What are the tuition fees for a dual Irish/UK citizen living in England?

Hey guys,

I'm quite interested in applying to study Law or History at Edinburgh next year and wasn't clear as to how tuition fees work. I have dual citizenship for Ireland and the UK and was wondering do I still count as an EU citizen and receive the same fee treatment? I do live in England and I know residency plays a part but even with my Irish citizenship do I still qualify for free tuition?

Thanks for the help!

How long have you lived in the UK for.

It is for the university to determine your fee status.

I have seen this applied inconsistently. It is better for you to apply as an EU citizen and being Irish.

1.They may assess you as home because they dont investigate sufficiently. If they do, then take it.

2. I actually think where you have been living in the UK for the previous 3 years as a resident, then you do not qualify for home free fees, but get treated the same was as other English residents.

You can read further on this in the links below.

https://www.ed.ac.uk/studying/undergraduate/fees-finance/fee-status
https://www.ed.ac.uk/student-funding/tuition-fees/fee-status
https://www.ukcisa.org.uk/Information--Advice/Fees-and-Money/Scotland-fee-status#layer-6057

Points 3 and 4 in the link. Imo they tend to waive you through on 3 when it sounds like you are 4.

Thanks for the help,

Yeah I feel my claim for home free fees is pretty tenuous but was just curious really to see if I could take some of the burden of fees off my back.

I am pointing out I think the application of the actual rules is inconsistent.
How long have you been living in England? A passport is not enough.

You might as well give it a try.

Do you have a UK passport? How long have you lived there?

To be safe, I would ring up/email the university and just ask them.

I was born in and have lived in England my whole life really, I did live in Switzerland for about a year but that outside the EU. Yeah I see your point, as I say I have an Irish passport but little else as I haven't lived in Ireland. But yeah thanks I will give it a try

This is similar to the Indians and Pakistanis who post on here and just happen to have UK passport spent all their life abroad and expect to go to UK uni based on their sudden found Britishness.


Imo you clearly come under category 4, but I have seen people wrongly get category 3. Read the rules for yourself and you will see I am correct.

I honestly don't mean any offence, I'd still be willing to pay full fees for the course I want at any Uni I was simply curious if point 3 was applicable, it comes after a mate of mine was bragging that he was going to get free uni in Scotland because his dad is Irish but didn't really trust him so wanted to find out myself and If this in any way applied to me.

Ive pointed out the difference. the uni decides and sometimes they apply the rule incorrectly. I have seen threads where Edinburgh have done this. O would think 2 or 3 last year. No offence and am not judging am just saying it as it is. If you want to try then apply on the basis you are an Irish passport holder. If they class you as home i.e no fees, then take it. You wont have lost anything.


In any event student loans are quasi debt and most of your will be written off.

Thanks for that and that's really helped me out, yeah student debt is the biggest thing putting me off at the moment hence the enquiries etc at least you tell it honestly, a lot of people are really wishy washy when it comes to the specifics of student finance etc, cheers.

It's never about citizenship. All about where you've resided. I hold an EU passport but I'm a home student as I've spent far more than 3 years in the UK.

I was in the same situation! It doesn’t matter where you live or have lived - the Irish passport will get u the full EU/Scottish benefits! You just have to specify this when u apply. I’ve never lived in Ireland was born in America but have lived all my life in England. I was still only given fee of 1k something instead of 9k! Plus- with the passport you can also apply for the Scottish gov to completely pay for that amount too and they usually do- it doesn’t depend on income or anything!
-very grateful to have that passport!

As pointed out they dont always apply the rules correctly.