fee status

Hi. I was having lunch with a friend last week and I told her that I am paying 11k for international fees and my mother is a UK resident and has leaved her for more than ten years. I was raised in South Africa when my parents separated ten years back. She was surprised why I was paying that much when my sponsor, my mother is a UK resident. By any chance could she be right that I am eligible to pay my fees as a local student?