Tuition Fee Status

Students who normally live in Scotland will have a fee status of Scottish.

Students who normally live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland will have a fee status of Rest of UK – England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Students who normally live in the Republic of Ireland will have a fee status of Republic of Ireland.

Irish nationals who are ordinarily resident in the UK on 31 December 2020, who have been ordinarily resident in the UK, EEA, EU or Switzerland for three years prior to the course start date, and who are currently ordinarily resident in Scotland may be granted REPUBLIC OF IRELAND fee status without needing settled or pre-settled status.

Irish nationals who moved to the UK after 31 December 2020, who have been resident in the UK/Islands or the ROI for three years and who are now ordinarily resident in Scotland prior to the start of the course may be granted SCOTTISH fee status. Ordinarily Resident typically means that you are living in Scotland for reasons other than just your studies. If you are relocating to Scotland for the primary purpose of your education, it is unlikely you meet this criteria.

Irish nationals who are not ordinarily resident in Scotland prior to the start of the course, but who have been resident in the UK/Islands or the ROI for three years and who may be granted REPUBLIC OF IRELAND fee status.

Students who normally live in a country outside the UK will have a fee status of International.

EU nationals and their family members living in the UK before the end of 2020 who have settled or pre-settled status and meet the residency conditions of 3 years in the UK, EEA or Switzerland may be granted SCOTTISH fee status, but must also be ordinarily resident in the UK at the start of the course and have applied to the EU Settlement Scheme.

Irish nationals who are ordinarily resident in the UK on 31 December 2020, who have been ordinarily resident in the UK, EEA, EU or Switzerland for three years prior to the course start date, and who are currently ordinarily resident in Scotland may be granted REPUBLIC OF IRELAND fee status without needing settled or pre-settled status.

EU, EEA and Swiss nationals moving to live in the UK after 31st December 2020 without any form of settled immigration status may be granted INTERNATIONAL fee status (see below).

Irish nationals who moved to the UK after 31 December 2020, who have been resident in the UK/Islands or the ROI for three years and who are now ordinarily resident in Scotland prior to the start of the course may be granted SCOTTISH fee status. Ordinarily Resident typically means that you are living in Scotland for reasons other than just your studies. If you are relocating to Scotland for the primary purpose of your education, it is unlikely you meet this criteria.

Irish nationals who are not ordinarily resident in Scotland prior to the start of the course, but who have been resident in the UK/Islands or the ROI for three years and who may be granted REPUBLIC OF IRELAND fee status.

Irish nationals living elsewhere in the EU (not ROI) who move to Scotland to study may be granted INTERNATIONAL fee status.

UK nationals living in the EU/EEA or Switzerland, who were previously resident in Scotland for at least 3 years before relocating to the EU/EEA or Switzerland, may be granted SCOTTISH fee status. A family member of a UK national may also meet this criteria if joining their UK returner family member in the UK.

UK nationals living in the EU/EEA or Switzerland, who were previously resident in a part of the UK other than Scotland for at least 3 years before relocating to the EU/EEA or Switzerland, may be granted REST OF UK fee status.

UK nationals living in the EU/EEA or Switzerland, who were not previously resident in a part of the UK for at least 3 years before relocating to the EU/EEA or Switzerland, may be granted REST OF UK fee status.

Dual UK/EU nationals who have exercised their EU residence rights by residing elsewhere in the EU before 31 December 2020, and who are ordinarily resident in the UK, EEA or Switzerland for 3 years before the start of the course may be granted SCOTTISH fee status.

Dual UK/EU nationals who have NOT exercised their EU residence rights by residing elsewhere in the EU before 31 December 2020 may be granted REST OF UK fee status.

If you are a young asylum seeker, and you meet the conditions set out below, you can request that UWS grant you home fee status and can apply to the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) to have your fees paid.

You are not eligible to receive living cost support until the Home Office has made a decision on your asylum application and granted you refugee status, Discretionary Leave or Humanitarian Protection in the UK.

You must also meet the following conditions:

• you are the child of an asylum seeker or a young asylum seeker
• you were under the age of 18 on the date when the application for asylum was made
• you are living in Scotland on the relevant date

If you do not meet these conditions, you will not be eligible to apply to SAAS for any financial support, but you can still request that UWS grant you home fee status. This means you would have a much smaller tuition fee to pay, but you should carefully consider how you might be able to meet this cost, as well as your living costs.

You can find out more by contacting the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS).

If you are an undergraduate student unable to claim tuition fee support from SAAS because you do not meet the criteria, have been granted home fee status by UWS, and have been in Scotland for at least a couple of years, we recommend you apply for the Carnegie Trust Undergraduate Tuition Fee Grant. This organisation aims to support students who do not receive government funding. While they normally only consider those of Scottish birth, they may give consideration where an applicant has been living in Scotland, or attended school here.

If you have been granted refugee status, Humanitarian Protection or Discretionary Leave in the UK, and normally live in Scotland, you will have a fee status of Scottish. You will have to provide us with copies of your Home Office decision.

This means you will be eligible to apply for full student support as a Scottish student and can find out more in the sections below.

You must meet all conditions set out by Scottish Government legislation and Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) and can contact SAAS directly if you have any questions.

