionary leave, on the date when the application for asylum, or discretionary leave, was made. If you are applying for Student Support as the child of a person in this category, you must be able to show that on the date on which your parent, or your parent's spouse or civil partner, applied for asylum or discretionary leave you were:

under 18 years of age AND
the person granted permission to stay was your parent, or your parent was that person's spouse or civil partner on the date of the asylum, or discretionary leave, application.

A child can be an adopted child or any child for whom the parent who applied for asylum, or discretionary leave, and was allowed to remain in the UK (or that person's spouse or civil partner) has parental responsibility or care.

If you are granted permission to stay in the UK, or if your spouse or civil partner or parent is granted permission to stay in the UK, after the start of the course, seek advice from your institution, your Students' Union or our Students' Advice Line about whether you will become eligible for Student Support. See also How to apply for Student Support.

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How to apply for Student Support

If you think you meet all of the requirements of one of the categories described in this Information Sheet you should apply online. You can find information about applying online at: studentfinancewales.co.uk/portal/page?_pageid=616,6200699&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

If you meet the requirements of Category 2 in this Information Sheet, and of no other categories, you are entitled only to tuition fee support, and you should apply direct to the EU Customer Service Team. You can find the team's contact details at: www.direct.gov.uk/en/Dl1/Directories/DG_6000071.

You must apply within nine months (six months for part-time courses) of the start of the academic year.

If you do not meet all of the requirements of a category on the first day of the first academic year of your course, you can still apply for a tuition fee loan if one of the following events occurs within the first three months of an academic year of your course, and you meet all the other requirements of the relevant category:

your course becomes a designated course
you or your spouse or civil partner or parent is recognised as a refugee or is refused refugee status but given permission to stay in the UK
the country of which you are, or a relevant family member is, a national joins the European Union
you become a relevant family member of an EU national; for example, you marry or enter into a civil partnership with an EU national
you acquire the right of permanent residence
you become a European Economic Area or Swiss migrant worker or the relevant family member of such a worker
you become the child of a Swiss national.

You can apply for a loan or grant to help with your living costs if one of these events occurs at any point in the academic year. Your deadline for applying is nine months from the date on which the event occurs.

What can you do if you think you have been incorrectly refused Student Support?

You should ask for the reasons for the refusal in writing. You should then write to the person who informed you of the refusal and explain why you think the decision is wrong. If you are still not satisfied, you can appeal against the decision but first you should speak to an adviser at your institution, your Students' Union or our Students' Advice Line.

Additional sources of support

If you are in financial hardship and you are eligible for Student Support, you might be able to apply for additional help through your institution's Financial Contingency Fund, if you are studying in Wales. Similar funds are available from institutions in England (Access to Learning Fund), Scotland (Discretionary Funds) and Northern Ireland (Support Fund). The Student Support package also includes extra grants for students with particular needs, for example, disabled students and students who have dependants. Seek advice from your institution or your Students' Union. Check with your Local Education Authority in case additional funding is available for your particular course.

Courses funded by the National Health Service (NHS)

If you are considering applying for an NHS-funded course (for example, Nursing or Midwifery), please note that admission to the programme may depend very much on whether you will be granted an NHS Bursary. The requirements are similar to those described in the categories in this Information Sheet, but please check your eligibility carefully before you apply for an Access to Nursing course or an NHS-funded degree course.

There are only very limited opportunities for self-funded applicants to study Nursing and Midwifery in UK Higher Education. Apart from these, it is very unlikely that any institution will be able to consider applicants who are not eligible for an NHS bursary. If you do wish to follow such a course as a full fee-paying student, check with the institution in advance if they accept fee-paying students onto the course.

Unlike Student Support arrangements for most other courses, you apply for an NHS bursary to the country in the UK where you are studying, even if it is different from the country in the UK where you normally live. For information about applying for an NHS bursary for a course in Wales, see the website of the NHS Wales Student Awards Unit. You can find information about applying for an NHS bursary in England on the website of the NHS Business Services Authority. If you are studying in Scotland, information is available from the Student Awards Agency for Scotland and, if you are studying in Northern Ireland, you should apply through the North Eastern Education and Library Board. Nursing and midwifery admissions information is available from the UCAS website.

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Definitions of terms

European Economic Area (EEA)

The European Economic Area is a larger area than the European Union (EU). It is made up of all the countries in the EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

For categories where the residence area is the EEA and Switzerland, the residence area is made up of all 30 countries in the EEA including the whole of the island of Cyprus (that is, including northern Cyprus), and Switzerland.

