Student finance, an Unusual situation post brexit

Hello all

Firstly, apologies for the length of this, thank you for reading in advance.

My girlfriend is an Irish national, but she has lived and studied in Spain for most of her life. She has outstanding grades and is looking to study film in the UK in 21/22. New announcements recently has confirmed that post brexit, EU citizens will have to pay international student fees and will no longer be eligible for tuition loans from Student Finance England. However I have read that the reciprocal arrangement between the UK and Ireland will remain, to keep the same fees.

My questions are as follows.

Will Irish citizens still be able to study in the UK and take advantage of the £9250 per year tution fees in 2021/2022?

Will she still be able to get a student loan to cover tuition fees in 2021/2022?

Even though she is an Irish citizen and has an Irish passport, because she has studied in Spain and has Spanish qualifications, will this affect her study fees and chance at a student loan despite the British Irish reciprocal agreement?


It seems to be a very unique situation to me, but thank you for reading and if you have any ideas on this or a concrete answer if you are replying from SFE please let me know. It'll be very much appreciated.

Many thanks

Charlie