Understanding your fee status

Your fee status will be assessed as part of your application. This determines the tuition fee you will be charged and will either be 'UK' or 'International'

The assessment is based on regulations and guidance published by the UK Government. Applicants who are settled in the UK and meet the main residence requirements will usually be charged the UK fee. Applicants who live outside the UK will usually be charged the International fee. Further information on fee assessment is available on the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) website.

We are usually able to make a fee status assessment based on the information provided in your application. However, in some cases, we may need to request further information and documentary evidence to ensure that the correct assessment is made.  If this is the case, we will send you a fee status questionnaire to complete and return with any required documentation.

Please note that some aspects of the fee status requirements are open to the interpretation of individual universities and sometimes a decision made by one university will not necessarily correspond to, or have bearing on, a decision of another university. We will not take into consideration decisions made by other universities when determining your fee status but will instead make our own independent assessment based on our interpretation of the government guidelines.

If we are not able to make a decision on your fee status based on the information provided in your application, we will send you a request for further information. If you are sent a fee status questionnaire, you will need to complete all compulsory sections as well as any other relevant sections. Please take time to read the notes carefully. It is important to complete the questionnaire as thoroughly as possible so that the University can make an accurate and quick decision. As well as completing the form, you will need to provide evidence, such as a copy of the photo page of your passport. Please read the guidance notes within the form as to what evidence is acceptable.

Once we have received your fee status questionnaire and supporting evidence, these will be assessed by a trained member of admissions staff in accordance with guidelines set out by the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA). The outcome of the fee status assessment is dependent on a variety of factors, including (but not limited to), nationality, immigration status and ‘ordinary residence’ and all relevant factors will be taken into account in the University’s decision. This assessment is made independently from the academic decision taken on your application.

We aim to review fee status questionnaires within 20 working days, but at peak times of the year this may take longer. In some cases, the regulations are complex and considerable time is required to ensure we make the correct decision. It is important that you complete the questionnaire fully and accurately, and provide any required supporting evidence as indicated in the questionnaire. 

If the questionnaire is not completed correctly or the required documentary evidence is missing, we may need to contact you for further clarification. This will delay the decision on your fee status as well as potentially preventing us from communicating the academic decision on your application.

Once a decision has been taken, if you wish for clarification on your fee status or you wish to appeal the decision, the first step is to email the Admissions Office to request feedback. If following this feedback, you are still unhappy with the decision that has been taken, you should follow the University’s Appeals and Complaints procedure. Please clearly outline in your appeal which UKCISA category you believe you meet and address how you meet all of the criteria in the category.

It is important to raise any query relating to your fee status prior to accepting your offer at the University. We will only consider changes to your tuition fee category after this point if there is a good reason why you were not able to draw relevant circumstances to our attention, or submit relevant evidence, at the time you accepted our offer. This is outlined in the Terms and Conditions of Study. Fee status can only be changed part way through a course for very specific reasons.

For information about when fee status can change once the course has started or about further steps that can be taken if you are not happy with the University’s decision on your fee status please visit the relevant section of the UKCISA website.

We are unable to carry out fee status assessments prior to application. If you want to find out further information on your likely fee status, please visit the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) website.