European Union (EU)

You are an EU national if you are a national or citizen of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Republic of Cyprus (you must have evidence, eg a passport or other travel document, that shows you are recognised as a Cypriot citizen by the Government of the Republic of Cyprus), Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden or the UK.

Family members

European Union (EU) nationals under Category 2

Family members of an EU national who can be entitled to a loan to pay tuition fees under this category are:

spouse or civil partner
direct descendants of the EU national, and of the EU national's spouse or civil partner, for example children or grandchildren; a direct descendant must also be under 21 years old or (if 21 or over) dependent on the EU national or dependent on the EU national's spouse or civil partner
if the EU national is self-sufficient and not a UK national, the direct ascendants of the EU national, or of the EU national's spouse or civil partner, for example parents or grandparents; a direct ascendant must also be dependent on the EU national or dependent on the EU national's spouse or civil partner.

European Economic Area (EEA) workers under Category 5

Family members of an EEA worker who can be entitled to Student Support under this category are:

spouse or civil partner
direct descendants of the EEA worker and of the EEA worker's spouse or civil partner, for example children or grandchildren; a direct descendant must also be under 21 years old or (if 21 or over) dependent on the EEA worker or dependent on the EEA worker's spouse or civil partner
direct ascendants of the EEA worker or of the spouse or civil partner or the EEA worker, for example parents and grandparents, who must be dependent on the EEA worker or dependent on the spouse or civil partner of the EEA worker.

Swiss workers under Category 5

Family members of a Swiss worker who can be entitled to Student Support under this category are:

spouse or civil partner
child, which is not defined in terms of either age or dependency and a child can be an adopted child or any child for whom the Swiss worker or the civil partner or spouse of the worker has parental responsibility or care

Settled people who exercise a right of residence, under Category 6

Settled family members of a UK national who exercises a right of residence in the EEA and/or Switzerland who can be entitled to Student Support are:

spouse or civil partner
direct descendants of the UK national, and of the UK national's spouse or civil partner, for example children or grandchildren; a direct descendant must also be under 21 years old or (if 21 or over) dependent on the UK national or dependent on the UK national s spouse or civil partner. If the UK national exercised a right of residence as a student, only dependent children count as family members
direct ascendants of the UK national or of the UK national's spouse or civil partner, for example parents and grandparents, who must be dependent on the UK national or dependent on the UK national's spouse or civil partner. This does not apply to UK nationals who have exercised a right of residence as a student.

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First day of the first academic year of the course

If your academic year starts between 1 August and 31 December inclusive, the first day of the first academic year is 1 September.
If your academic year starts between 1 January and before 31 March inclusive, the first day of the first academic year is 1 January.
If your academic year starts between 1 April and before 30 June inclusive, the first day of the first academic year is 1 April.
If your academic year starts between 1 July and 31 July inclusive, the first day of the first academic year is 1 July.

Full-time education

Where a category includes a condition that the main purpose of your residence (in the UK and Islands, or in the European Economic Area and Switzerland) must not have been to receive full-time education, a useful question to ask is: if you had not been in full-time education, where would you have been ordinarily resident? . If the answer is outside the relevant residence area, this would indicate that the main purpose for your residence was full-time education. If the answer is that you would have been resident in the relevant residence area even if you had not been in full-time education, this would indicate that full-time education was not the main purpose for your residence in the relevant area.

Ordinary residence

You are ordinarily resident in the relevant residence area (which is either the UK and Islands or the European Economic Area and Switzerland, depending on the category and its qualifying conditions) if you have habitually, normally and lawfully resided in that area from choice. Temporary absences from the residence area should be ignored and therefore would not stop you being ordinarily resident.

If you can demonstrate that you have not been ordinarily resident in the relevant residence area only because you, or your relevant family member, were temporarily working outside the relevant residence area, you will be treated as though you have been ordinarily resident there.

Right of permanent residence

Under European Community law, an EU national who remains lawfully resident in the UK for a continuous period of five years acquires the right of permanent residence. The same applies to a family member who is in the UK with that EU national. You might have a document from the Home Office that confirms your right of permanent residence, but this is not essential if you can prove in some other way that you have the right of permanent residence.

Refugee Status

The Immigration Rules revoke someone’s Refugee Status once he/she subsequently obtains a new nationality, eg when a refugee gains British citizenship.

If you have, or a relevant family member has, Refugee Status and you are, or the person with that status is, considering applying for British (or any other) citizenship, you should be aware that such an application could have an effect on your fees status or your eligibility for Student Support.

