Student Finance England (SFE) – Residency Eligibility Criteria

Nationality or residency status for Student Finance England

You are eligible for full support if all the following apply:

• you’re a UK national or Irish citizen or have ‘settled status’ (no restrictions on how long you can stay)
• you normally live in England
• you’ve been living legally in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for 3 continuous years before the first day of your course (1 September if course starting in September or 1 January if course starting in January), apart from temporary absences such as going on holiday

You may be eligible for full support if you’re a UK national (or family member of a UK national) who were both:

• living in the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein on 31 December 2020, or returned to the UK by 31 December 2020 after living in the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein
• living in the UK, the EU, Gibraltar, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein for the past 3 years

You may also be eligible if your residency status is one of the following:

• refugee (including family members)
• humanitarian protection (including family members)
• migrant worker or frontier worker from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein (including family members) with settled or pre-settled status
• child of a Swiss national and you and your parent have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme
• child of a Turkish worker who has permission to stay in the UK – you and your Turkish worker parent must have been living in the UK by 31 December 2020
• a stateless person (including family members)
• an unaccompanied child granted ‘Section 67 leave’ under the Dubs Amendment
• a child who is under the protection of someone granted ‘Section 67 leave’, who is also allowed to stay in the UK for the same period of time as the person responsible for you (known as ‘leave in line’)
• granted ‘Calais leave’ to remain a child of someone granted ‘Calais leave’ to remain, who is also allowed to stay in the UK for the same period of time as your parent (known as ‘leave in line’)
• you’ve been given settled status (‘indefinite leave to remain’) because you’ve been the victim of domestic violence
• you’ve been given settled status (‘indefinite leave to remain’) as a bereaved partner
• you or your family member have been granted leave under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP)
• you or your family member have been granted leave to enter or remain in the UK under the Ukraine Family Scheme, the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme or the Ukraine Extension Scheme

You could also be eligible if you’re not a UK national and are either:

• under 18 and have lived in the UK for at least 7 years
• 18 or over and have lived in the UK for at least 20 years (or at least half of your life)

You must have been living in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for 3 continuous years before the first day of your course (1 September if course starting in September or 1 January if course starting in January)

When you can apply for help with your Tuition Fees only:

You may be able to apply for Tuition Fee funding if you’re

• a UK national or a family member of a UK national who has resident status in Gibraltar and has been living in the UK, Gibraltar, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein for the past 3 years before the first day of the first academic year of your course (1 September if course starting in September or 1 January if course starting in January)
• a person with settled status in the UK and you have been living in the UK, Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or the British Overseas Territories for the past 3 years before the first day of the first academic year of your course, with at least part of that time spent in the British Overseas Territories (1 September if course starting in September or 1 January if course starting in January)
• a person with settled status in the UK and you have been living in the UK, Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or Ireland for the past 3 years before the first day of the first academic year of your course (with part of that time spent in Ireland) (1 September if course starting in September or 1 January if course starting in January)
• a family member of a person with settled status in the UK and you have been living in the UK, Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for the past 3 years before the first day of the first academic year of your course (1 September if course starting in September or 1 January if course starting in January)
• a person with pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme and you’re an EU National or the family member of an EU National
• an Irish citizen and you have been living in Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein before 31 December 2020 and in the UK, Gibraltar, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein for the past 3 years before the first day of the first academic year of your course (1 September if course starting in September or 1 January if course starting in January)
• a worker (or family member of a worker) from Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, a child of a Swiss national or the child of a Turkish worker and you do not qualify for full support as you have lived in the overseas territories (other than Gibraltar) at some stage in the 3 years before the start of your course (1 September if course starting in September or 1 January if course starting in January)
• you are a person of Chagossian descent and have British citizenship

The first day of the first academic year of your course is not the first day of Induction or teaching – it is:

• 1 September, if your course starts between 1 August and 31 December
• 1 January, if your course starts between 1 January and 31 March

For further advice and guidance, contact the Money Advice Team