After having convinced Warwick to accept me as a home fees student (though they'll only change it officially when I prove to them that I was resident in the UK on the 1st September 2010), I'm afraid I may have used too much of an aggressive tone when Durham sent me this:
Dear [Rite],
Thank you for returning your completed Fee Status Enquiry Form. From the information you have presented, I can confirm that this institution would consider you to be an overseas student for fees purposes.
An applicant should be made an offer as a 'home' student if they can demonstrate that they satisfy all three of the following criteria:
(a) that they were settled in the UK within the meaning of the Immigration Act 1971 on their relevant date, and (b) that they had been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for the three year period preceding their relevant date, and (c) that no part of the relevant period of residence was wholly or mainly for the purpose of receiving full-time education
The relevant date for programmes commencing in October is 1st September.
The information you have presented indicates that you would not meet at least one of the three criteria above.
I am sorry if this decision is not the news for which you were hoping but I thank you for your co-operation in this matter.
Yours sincerely,
Mr [Fee Status Man]
Fee Status Officer
My response was as follows:
Dear Mr [Fee Status Man],
I am confused as to your decision with regards to my fee status, if only because other a) other universities, namely Warwick, do not agree with your assessment, and b) according to its website,
http://www.ukcosa.org.uk/, the UK Council for International Student Affairs does not agree either. If I permit myself to cite from one section of their site:
http://www.ukcosa.org.uk/student/fee...nt_support.php
Can I become a 'home' fee payer?
It is possible to become a 'home' fee payer, even if you started your course as an 'overseas' fee payer. In all cases (see list below), you must meet any residence conditions at the start of your course. You might be able to change fee status if, for example, you become:
* an EU national or the family member of an EU national
* an EEA or Swiss migrant worker or the family member of such a person
* a refugee or person with Humanitarian Protection or Discretionary Leave
* the child of a Swiss national
* the child of a Turkish worker in the UK
None of your criteria appear to recognise any of the exceptions mentioned here. If I then look at the criteria for which the child of a Swiss national may be considered for home fees according to this website, here:
http://www.ukcosa.org.uk/student/inf..._fees_ewni.php under category 7, you will see that the criteria presented here are as follows:
CATEGORY 7:
Child of a Swiss National
In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet the following criteria:
(a) on the 'first day of an academic year of your course', you must be the child [see Box 7] of a Swiss national
AND
(b) youmust be ordinarily resident [see Box 3] in the UK on the 'first day of the first academic year of the course' [see Box 2]
AND
(c) you must have been ordinarily resident in the EEA [see Box 5] and/or Switzerland and/or the overseas territories [see Box 6] for the three years before the 'first day of the first academic year of the course' [see Box 2]
AND
(d) if the main purpose for your residence in (c) above, was wholly or mainly for the purpose of receiving full-time education, you must have been ordinarily resident in the EEA and/or Switzerland immediately before that three-year period.
NOTES:
* there is no requirement that your Swiss parent is, or has been, economically active in the UK
* if you become the child of a Swiss national part-way through your course, you might become entitled to pay 'home' fees – you can seek advice on this from an adviser at your institution, your Students' Union or telephone UKCISA's Students' Advice Line.
As explicitly stated in the completed sheet (I have sent a more complete sheet by mail, assuming you are referring to the response I sent by electronic mail, but this is explicitly stated in the electronic mail too) I fulfill ALL the criteria stated here. I am not entirely certain why the criteria of Durham would be any different from that of the UK Council for International Student Affairs. I shall be calling the applications department tomorrow (unless I get a response earlier) in the hope of being enlightened as to why the criteria differ between the university of Warwick and the UK Council for International Student Affairs and the University of Durham, or, if this has, as I suspect, been a simple misunderstanding, that my fee status can be reassessed.
[Rite]
[UCAS ID]
Course: Physics (4 year)
Was my tone too aggressive? Am I actually in the right, or are the universities allowed to use whatever criteria they want? And how do you propose I approach this issue when I call them tommorrow?
Note: Realising I'd forgotten something, I then mentioned this:
Dear Mr [Fee Status Man],
I would also like to note that though I may have misunderstood the relevent date for courses starting in September, there is no problem with my being resident in the UK from September 1st (proved by staying overnight at a bed & breakfast and finding some other accomodation, as suggested to me by Warwick). If the 'first day for an academic year for your course' is indeed September 1st despite the course starting October 1st, there is no problem for me with regards to finding residence in the UK from a month in advance, though I find the specification of "for your course" suggests that the relevent date is indeed when my course starts.
Yours sincerely,
[Rite]
Edit: Aw crap, I accidentally said "courses starting in September" when I meant to say "courses starting in October". Ah well, I'll clear that up tomorrow I guess
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