EU students lose home fee status from September 2021

Photography by Rocco Dipoppa on Unsplash

EU students at English universities will no longer benefit from lower tuition fees and access to loans from 2021/22, the government has announced. Anna Vall Navés reports.

Students from the European Union, European Economic Area and Switzerland commencing their studies in the 2021/22 academic year will not be eligible for home fee status or student loans in England. The previous agreement, which has been slashed following Brexit, allowed European students to pay the same tuition fees as UK students rather than the more costly overseas fees. It also gave EU students access to financial support from Student Finance England. 

Universities minister Michelle Donelan confirmed this week that the change will be applied “following our [the UK’s] decision to leave the EU” and that it will affect both undergraduate and postgraduate courses in England. She also explained that this decision will not apply to Europeans benefitting from Citizens’ Rights under the EU Withdrawal Agreement or to Irish nationals. It is not yet clear whether Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland – which have released no statements on this matter so far – will implement the same changes to fee status for EU students. 

The universities minister added that “EU, other EEA and Swiss students, staff and researchers make an important contribution to our universities. I want that contribution to continue and am confident – given the world-leading quality of our higher education sector – that it will.”

The director of the Higher Policy Institute Nick Hillman, however, qualified this announcement as “bad news” for universities. Although he admitted that it would be “morally and legally difficult” for EU fees to remain the same after Brexit, the change risks a decline of around 60% in the number of EU students coming to study in the UK in coming years. 

Hillman concluded that it was essential for the higher education sector to continue to attract EU and overseas students. “Above all, we need to make it abundantly clear to people from the EU and beyond that our universities remain open to all,” he said.

In a poll of EU students, The Student Room found that 79% of respondents would not pay overseas fees to come study in the UK. This year’s UCAS figures reveal that the number of EU undergraduate applicants to UK universities this year has dropped by 2%. With fears emerging that the COVID-19 pandemic could reduce international student numbers and leave many universities in a critical financial position, the announcement of increased EU fees could make the future of the UK’s higher education sector even more uncertain.

In an email circulated to staff, UCL’s President & Provost Michael Arthur responded to the announcement, stating “I am sorry that these changes may create additional barriers for EU, EEA and Swiss students who wish to join us here at UCL. European students are an incredibly important part of our community and we hope to welcome many more in the future. I continue to be very proud of the contribution that European students and staff make to UCL, despite the uncertainties we are facing, both due to Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic.”

“We recognise that the significance of these changes will be different for each UCL department. The senior team and I are now considering how this decision will affect UCL, our staff and our students, and what our long-term position will be,” he concluded, promising to share more information as the picture becomes clearer. The Provost also reminded staff and students that the most up-to-date information and support can be found on UCL’s Brexit webpages.