Tuition Fee Loan Eligibility

Hi there! I have an offer to study PGCE in Modern Languages at the University of Manchester, starting next September (2026). I have been classified as a home student by the University fees assessment team.

I am a EU national with Settled Status. I moved to the UK in 2018 for University (I did both my undergraduate degree and masters degree at Leicester) and have been residing in the country continuously since then, except for a few months between September 2023 and September 2024, when I worked temporarily in Thailand and the USA.

I read that in order to be eligible for student finance, I need to have resided in the UK for the 3 years before the course start date, but I was wondering if my time in Thailand and the USA would potentially be considered a temporary absence and thus would not affect my eligibility?

Thanks in advance!

Reply 1

Graeme SFE

Official Rep

Original post

by andreaalvarez

Hi there! I have an offer to study PGCE in Modern Languages at the University of Manchester, starting next September (2026). I have been classified as a home student by the University fees assessment team.
I am a EU national with Settled Status. I moved to the UK in 2018 for University (I did both my undergraduate degree and masters degree at Leicester) and have been residing in the country continuously since then, except for a few months between September 2023 and September 2024, when I worked temporarily in Thailand and the USA.
I read that in order to be eligible for student finance, I need to have resided in the UK for the 3 years before the course start date, but I was wondering if my time in Thailand and the USA would potentially be considered a temporary absence and thus would not affect my eligibility?
Thanks in advance!

Hi Andrea,

Time spent abroad is fine so long as it's temporary. So, when you apply we'll ask you to provide some evidence.

So, if you have (for example) temporary visas or return flight tickets, we can accept that as proof.

Thanks, Graeme