Most home students must have been ordinarily resident in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for the three years immediately before the first day of the first academic year of their course.
Ordinary residence means living here by choice as part of the regular order of your life. Short holidays abroad do not break it; long periods of employment overseas usually do.
Recognised refugees and their family members are exempt from the three-year rule and qualify from the day their status is granted.
If your history includes moves, gaps or time spent caring for family abroad, build a simple month-by-month timeline with supporting documents. That timeline is what settles most fee status disputes.
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