The Student Room Group

British citizen moving back from Canada after 4years! Please help!

Hi, hoping someone can help! I am a British citizen who lived in England until I was 16, before emigrating to canada with my mum & dad. Im now 20 & i want to come home permanently in time to start either college or uni in September 2015.


Am I still able to get grants and money help with university?? Also will I still be classed as a home student? I will be moving back on my own, please help, trying to get everything sorted for coming back!


thanks :-)
Reply 1
Hey! Whether you will be eligible for Home fees can depend on a lot of things, for example: Are you a Canadian citizen or British Citizen? Do you have double citizenship perhaps? How long have you been away? What was the reason for your stay in Canada? Did you keep any ties with the UK and Europe when you were gone?
I had a very similar issue, I'm from a country in the European Union but have lived in Canada for 4 years because of my mom's employment. I am going back to the UK for university and there was lots of paperwork to be done!
Let me know if you have any more specific questions.
Reply 2
It's unlikely that you'll qualify for Student Finance for 2015. One of the main eligibility criteria is that you must have been resident in the UK for three years prior to the start of your course - this even applies to UK citizens. As you moved to Canada with your parents four years ago, it would be pretty much impossible to argue that your main residence remained in the UK during that time and that you were only in Canada temporarily.

If you move back to the UK before this September, you will be eligible for funding (subject to the remaining criteria) for courses starting in September 2017. Once you've met the residence criteria, you will be assessed as a Home student.
(edited 10 years ago)
As above, you are an international student as far as SFE are concerned for the next 3 years
Reply 4
I have no way around it then? I didn't want to move but I had to given my age.. I have no residency here whatsoever and still have my valid British passport. None of this helps?
Thankyou for the replies
Sadly no, UK residency is vital.
Reply 6
Original post by Collette_20
I have no way around it then? I didn't want to move but I had to given my age.. I have no residency here whatsoever and still have my valid British passport. None of this helps?
Thankyou for the replies

No, sorry, there are no short cuts for that aspect. It's your actual physical place of residence which is crucial in the first instance, not your UK nationality or your status as a non-resident in your current country of residence.

Sadly your parents obviously didn't realise that moving to another country would affect your entitlement to UK-based university funding.

Is it vital that you study in the UK, or is there any way you could get funding for university in Canada? I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the Canadian system. Although if you're not formally a resident there either, I guess it might be an issue on that side of the Atlantic as well.
Reply 7
:frown: I was hoping somehow I would be okay since I was still a British citizen with a valid passport. I presume it counts for college too? I wouldn't be able to move back, do an access course then uni?

Well I have looked at quite a few unis near me and they just don't offer the range of courses in the area I would like to go into. As well as that they are extremely expensive and you don't get student finance or what not here.. I've never really settled here, I've wanted to come back since we moved really, was just the wrong time/age to go.
Reply 8
Original post by Collette_20
:frown: I was hoping somehow I would be okay since I was still a British citizen with a valid passport. I presume it counts for college too? I wouldn't be able to move back, do an access course then uni?

No I'm sorry, the passport and citizenship are secondary considerations to the three previous years of residence.

Student Finance only covers uni-level study, so you wouldn't get that for an Access course anyway. Once you're 24, you can get an Advanced Learning Loan to cover your Access tuition fees, which would be wiped out as a debt when you completed a uni degree. There would still be no money for living expenses until you reached uni. However that would mean a 4 year wait and in the meantime, you're unlikely to get much in the way of funding for an Access course if you're under 24, even if you were a Home student. The pre-uni funding system in the UK is based on the expectation that under 24s will usually be supported by their parents until they start uni.

Well I have looked at quite a few unis near me and they just don't offer the range of courses in the area I would like to go into. As well as that they are extremely expensive and you don't get student finance or what not here.. I've never really settled here, I've wanted to come back since we moved really, was just the wrong time/age to go.

As far as I can see, your only way of accessing UK resident levels of Student Finance, is to move over to the UK now and start to build up your years of residency ready for a September 2017 start.
Reply 9
I think you may be right, in fact it's difficult to be able to know anything for certain while I'm over here in canada. Will be next for me to move back them go from there. Thanks for your help! :smile:
Original post by KleoKyp
Hey! Whether you will be eligible for Home fees can depend on a lot of things, for example: Are you a Canadian citizen or British Citizen? Do you have double citizenship perhaps? How long have you been away? What was the reason for your stay in Canada? Did you keep any ties with the UK and Europe when you were gone?
I had a very similar issue, I'm from a country in the European Union but have lived in Canada for 4 years because of my mom's employment. I am going back to the UK for university and there was lots of paperwork to be done!
Let me know if you have any more specific questions.

Have been away for like 10 years, but was born in UK and i am 18 years now wanted to come back for my degree course
Original post by De-deal
Have been away for like 10 years, but was born in UK and i am 18 years now wanted to come back for my degree course


Providing you're a British citizen, you're going to face the same problem as outlined in previous posts - 3 years continous residence prior to receiving funding.

SFE is a joke.