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UK Masters degrees - are we home or international students?
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dackinator



Joined: 17 Sep 2010
Posts: 105

PostPosted: Mon May 12, 2014 1:16 pm    Post subject: UK Masters degrees - are we home or international students? Reply with quote

I'm thinking about saving up and doing a masters in education,I'll soon be 30 and its time to try and improve my career prospects.

I've found plenty of interesting courses that I could just about afford, BUT I notice that most UK universities charge almost double to international students. I'm British, UK passport, but i've been teaching overseas for 4 years now. Would I count as a foreign student? I'll do the course while continuing to teach abroad, so im guessing yes . Sad
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Shroob



Joined: 02 Aug 2010
Posts: 1339

PostPosted: Mon May 12, 2014 1:40 pm    Post subject: Re: UK Masters degrees - are we home or international studen Reply with quote

dackinator wrote:
I'm thinking about saving up and doing a masters in education,I'll soon be 30 and its time to try and improve my career prospects.

I've found plenty of interesting courses that I could just about afford, BUT I notice that most UK universities charge almost double to international students. I'm British, UK passport, but i've been teaching overseas for 4 years now. Would I count as a foreign student? I'll do the course while continuing to teach abroad, so im guessing yes . Sad


Best thing to do is contact the universities and speak to the admission team. Technically, you may be an 'overseas' student as to be classed as home you should have been living in the UK for the past 3 year, though there are exceptions...

I almost fell fowl of this myself last September. I applied, got accepted and never considered I'd be anything other than a 'home' student as I'm British born and bred. Only when it came to paying and there was a huge red box indicating what home status was did I realise. I contacted the university asking for clarification. What ensued was an agonising 2 weeks of emails back and forth to different people, phone calls late at night (time differences), and sending copies of my employment contract. It was finally decided, to my relief, to class me as a 'home' student.

What helped me, I think, was that there is a 'loophole' at my university, I am not sure if this is the case everywhere but

The student would qualify under paragraph (a) or (b) above were it not solely for the fact that he or she was, or their spouse or parent was, temporarily employed outside the United Kingdom, the European Economic Area or Switzerland, as the case may be; or

(a) -settled in the UK for the past 3 years and an ordinary resident.
(b) -settled in the EU for the past 3 years and an ordinary resident.

The other option is not to tell them anything and just apply as home. Though your application pack may not add up when they see 'taught for 4 years in Country X'.

It depends where you are/were teaching as well. If it's in the EU it's not a problem.
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HLJHLJ



Joined: 06 Oct 2009
Posts: 1218
Location: Ecuador

PostPosted: Mon May 12, 2014 5:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was given home student fees for the first 3 years I was out of the country. After that they switched me to overseas fees.
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scot47



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343

PostPosted: Tue May 13, 2014 12:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Can you explain that ? Rephrase it so that I can understand what you are trying to say ?
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Tudor



Joined: 21 Aug 2009
Posts: 339

PostPosted: Thu May 22, 2014 5:59 am    Post subject: Re: UK Masters degrees - are we home or international studen Reply with quote

Shroob wrote:


What helped me, I think, was that there is a 'loophole' at my university, I am not sure if this is the case everywhere but

The student would qualify under paragraph (a) or (b) above were it not solely for the fact that he or she was, or their spouse or parent was, temporarily employed outside the United Kingdom, the European Economic Area or Switzerland, as the case may be; or

(a) -settled in the UK for the past 3 years and an ordinary resident.
(b) -settled in the EU for the past 3 years and an ordinary resident.



The way I'm reading this then is that the 'loophole' is that teaching contracts (outside the EU) are generally temporary ones, so this maintains one's status of being "ordinarily resident" in the UK or EU. Have I go that right Shroob?
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Shroob



Joined: 02 Aug 2010
Posts: 1339

PostPosted: Thu May 22, 2014 6:34 am    Post subject: Re: UK Masters degrees - are we home or international studen Reply with quote

Tudor wrote:
Shroob wrote:


What helped me, I think, was that there is a 'loophole' at my university, I am not sure if this is the case everywhere but

The student would qualify under paragraph (a) or (b) above were it not solely for the fact that he or she was, or their spouse or parent was, temporarily employed outside the United Kingdom, the European Economic Area or Switzerland, as the case may be; or

(a) -settled in the UK for the past 3 years and an ordinary resident.
(b) -settled in the EU for the past 3 years and an ordinary resident.



The way I'm reading this then is that the 'loophole' is that teaching contracts (outside the EU) are generally temporary ones, so this maintains one's status of being "ordinarily resident" in the UK or EU. Have I go that right Shroob?


I'm not exactly sure, the university admission team did ask to see copies of my contract, so that could be it.
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mmcmorrow



Joined: 30 Sep 2007
Posts: 143
Location: New Zealand

PostPosted: Thu May 22, 2014 7:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Another option is to look at institutions which charge the same fees to domestic and international courses - for example, the online MA in TESOL from the Institute of Education at London University.

