Dawn2129 Posted August 11, 2013 Share Posted August 11, 2013 Hi Everyone. I am looking for some advice about returning to the UK with my children and their entitlement to study. My husband came to Perth on a 457, 18 months ago and I joined him with the children last year. We are seriously thinking about going back to the UK in February next year. We have an 18 year old son, who I know cannot go to Uni as a home student for 3 years. However, we have a 15 year old (16 in Oct 13) and a 16 year old (17 in Oct13) who will need to go back into education if we return. I cannot find anything on the web or in education to say whether they will be classed as international students in the UK. Does anyone know or have any ideas? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dxboz Posted August 11, 2013 Share Posted August 11, 2013 I would have thought that as you had just temporarily moved from UK all your children should be eligible. I know someone who was away for years and when returned had entitlement as they proved they had maintained links to the UK and was never intending to be away permanently Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn2129 Posted August 11, 2013 Author Share Posted August 11, 2013 Thanks so much for this dxboz. It has had be worried for a while. Our eldest daughter actually has never left the UK as she is at Uni, we only brought the 3 youngest here. Hopefully all will be well and they can continue their education. Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Posted August 11, 2013 Share Posted August 11, 2013 I would have thought that the residency issue relate only to higher education, but certainly not for the younger ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dxboz Posted August 11, 2013 Share Posted August 11, 2013 (edited) Agree with you Rupert the residency issue would only apply to higher education. Should have made it more clear in my post that the person I was referring to studied at university. There should not be any residency issues with the younger children and schooling Edited August 11, 2013 by dxboz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn2129 Posted August 11, 2013 Author Share Posted August 11, 2013 Yes Rupert so did I but seems to be very different from one school/college to another. My girls who are still school age have not got any formal qualifications and therefore need to do GCSE's and A levels. I just worry that their ages of 16 & 17 on our return and the fact we have been away for 18 months would hinder them completing their education. There does not seem to be any hard fast rules for returning citizens, unless wanting to go into higher education as you say. Also, with us not being able to return until February this is half way through the next academic year which starts in a few weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest55385 Posted August 11, 2013 Share Posted August 11, 2013 My understanding is that so long as you're UK residents, there is no issue with education. They're British and would be perm residents. We're going back soon too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickyNook Posted August 11, 2013 Share Posted August 11, 2013 My understanding is that so long as you're UK residents, there is no issue with education. They're British and would be perm residents. We're going back soon too There is no issue with school education. There is an issue if the kids want to go to Uni. Students must have lived in the UK for the three years prior to starting Uni or they will be charged international fees. This applies even if they are British citizens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn2129 Posted August 12, 2013 Author Share Posted August 12, 2013 yes all confirmed now. They are all entitled to education free until the academic year they turn 19. So my son can finish his A levels and the girls will need to go back to school. Going to be hard as will need to send two of them back to stay with family in the next few weeks as they will need to be there for the beginning of the new academic year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiooooona Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 Do you really have had to be in the UK for 3 years to avoid paying international fees? Even though we are all still British citizens as we don't have PR and we still have the UK house? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northernbird Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 Do you really have had to be in the UK for 3 years to avoid paying international fees? Even though we are all still British citizens as we don't have PR and we still have the UK house? Thanks Sadly yes that is the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 Do you really have had to be in the UK for 3 years to avoid paying international fees? Even though we are all still British citizens as we don't have PR and we still have the UK house? Thanks Yes, as above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caramac Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 People have got around the three year rule. If you can show that the move was always intended to be temporary (and having a house in the UK and only temp residency might well help!), or your child can persuade the university that they always intended to return to the UK, they may be able to get home status. People on here have done it in the past. It seems that different universities can use their discretion (whether they should, or not, I don't know), but it has worked for others. It's definitely worth contacting the institutions directly to see what they say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diane Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 How about if the 'child' has had a UK bank account with a UK address all the time? Would that be sufficient to show that they had been resident for the previuos three years? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rammygirl Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 You were not PR in Oz and your son only went because you did. It certainly used to be the case that if absent because their family moved away for work on a temp basis, then they were considered the same as a home student. Look carefully at any exceptions to the rules now as I would think he will be OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northernbird Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 How about if the 'child' has had a UK bank account with a UK address all the time? Would that be sufficient to show that they had been resident for the previuos three years? No I don't think so. They would need to show where they had previously gone to school prior to Uni which clearly wouldn't be GB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 Yes Rupert so did I but seems to be very different from one school/college to another. My girls who are still school age have not got any formal qualifications and therefore need to do GCSE's and A levels. I just worry that their ages of 16 & 17 on our return and the fact we have been away for 18 months would hinder them completing their education. There does not seem to be any hard fast rules for returning citizens, unless wanting to go into higher education as you say. Also, with us not being able to return until February this is half way through the next academic year which starts in a few weeks. GCSE's are usually a two year course started at 14 and include coursework but FE Colleges and Sixth Form colleges have provision for re-sits, new subjects (things like Media Studies, Sociology, Psychology etc. not usually offered in schools) and mature students and offer GCSE's as 1 year courses. The content is the same but the pace is much quicker and coursework tends to be completed mostly out of class (the assumption being a 16 + student is more mature and capable of self motivation) If they are academically capable then there will be no long term detrimental affect - the only downside I can see is the core subjects like English/Maths will tend to be only re-sit students and the teacher may struggle to stretch a 'high flyer' in that context (if possible opt for mature student classes). If they are VERY capable and would be bored in GCSE level classes then it may be possible to go straight into A levels and study core GCSE's along side (care would need to be taken regarding university matriculation requirements) - a number of A levels assume no prior knowledge of the subject and obviously your kids have been studying in Oz so even those that do like Maths could still be okay. (I dropped Biology to do Computing but then needed to science A levels for entrance onto my degree - I'd taken Physics and Chemistry but didn't want to do A levels in those and was allowed to take Biology A level without the GCSE so long as I took it at the end of the first year) If your kids are not so academic then FE colleges/6th form colleges will offer lots of vocational courses in a wide range of subjects which are started at 16 anyway. There would still be the option to do Maths/English GCSE alongside that too. It isn't the best time for a transition but the education system is flexible enough to allow them a path forward. I taught in an FE College and then a 6th form over 7 years and saw studnts who had failed everything at school re-sit GCSE's, take A levels and get good uni places. I had refugees who spoke no English take basic level vocational courses by the end of which they had acquired the English they needed to pursue their education, I had teen mums pick up the education they had abandoned and start university when their little ones are at school and mature students who had never studied get straight A's and a place at Oxford! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathnDave Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 I am a mature aged student, I have been studying to become a counselor and hold a diploma in applied social science and wanted to carry on my studies when I return to the UK, preferably with an open university, are you saying I will have to wait three years until I can do this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northernbird Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 I am a mature aged student, I have been studying to become a counselor and hold a diploma in applied social science and wanted to carry on my studies when I return to the UK, preferably with an open university, are you saying I will have to wait three years until I can do this? You don't have to wait you will just pay a lot more for your course fees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caramac Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 I am a mature aged student, I have been studying to become a counselor and hold a diploma in applied social science and wanted to carry on my studies when I return to the UK, preferably with an open university, are you saying I will have to wait three years until I can do this? I don't know if the three year rule applies to the OU as it works differently from other unis. It's probably a good idea to get in touch with them directly to find out where you stand. This is what I found searching the bit on international students. http://www.openuniversity.edu/faqs I hope it helps a bit. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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