If you are the child or husband, wife or civil partner of a person with a grant of asylum in the UK (refugee status, Humanitarian Protection or Discretionary Leave), you don’t need a grant of asylum in the UK to be eligible to apply to Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) for support, but you must be ordinarily resident in Scotland on the relevant date.

If you're Ukrainian and settling in Scotland, you could be eligible for the same package of student funding that Scottish students receive - this includes tuition fee support and living cost support. The support covers higher education courses from the 2024-2025 academic year.

To be eligible, you must have applied for either the Ukraine Family Scheme, the Homes for Ukraine Scheme or the Ukraine Extension Scheme.

You can also apply for funding if you meet all the following:

• you have been granted leave outside of the immigration rules
• you have lived in Ukraine before 1 January 2022
• you left Ukraine following the Russian invasion of the country on 24 February 2022

To be eligible for the tuition fee support and living cost support, you must be both ordinarily resident:

• in the UK at all times since first being granted this leave
• in Scotland at the time of applying for student support

Ordinarily Resident means to have 'habitual and normal residence in one place'.

The agency in Scotland that manages student support is called Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS). You can find out more on the SAAS website, and this is also where you can make an application for funding.

If you meet the SAAS criteria to be treated the same as a Scottish student, the University will also treat you as Scottish for the purposes of tuition fees.

If you meet the SAAS criteria to be treated the same as a Scottish student, you can find out more about how student funding packages work by visiting the following pages of the UWS website:

• Undergraduate courses
• Postgraduate courses

From the 2024-25 academic year, the Scottish Government will provide an additional exception to residency criteria for those Ukrainian nationals moving onto the new Home Office scheme, the Ukrainian Permission Extension Scheme which is due to be shortly introduced.

Students who are granted leave under the new scheme will remain eligible for home fees status and living cost support for the duration of their studies. This change mirrors support that Ukrainian nationals can currently receive from the Scottish Government whilst studying who have been granted leave under the Homes for Ukraine, Ukraine Family and Ukraine Extension schemes. 

The agency in Scotland that manages student support is called Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS). You can find out more on the SAAS website, and this is also where you can make an application for funding.

If you meet the SAAS criteria to be treated the same as a Scottish student, the University will also treat you as Scottish for the purposes of tuition fees.

If you meet the SAAS criteria to be treated the same as a Scottish student, you can find out more about how student funding packages work by visiting the following pages of the UWS website:

• Undergraduate courses
• Postgraduate courses

If you have been granted Humanitarian Protection under the Syrian Vulnerable Person Relocation Scheme (SVPRS), and normally live in Scotland, you will have a fee status of Scottish. You will have to provide us with copies of your Home Office decision.

This means you will be eligible to apply for full student support as a Scottish student and can find out more in the sections below.

You must meet all conditions set out by Scottish Government legislation and Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) and can contact SAAS directly if you have any questions.

If you enter the UK with Indefinite Leave to Enter (ILE) under the Locally Engaged Staff Assistance Scheme (LESAS), and normally live in Scotland, you will have a fee status of Scottish. You will have to provide us with copies of your Home Office decision.

This means you will be eligible to apply for full student support as a Scottish student and can find out more in the sections below.

You must meet all conditions set out by Scottish Government legislation and Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) and can contact SAAS directly if you have any questions.

If you have been granted Leave to Enter under the Locally Employed Staff (LES) Scheme, and normally live in Scotland, you will have a fee status of Scottish. You will have to provide us with copies of your Home Office decision.

This means you will be eligible to apply for full student support as a Scottish student and can find out more in the sections below.

You must meet all conditions set out by Scottish Government legislation and Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) and can contact SAAS directly if you have any questions.

If you have arrived in the UK as part of the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy or the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme, and normally live in Scotland, you will have a fee status of home – Scotland. 

This means you will be eligible to apply for full student support as a Scottish student and can find out more in the sections below.

This support may also be extended to the spouse, civil partner or child of the individual being granted this leave on the same basis.

You must meet all conditions set out by Scottish Government legislation and Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) and can contact SAAS directly if you have any questions.

Female Afghan Students:

From the 2024-25 academic year, the Scottish Government will provide an exception to residency criteria to extend support to female Afghan students who have been prevented from continuing their studies in Afghanistan due to the restrictions imposed by the Taliban regime and have been granted a student visa by the Home Office in order to complete their Higher Education in Scotland.

This change is made in recognition of the unique position these students are experiencing as a result of the Taliban policy of discrimination, placing an indefinite ban on women and girls entering and undertaking secondary or tertiary education, and in the expectation that these students may, if able to undertake their Higher Education in Scotland, enter and contribute to Scotland’s cultural and economic benefit.

Students qualifying under this exception will be eligible for home fees status and living cost support from Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) and can contact SAAS directly if you have any questions.

If you have been granted leave to remain as a Stateless Person, and normally live in Scotland, you will have a fee status of Scottish. You will have to provide us with copies of your Home Office decision.

This means you will be eligible to apply for full student support as a Scottish student and can find out more in the sections below.

You must meet all conditions set out by Scottish Government legislation and Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) and can contact SAAS directly if you have any questions.