Home fee or international fee? Turkish families, ILR holders and the "child of a Turkish worker" category

Who does this apply to?

• This is general information. It does not assess anyone's personal situation and does not say which category applies. It is for students who will study in England and whose home fee (UK) or international fee status has to be decided. It is based on the UKCISA page "Full list of categories for HE in England" (updated 1 October 2026) and the GOV.UK "home fee status and student finance" rules page.

What is fee status and who decides it?

• A university in England classifies a student as paying home fee or international fee. Home fee matches the UK fee level and is also a precondition for student finance (loans). The university decides the status from the information in your application.
• UKCISA says you must meet all the requirements of a single category; if you fail even one, you do not fit it. Categories have versions by date; look at the version that matches your course start date. UKCISA says some conditions change for courses starting on or after 1 January 2027.

Main categories (UKCISA list)

• Settled: 3 years' residence in the UK and Islands. Settled status in the UK (ILR, ILE) is linked to this category; the detailed conditions are in UKCISA's PDFs. UKCISA says ILR or ILE means there is no immigration restriction on the length of stay.
• Long residence: one category. The Master's Loan page gives a similar test: at least 7 years for under-18s and at least 20 years (or half a lifetime) for those 18 or over; we could not verify the threshold for undergraduate courses in this post.
• Family member of a settled person: for courses starting on or after 1 August 2022.
• Refugees, humanitarian protection, stateless people and other special statuses; Afghan and Ukraine schemes.
• Under Brexit protected rights, the "Child of a Turkish worker" category.

The "child of a Turkish worker" category: important for families who came under the Ankara Agreement

• The DfE guidance on GOV.UK says children of Turkish workers are not covered by the Withdrawal Agreements and have a separate rule.
• The child and parent must have been living in the UK by 31 December 2020, and the parent's leave must remain valid. The student must then meet a 3-year residence condition in the UK, Gibraltar, the EEA, Switzerland and Türkiye.
• Children of Turkish workers who arrived in the UK after 31 December 2020 cannot get home fee status and student finance for courses starting on or after 1 August 2021.
• The old "Category I" (for those who started before 1 August 2021) required a Turkish-national parent who is or has been lawfully employed in the UK and that the child was resident in the EEA, UK, Switzerland or Türkiye for the previous three years.

Common misunderstandings

• There is no rule such as "I have been here two years so I get home fee"; most categories need 3 years' residence, and residence mainly for education (for example coming on a student visa to study) generally does not count.
• A family member's (for example a parent's) ILR does not automatically mean home fee for the child; the child's own category is assessed.
• Which category an ILR that came from the Ankara Agreement falls into should be discussed with the university's fee assessment team.

Points to watch

• Rules and dates change (UKCISA mentions changes from 1 January 2027); this post is a general summary.

What can you do?

• Read UKCISA: Full list of categories for HE in England.
• See the GOV.UK: Eligibility rules for home fee status and student finance guidance.
• For personal immigration questions, find a registered adviser: GOV.UK: Find an immigration adviser. Money paid to an unregulated adviser cannot be recovered.