Example:
You are about to start Year 1 of your BA degree course and you have been provisionally assessed as eligible for ‘home’ fees and Student Support because one of your parents has Refugee Status. Your parent with Refugee Status obtains British citizenship during the month before the first day of the first academic year of your course. You would no longer be eligible under the same category because the requirement that your family member - in this example, your parent - has Refugee status would no longer be met.

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Settled

Settled means being ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom (ie England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) without any immigration restriction on the length of your stay in the UK. The Student Support regulations refer to immigration law for the definition of settled. To be settled you must have the Right of Abode or Indefinite Leave to Enter or Remain in the UK or be a national of the Republic of Ireland, or have the right of permanent residence in the UK under European Community law. If your passport describes you as a British citizen, then you have the Right of Abode. Certain categories exempt from time limits on their stay in the UK, however, do not come within the definition of settled. For example, diplomats and members of their households do not have specified time limits on their permission to stay in the UK but they are not settled under the relevant immigration law.

If you are settled through having acquired the right of permanent residence under European Community law, you are not entitled to Student Support under Category 1 but you might qualify under Category 2, Category 3, Category 4 or Category 5.

UK and Islands

The area of residence described as UK and Islands consists of:

England
Wales
Scotland
Northern Ireland
Channel Islands
Isle of Man

Worker

Worker includes a European Economic Area (EEA) or Swiss national who is:

employed
self-employed
a frontier worker who is employed or self-employed. A frontier worker is an EEA or Swiss national who works in the UK but who resides in Switzerland or the territory of an EEA State other than the United Kingdom and returns to their residence in Switzerland or an EEA state, at least once a week.

What kind of work?

The work must be in the UK
The work can be full-time or part-time
If you give up work to start a course, you should still be treated as a migrant worker if your course of study is related to your job or area of work
If you have become involuntarily unemployed (for example, if your post was made redundant, or if your contract ended and was not renewed), you do not have to show that your course of study is related to your previous job. If you lost your job through misconduct, you would not be considered involuntarily unemployed
It can be work that you are doing while you are on the course, unless it is ancillary to the course. Ancillary means the work is part of the course or work you were offered only because you have been accepted on a particular course.

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Useful contacts

Direct Gov

The Directgov website has UK Government information about financial help that is available to students in further and higher education, including application forms and contact details for Local Education Authorities, the EU Customer Services Team and the Student Loans Company, at: www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/index.htm

Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills

This is the government department that produces the Student Support regulations for Wales. You can find guidance called 'Financial Support for Higher Education Students', application forms and more information about Student Support in Wales, including contact details for local education authorities, on the website of Student Finance Wales at: www.studentfinancewales.co.uk. You can obtain copies of guides for students from Student Finance Wales at
Tel: 0800 731 9133.
If you have other queries, you can contact Student Finance Wales at:
Tel: 0845 602 8845.

You can contact the EU Customer Services Team of the Student Loans Company at:
EU Customer Services Team, Mowden Hall, Staindrop Road, Darlington DL3 9BG
Tel: (+44) (0) 141 243 3570
E-mail: EU_Team@slc.co.uk

UK Council for International Student Affairs

We can offer written and telephone advice for students. Our contact details are on our website at: www.ukcisa.org.uk. If you have read this Information Sheet and other resources mentioned in it, but you would still like to talk to us about your eligibility for Student Support, you can call our Advice Line on (+44) (0) 20 3131 3576 Mon to Fri 1300 to 1600 hours (UK time) or you can write to us at:
UK Council for International Student Affairs, 9-17 St Albans Place, London N1 0NX, UK.

Telephone numbers

If you are calling from outside the UK, do not dial the (0) in the telephone numbers above. For example, if you want to call UKCISA from outside the UK, dial +44 20 3131 3576. If you are in the UK, do not dial +44, but do start the number with 0. For example, if you call UKCISA from within the UK, dial 020 3131 3576.

Textphone numbers are only for those who use a textphone (minicom) because of difficulties with speech or hearing.

© UKCISA
This information sheet may be printed and reproduced provided it is copied unaltered and in its entirety, including UKCISA's logo, disclaimer, copyright statement and the reference to UKCISA's website as a source of further updates, and provided that no charge is made to any persons for copies. NO PART OF IT MAY BE REPRODUCED IN ANY OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES.

The information in this Information Sheet is given in good faith and has been carefully checked. UKCISA, however, accepts no legal responsibility for its accuracy.

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