Martin McMorrow, Massey University, NZ
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Shroob



Joined: 02 Aug 2010
Posts: 1339

PostPosted: Thu May 22, 2014 7:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

mmcmorrow wrote:
Another option is to look at institutions which charge the same fees to domestic and international courses - for example, the online MA in TESOL from the Institute of Education at London University.

Martin McMorrow, Massey University, NZ


I'd still try and get home rates first.

Mr. McMorrow raises an interesting point though... the cost of an MA is not just in the tuition fees, depending on your circumstances there will also be: accommodation, food, bills, taxes(?), etc.

That institution charges £9,450 for the online MA, the contact MA is £5,940.

So while on paper people may think, 'It's double the cost!', if you do it distance, you may do it where the cost of living is much cheaper than the UK. For example, when I was in China I got free accommodation, no bills, no taxes, etc. So it may be worth it to take the hit as an international student as it would save you more than living in the UK for a year.
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simon44



Joined: 15 Mar 2013
Posts: 118

PostPosted: Sun May 25, 2014 6:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I wasn't able to get home fee status when I applied to study the MA Education from Derby University, even though this is a 100% online course.

(Quite how they can justify charging more for an online course if you happen to be Johnny Foreigner or a Brit helping to improve education/learning in a developing country is beyond me).

I have been working outside the UK since 2002, with no 'ties' to the UK other than a vicious ex-wife.

So I rejected their offer and accepted to study the PGCEi from Nottingham University instead.....
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dackinator



Joined: 17 Sep 2010
Posts: 105

PostPosted: Mon Aug 11, 2014 4:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the answers. Looks like a distance MA is out of the question for me.

But what if I returned to the UK, and studied full time at home?


I see on the websites listed above that to qualify for home fees you need to be an 'ordinary UK resident' for three full years before the course starts.

BUT... how would they test this? What would stop someone saying they've lived at their family address, where all the mail goes.. for example? It's not like they have access to tax or borders records.

From what I can gather looking at application forms, if you say you're a UK national, have proof, have a UK address, and dont mention working abroad, they won't pursue the matter any further. Question
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grumpyextefl



Joined: 06 Aug 2014
Posts: 1

PostPosted: Mon Aug 11, 2014 9:56 pm    Post subject: Proving UK residence Reply with quote

Generally they look for tax returns, jobs or council tax, or something similar, some overseas schools have people on 'temporary' contracts so they are 'ordinarily' resident in the UK but it can be hard to prove - when in doubt ask the university.
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Miura Anjin



Joined: 20 Aug 2014
Posts: 40
Location: Japan

PostPosted: Mon Aug 25, 2014 12:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I’m going to do an MA course in the UK from this September. I applied to four universities and all of them classed me as a home student even though I’ve been working abroad for the last five years. However, in order for them to make that decision, I had to fill out the fee assessment forms and send them scans of some or all of the following things:

passport information page, all the pages in my passport with visa stamps showing entry and exit for the UK and the countries where I’ve been living, the pages of my contract with the dates and signatures/school stamps, visas or residence cards, stubs of boarding passes from flights to and from the UK (luckily I still had them) or the confirmation emails for those flights, a bank statement showing my UK address more than three years ago and another showing my UK address from this year to prove that my account was active, and the title deeds to my parents’ house.

It was a real pain in the neck (actually legs, as I had to kneel on the floor to set up my scanner and rummage through documents) and one university actually asked me for one bank statement from every year showing that I’d been using the account.

Each university asked for some of the things in that list, but they all seemed to have different requirements. That struck me as odd if it’s a regulation, but I suppose it must be open to some interpretation.

Hope this information helps.
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Tudor



Joined: 21 Aug 2009
Posts: 339

PostPosted: Mon Sep 01, 2014 12:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Hope this information helps.


It does indeed Miura, thank you for taking the time to post.

Who the hell keeps old boarding passes or flight confirmation emails though?!? (except your good self Wink )
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Miura Anjin



Joined: 20 Aug 2014
Posts: 40
Location: Japan

PostPosted: Wed Sep 03, 2014 2:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Tudor wrote:
Quote:
Hope this information helps.


It does indeed Miura, thank you for taking the time to post.

Who the hell keeps old boarding passes or flight confirmation emails though?!? (except your good self Wink )


Luckily when travelling I usually stuff the boarding card inside my passport cover and forget about them. Sometimes it pays to be a bit of a hoarder (or a bit forgetful)!
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MdSmith



Joined: 15 Nov 2012
Posts: 67

PostPosted: Sun Nov 16, 2014 2:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Interesting thread... I'm from the UK and was recently working abroad (outside EU) on a 3-year contract. Based on your experiences do you think I could qualify for 'Home/UK' fees? Or do they tend to apply more where people have been away on shorter contracts e.g. 1 year (and perhaps more chance to claim it was 'temporary')? Thanks for any help you can give.
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