Eligibility at the beginning of a course of education determines your eligibility for the duration of that course. This means that if you start your course while ineligible to receive support on residence grounds, you will continue to be ineligible for the rest of that course of education. If you change course, and this is a different level to your previous course, or you withdraw from your course and start again from year one, we will reassess your eligibility to receive support.
Ordinarily resident has been defined in the courts as 'habitual and normal residence in one place'. It basically means that you, your parents or your husband, wife or civil partner live in a country year after year by choice throughout a set period, apart from temporary or occasional absences such as holidays or business trips. Living in a place totally or mainly for the purpose of receiving full-time education does not count as being ordinarily resident.
EU countries
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands, United Kingdom.
EU overseas territories
Aruba, Faeroe Islands, French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic Territories, Greenland Henderson, Mayotte, Netherlands Antilles (Bonaire, Curcao, Saba, Sint Eustatius and Sint Maarten), the Territory of New Caledonia and Dependencies, St Pierre et Miquelon and Wallis and Futuna Islands.
EEA countries
The EEA countries are the 27 EU countries plus Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.
New countries that join the EU
We will consider students from new countries joining the EU for support towards their tuition fees from the date their home country joins. Nationals of the new member states (or their family member) cannot apply for their tuition fees before their country joins the EU.
Any student who starts a course after the date their country joins the EU can apply to us for support for that academic year and any subsequent years.
Any student who started a course before their country joined the EU cannot apply for support in the current academic year but can apply for support in the following and subsequent year.
The relevant date
The relevant date depends on when your course starts. The dates for session 2010-2011 are as follows.
- 1 August 2010 for courses that start between 1 August 2010 and 31 December 2010 .
- 1 January 2011 for courses that start between 1 January 2011 and 31 March 2011 .
- 1 April 2011 for courses that start between 1 April 2011 and 30 June 2011 .
- 1 July 2011 for courses that start between 1 July 2011 and 31 July 2011 .