The Student Room Group

SFE Eligibility

I'm a British citizen who moved to the UK from a non-EU country mid/end of October 2022, after living there for around 9 years.
I'm looking to apply for a student loan for 2025 - 2026 university entry as I am unable to fund my course without this. The eligibility rule for SFE is that you need to be resident in the UK for 3 years prior to the first day of the first academic year of your course. I will miss this date by a month.
If I don't receive the loan to start in 2025, I will not be able to study as according to all the universities that I have applied for, my grades will expire by then (I graduated high school in 2020).
I moved to the UK with no initial intention of studying here and have been working/paying taxes since Nov 2022. The centre of my life is now England.
My home country is now at war, and I can’t return to study there.
I don't expect that my request for the student loan will be accepted initially but would there be room for leniency/an exception to be made if I appeal?
Hi there. Just to confirm, you are a UK national so you were born in the UK is that correct? Did you always plan to return to the UK? Thanks, David
Reply 2
Hi David - thanks for your response. I am a UK national - I was born in the UK and lived here for around 5 years in total when I was younger. I did plan to return to the UK eventually as I've always seen it as my home (my parents moved abroad but my family are here, and I visited very often). I moved back to care for a family member and start working here, having applied for my job before moving over, whilst still abroad.
Hi Gelato23,

You would need to wait for the 3 year qualifying period before starting your course if you wish to qualify for funding.

If you sent an appeal it would likely be rejected as the only exception would be if you can prove that your stay outside of the UK was of a temporary nature, however the 9 years indicates a long stay outside of the UK and EU and have referred to this as your home country which would indicate permanent residence.

Thanks, Clare
Reply 4
Thanks Clare. I refer to it as my home country for ease and have never really considered it as such. The nine years I spent there were for my education as I was living with my parents, and they didn't want to disrupt it by moving us back here (the same predicament they are currently in with my younger siblings - hence why they are still there). I was under 18 and unable to move back by myself. I moved here past Sep because I didn't want to move here without a job and had never considered the eligibility date, as I hadn't considered studying here. Considering that I can't go back to study, and won't be accepted into any universities the following year, can an exception not be made as I only miss it by one month? Would SFE consider financing my fees and not my maintenance (not ideal but better than nothing as that would mean not studying at all)? Would it be possible for me to finance the first year and receive a loan for the rest of my course? If the appeal got rejected, what further action can I take - is there a tribunal/further course of action?
Hi Gelato23,

We can't make exceptions to the regulations for individual customers. You wouldn't be eligible to apply for fees only if you are a UK national. You would need to meet the residency requirements before the start of the course to be eligible for any funding. If the appeal is rejected it can be referred to an Independent Assessor.

Thanks,
Calum

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