Higher Education: Finance

Mr. Gale
To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of UK-born British passport-holding students refused access to concessionary rates of education at UK universities as a result of residence with UK national parents temporarily based overseas for three to five year employment contracts.

Bill Rammell
There is no record kept of such cases. Generally, UK nationals who have temporarily resided overseas because their parents have undertaken temporary employment contracts are eligible to pay the capped rate of fee and to student support.

UK nationals can be treated as ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom and Islands if they would have been so resident but for the fact that they or certain family members, including their parents, were temporarily employed elsewhere; so long as they are ordinarily resident in the UK on the first day of the first academic year of their course.