Eligibility at the beginning of a course of education determines your eligibility for the duration of that course of education (except for recognised refugees, or those who are granted Humanitarian Protection or Discretionary Leave, who can become eligible part way through their course). This means that if you start your course of education 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
- withdraw from your course and start again from year one, or
- have a break in study of one year or more,
we will reassess your eligibility to receive support on residence grounds.
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.
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.
The relevant date depends on when your course starts. The dates for session 2011-2012 are as follows.
- 1 August 2011 for courses that start between 1 August 2011 and 31 December 2011.
- 1 January 2012 for courses that start between 1 January 2012 and 31 March 2012.
- 1 April 2012 for courses that start between 1 April 2012 and 30 June 2012.
- 1 July 2012 for courses that start between 1 July 2012 and 31 July 2012.
The residence eligibility conditions are complicated. If you are in any doubt about your residence eligibility status, you should contact us for advice.