The Scottish Government

Listen

ISBN 0 7559 4728 2

This document is also available in pdf format (124k)

This leaflet gives an overview of the funding arrangements available for:

• Asylum seekers
• Refugees
• Migrant workers
• EU nationals

who wish to study a course of further or higher education in Scotland.

The information in this leaflet is intended to help practitioners giving advice to these students.

Asylum seekers are defined as those whose application for asylum has not yet been processed. They can receive the following help with course fees.

The Scottish Further Education Funding Council ( SFEFC) will waive the fees for asylum seekers attending Further Education Colleges, and studying:

• a full- or part-time English for Speakers of Other Languages ( ESOL) course
• or other part-time, advanced or non-advanced course.

Adult ESOL learners are those for whom English is not a first language, and who need spoken and written English for everyday life and to participate in the labour market, their local communities and wider society.

This funding is available to students who are themselves asylum seekers, or who are the spouse or child of an asylum seeker, living in Scotland.

Asylum seekers are also eligible to apply to the Hardship Fund for help with travel and study costs.

Refugees, their spouse or child are defined as those who have been awarded refugee status by the Home Office, under the 1951 UN Convention on the status of refugees.

Students who are refugees are eligible to apply for:

• fee and student support in Higher Education ( HE),
• fee waiver and discretionary bursary support in Further Education ( FE),

provided they are ordinarily resident in Scotland on the first day of the first academic year of the course, and have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands at all times since receiving refugee status.

The spouse or child of a refugee who meets the ordinary residence criteria in Scotland is also eligible.

They are also eligible to apply for an Individual Learning Account ( ILA Scotland) and an Education Maintenance Allowance for their child/children.

What does 'ordinarily resident' in Scotland mean?

The courts have defined 'ordinary residence' as 'habitual and normal residence in one place'. It basically means that you, your parents, or your husband or wife live in a country year after year by choice throughout a set period. This allows for temporary or occasional absences such as holidays or business trips. and may cover you if you or your family were temporarily employed abroad.

You may not be treated as 'ordinarily resident' in Scotland if your main purpose in coming here is to study and that you would normally be living somewhere else.

Others with leave to remain

Students who have been refused refugee status but granted some other leave to remain (eg Humanitarian Protection, Discretionary Leave, Indefinite Leave), or their spouse or child, are eligible to apply for:

• fee and student support in HE
• fee waiver and discretionary bursary support in FE

if they are ordinarily resident in Scotland on the first day of the first academic year of the course, and have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the immediately preceding three year period.

They are also eligible to apply for an Individual Learning Account ( ILA Scotland), and an Education Maintenance Allowance ( EMA) for their child/children.

European Economic Area ( EEA) and Swiss migrant workers, their spouse or child

EEA consists of the areas of the member states of the EU plus Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein. A current list of the countries in the EEA is available at: www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/ind/en/home/applying/general_caseworking/eea_eu_nationals.html

Students who are EEA or Swiss migrant workers, or their spouse or child, are eligible to apply for:

• fee and student support in HE
• fee waiver and discretionary bursary support in FE,

if they are ordinarily resident in Scotland on the first day of the first academic year of the course, and have been ordinarily resident in the EEA or Switzerland throughout the immediately preceding three year period.

They are also eligible to apply for an Individual Learning Account ( ILA Scotland) and an Education Maintenance Allowance for their child/children.

Definition of a migrant worker

Initially an EEA or Swiss national is eligible to be classed as a migrant worker for a period of 6 months after they have arrived in the UK without work as long as they are actively seeking employment.

Following this, a period of work must be secured to be entitled to retain the classification of migrant worker.

There is no minimum period of employment in this situation but it would be advisable to ensure that any work secured by the claimant was not for the sole purpose of securing eligibility for financial support from the college.

This decision is at the FE college's or SAAS's discretion.

EU Nationals, or their child

Students who are EU nationals, or the child of an EU national, are eligible for fee support in HE and FE, provided they have been ordinarily resident in the EEA or Switzerland throughout the immediately preceding three year period, none of which time was in the UK and Islands.

They can also be eligible for an Individual Learning Account ( ILA Scotland) if they are resident in Scotland.

Non- UKEU nationals, or their child

Students who are EU nationals, or the child of an EU national, are eligible to apply for:

• fee and student support in HE
• fee waiver and discretionary bursary support in FE

provided they are ordinarily resident in Scotland on the first day of the first academic year of the course, and have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for the preceding three year period.

They are also eligible to apply for an Individual Learning Account ( ILA Scotland).

These students can be eligible for an EMA if they are ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands on the first day, and have been so resident for the preceding three year period.

For this category of applicant only, ordinary residence can include periods of residence wholly or mainly for the purposes of receiving full-time education.

Contacts

Tel: 0141 248 0700
Fax: 0141 248 2499
Web:www.scottishrefugeecouncil.org.uk

Freephone number for newly arrived and dispersed asylum seekers:
Tel: 0800 085 6087

Scottish Refugee Council offers services in Edinburgh from two centres:

Freephone line 0800 085 6087
to make an appointment and check for details.

More information, including translated material is available on the website.

Tel: 0141 287 8230
Web:www.atlas-scotland.co.uk

Tel: 0800 027 7370
Web:www.asyluminglasgow.com

Tel: 0141 332 5309
Web:www.scottishhumanrightscentre.org.uk