How to get free university tuition by moving to Scotland

03/05/2024

St Andrews University in Fife is routinely ranked among the best universities in Britain – JByard/iStockphoto

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It’s never been more expensive to go to university.

Tuition fees may have stayed fixed at £9,250 for the past seven years, but thanks to high interest rates and new loan repayment rules this year’s university intake faces the prospect of paying off their tuition fees after they retire.

The average outstanding balance for student loans in England is currently £45,000 – although the highest student loan debt has ballooned to £213,000 – and some courses offer earning potentials below the average non-graduate salary.

But if you are from Scotland you could leave university debt-free, as Scottish students studying at Scottish universities don’t pay tuition fees.

However, there are a lot of rules around who is eligible for this – particularly if you’ve lived elsewhere. Here, Telegraph Money explores the feasibility of moving to Scotland for free tuition, and how you could take advantage.

What are the tuition fee rules in Scotland?

Scottish universities are allowed to charge home students £1,820 per year for tuition fees, but this sum is then covered by the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) – the Scottish Government agency akin to Student Finance England.

Scottish university students can therefore walk away from their four-year degrees with no tuition fee debt.

As well as paying absolutely nothing for their tuition, Scotland is home to some of Britain’s best and oldest universities.

Four of the top five universities in Scotland were founded before 1600 and its oldest, St Andrews, is routinely ranked among the best universities in Britain.

Scottish tuition fees vary depending on every student’s fee status. This is split between “home students” for those who are considered to come from Scotland, “rest of UK” for students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and international students.

It is up to each individual Scottish university, of which there are 15, to make a decision about the fee status of a student. However, the universities follow the legislative framework set out by SAAS.

To be considered a home student, the following three criteria must apply:

You must be a British national or have indefinite leave to remain
You must have lived in the UK for three years prior to the start date of your degree
You must be considered “ordinarily resident” in Scotland at the point of applying for your degree

For anyone considering a move across the border to save themselves, or their child, thousands in tuition fees, the third point will be the most crucial.

What does being ‘ordinarily resident’ in Scotland mean?

SAAS defines a student as being ordinarily resident if they are living in Scotland as part of their “day-to-day life, whether for a short or long time”.

To be considered ordinarily resident in Scotland, you must make the nation your home, and intend to stay and live there. Temporary absences should be ignored and would not count against you.

However, the Scottish Government agency adds: “If you are just in Scotland to study but otherwise you would be living elsewhere, you are not ordinarily resident in Scotland.”

What this means in basic terms is you cannot simply move to Scotland the month before applying to university to claim to be a Scottish resident. Your application would be denied on the grounds of only moving there for education purposes.

But while the rules stipulate you need to have lived in the UK for at least three years, there is no set time frame for how long you need to have lived in Scotland to be deemed eligible for free tuition.

It’s a grey area, and in some marginal cases universities will rely on ordinary residence case law to inform its decision on your fee status.

However, it is still difficult to derive a general principle or rule about whether or not a student will be granted home student status, and it is not uncommon for different Scottish universities to reach different conclusions about a student’s fee status.

Expect to provide evidence of why you’re living in Scotland

Frustratingly there is no rule to say how long you need to have lived in Scotland for the home student status to be applied. Instead, universities will be more interested in the perceived intention behind the move.

It is not as simple as saying if you complete your Highers in Scotland you will be deemed ordinarily resident, or to pinpoint which year of education you need to join the Scottish system.

What you can expect when applying to Scottish universities is to have to fill out a fee status questionnaire, and this offers some insight as to the information a university will use to assess your case.

There will be questions about where you were born, your parents’ nationality, your schooling history and any employment experience. The university will then use this to build a picture of your situation.

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“The more evidence you’ve got up your sleeve, the better chance you have,” said Gary Rycroft, senior partner at Joseph A Jones & Co Solicitors and Telegraph Money’s Ask A Lawyer expert.

He said cases will be dealt with holistically, and assessors will look at your intention and commitment.

Showing you have moved to Scotland not for the sole purpose of education is important, so evidence of your whole family moving rather than a student alone moving to attend a Scottish boarding school will help.

So, if you moved while in the final years of school, did you have a part-time job? Do you have family in Scotland, or roots in the country? These are all areas which can strengthen your case, because it shows commitment to creating a life in Scotland, rather than opportunism to try and exploit the favourable fee set-up.

Come up with a game plan

Scottish universities have deliberately set guidelines to avoid students from the rest of Britain trying to play the system to get free university tuition. As such, it can be difficult to change their mind if they think this is what a student is trying to do.

If you’re not awarded home student status, you can appeal the university’s fee status assessment and submit additional evidence. This will be re-examined but there is no guarantee a university would overturn its initial decision.

The UK Council for International Student Affairs provides advice for prospective students about the definition of ordinary residence, but makes clear the body will not get involved with any individual disputes between students and decision-makers.

There will no doubt be parents considering moving their family to Scotland to take advantage of the debt-free university tuition much in the same way families consider moving to live in catchment areas for better schools. If this is the case, you’ll likely need to start thinking about this years in advance.

“It’s something you’ve got to start planning way ahead of the time, it’s not something you can decide to do one month before. You need to have a game plan,” said Mr Rycroft.

It’s worth speaking to university admissions departments well in advance of applying to understand the feasibility, and consider taking legal advice from Scottish education experts to understand your position and the likelihood your child could qualify as a home student.

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