Understanding your fee status

What 'fee status' means

Your fee status depends on your nationality, where you live, and how long you have lived there. The University decides your fee status based on the information you give us. Where possible we will let you know your fee status in your offer letter, but we might need to ask additional questions. In all cases, we will determine your fee status prior to enrolment.

If you know your fee status, you can work out how much you will pay for your course tuition fees by checking our Undergraduate fees or Postgraduate fees pages. While many Overseas students require a student visa to study in the UK, your fee status does not depend on whether or not you require one.

Home (UK) students pay lower fees than Overseas students. This is in part because the University receives some additional funding to support teaching from the Office for Students (OfS).

Government regulations

Fee status in England is governed by government regulations and any subsequent amendments:

The UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) provides detailed guidance on fee status including explanations of the legal terms used in fee regulations. Please refer to the UKCISA website to ascertain the criteria we use to fee assess students for fee purposes.

The different fee statuses

The following points outline the key principles and how we apply them.

Home fee status

If you have Home (UK) fee status, you will be charged fees based on the UK government's fee level for the year. If you are applying for an undergraduate or taught postgraduate course, you may also be able to apply for a student loan to help you pay your fees.

You are likely to have Home (UK) status if:

  • You are a British or Irish national who has lived in the UK, Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands for three full years immediately before the first day of your course
  • You hold Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), Indefinite Leave to Enter (ILE) or Right of Abode and have lived in the UK, Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands for three full years immediately before the first day of your course. Separate criteria apply if you have indefinite leave to remain through the UK's EU, EEA or Swiss settlement schemes
  • You have been granted refugee status or have humanitarian protection in the UK, or certain other forms of humanitarian leave such as through the Ukraine schemes
  • You live in the UK, you are the spouse, civil partner, or child of a British national and you have lived in the UK for three full years immediately before the first day of your course
  • You are a British national (or the child or spouse of a British national) and have lived in a British Overseas territory for three full years immediately before the first day of your course. This also applies if you have lived in the UK, Isle of Man or Channel Islands for some part of these three years
  • You have been living legally in the UK for an extended period (usually half your life)
  • You are the child of a Turkish worker, and you and your parent have been living in the UK since before 31 December 2020

In most cases, you will not be eligible for Home (UK) fees if the main purpose of your residency in the relevant area has been to receive full-time education (for example, because you are studying away from home at a boarding school or university).

You may also qualify for Home (UK) fee status if you would have met one of these criteria but:

  • You have been living outside the UK because you or your parent, spouse or legal guardian is temporarily employed abroad
  • You usually live outside the UK but you also maintain ongoing connections and residency in the UK (and so can be considered resident in multiple places)

Fee status for EU, EEA and Swiss nationals and British nationals living in the EU

If you start your course on or after 1 August 2021, new criteria apply to students who would have previously been eligible for Home (UK) fee status due to the UK's membership of the European Union.

UK nationals living in the EU, EEA or Switzerland

If you start your course on or after 1 August 2021, you will usually be eligible for Home (UK) fees providing:

  • You are a UK national, you live in the EU, EEA and/or Switzerland (having started living there before 31 December 2020), and you have lived in the UK, EU, EEA and Switzerland for three full years immediately before the start of your course
  • You are a UK national, you live in the UK having returned from the EU, EEA or Switzerland since 31 December 2017, and you have lived in the UK, EU, EEA and Switzerland for three full years immediately before the start of your course
  • You are the child or spouse of a British national and otherwise meet the criteria in either of the previous two points

These rules apply for students who begin studying before 1 January 2028.

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens with pre-settled or settled status

If you are an EU national, you will usually be eligible for Home (UK) fees if you hold valid pre-settled or settled status under the UK's EU, EEA or Swiss settlement schemes. You will need to have lived in the UK, EU, EEA, Gibraltar or Switzerland for three full years immediately before the start of your course.

If you are a non-EU EEA or Swiss national, or are the child or spouse of an EU national, we will normally ask you to provide a share code to demonstrate your settled or pre-settled status. You can provide a valid share code via the UK government website to prove your settlement status in the UK.

Asylum seekers

If you have claimed asylum in the UK but have not received an outcome to your application, you are not eligible for Home (UK) fees under the regulations set out by the UK Government.

Kingston University offers financial support for asylum seekers through our Sanctuary Scholarships.

Overseas fee status

If you do not have Home status you will have Overseas fee status. This is likely if:

  • You live in the UK but have immigration restrictions about how long you can stay - for example some ‘Leave to Remain' or ‘Skilled Worker' visas
  • You have not lived in the UK, Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man or the Channel Islands for three full years immediately before the first day of your course
  • You have lived in the UK, but at any point in the three years immediately before the first day of your course your residency was mainly so you can receive full-time education

We may ask you in advance for written evidence that you, your family or sponsor can pay the tuition fees. You must make sure that you have sufficient resources to cover tuition as well as living expenses before you accept any offer we make to you.

British Nationals (Overseas) (BNO)

If you are living in the UK on a British National (Overseas) visa you will not qualify for Home (UK) fees under the current regulations set by the UK Government.

You will likely become eligible for Home (UK) fees if you are granted Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) having stayed in the UK for five years. However, you must hold this status before you start your course for this to apply.

How to change your fee status

We will let you know what your status is prior to your enrolment. In some cases, we may ask you for additional information or ask you to fill in an Online Fee Task (OFT) via OSIS or a Fee Status Questionnaire before we make a decision. It is very important that you provide us with full information before you become a registered student.

Changing your fee status after offer

Should your circumstances change between receiving a fee decision and starting your course we will reassess your fee status based on your most recent circumstances. Any change in your fee status during the application process will not affect your academic offer but may affect related financial support (including PhD funding).

Changing your fee status as a current student

In most cases, the criteria to be eligible for Home (UK) fees must be met before the start of your course, the first day of the first academic year, and therefore your status will not change once you have enrolled. There are very few very limited exceptions set out in the UK Fee Regulations which may allow you to change status part-way through your studies, but your status will still depend on where you lived before you started your course.

In particular, if you do not meet the residency requirement before you enrol (usually three years' residency in the UK), your residency during your course will not enable you to meet this criteria in later years of study. We usually recommend you consider deferring your place until you have the necessary residency before starting.

Contact us

Who to contact about fees and finance

Fee payments

The Accounts Receivable Team is part of the University's Finance Department and is responsible for the collection of fees.

The Income Team is also part of the University's Finance Department and is responsible for invoicing of fees.

Contact us by

Financial help and advice

The Student Funds Team administers a number of hardship funds.

Student life advisers are available to give advice and guidance on living on a budget, student finance queries, banking and dealing with debt.

Kingston University
John Galsworthy Building
Penrhyn Road
Kingston upon Thames
KT1 2EE
Tel: +44 (0)20 8417 7312

Student Funds Team
Tel: +44 (0)20 8417 7315

Fee status help and advice

If you have queries about your fees status, please get in touch. We are here to help.

Fees, funding and payments

Understanding your fee status

Undergraduate fees

Postgraduate fees

Research degree fees

Short course fees

How to pay your fees

When to pay your fees

Payment portal

Withdrawing from a course