Fee status terminology
Universities use a variety of different terms in relation to fee status assessment, and the meaning of these terms within this context is often different to their use in everyday conversation. The more frequently used terms are explained below, but other terminology and definitions can be found in the UKCISA's page Find your fee status guide. Please note that references to 'students' also apply to applicants and offer holders, and references to 'the University' also include its Colleges.
Immigration status
The University will check a student's UK immigration status as well their nationality when assessing their fee status. These two factors provide an early indicator of their likely fee status, but have to be considered with reference to the student's ordinary residence prior to their course start date (see Ordinary Residence below). Holding a British passport does not guarantee that you will be assessed as holding Home fee status. Equally, being a non-British citizen does not automatically mean that you will have to pay the Overseas fee.
Home fee status
Rather confusingly, 'Home' does not necessarily refer to someone's home or nationality. It is shorthand for 'entitled to the regulated (capped) tuition fee', which is set by the UK government in the case of undergraduate courses (£9,535 p.a. for 2025/26). Postgraduate fees are set by the institution providing the course. Tuition fees for Home fee students are significantly lower than the Overseas fee paid by international students. There is one exception to this rule: until October 2027, Home undergraduates who already hold an Equivalent Level Qualification to the one for which they are applying will pay a 'Home ELQ' fee for most courses, which is higher than the Home fee but is still significantly lower than the Overseas fee. A number of different categories of student are eligible for Home fees; an offer holder only needs to meet the requirements for one category in order to claim Home fee status for their course.
Overseas (sometimes known as 'international') fee status
Institutions are able to set their own undergraduate and postgraduate course fees for 'Overseas' students. Their fees are unregulated by the UK Government and therefore there is no cap on the amount that an institution can charge students holding Overseas fee status. Overseas students at the University of Cambridge are also required to pay a College fee.
Holders of pre- or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme
Most students holding pre- or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme will be eligible to pay Home fees. However, there are some differences between the residential requirements for pre-settled status and for Home fee status. Consequently a small percentage of students holding pre-settled status will be liable for Overseas tuition fees.
Ordinary residence
There is a large number of different Home fee categories, and each one has an associated 'ordinary residence' geographical area. In most cases this is a variant on the UK / Islands / EEA / Switzerland / their overseas territories. In fee status terms, a student's ordinary residence is where they habitually, normally, lawfully and voluntarily live. Temporary absences can be discounted and do not prevent a student from being considered ordinarily resident in a country during the period of temporary absence. Most Home fee categories require a student to have been ordinarily resident in a specific country or area throughout the 3 years leading up to their course start date, and also stipulate that the student must not have been living there mainly, or solely, for full-time education. The easiest way to determine this is to establish where the student would have lived during those three years if they had not been in full-time education.
Note the importance of the term 'throughout'. If a student is considered to have been ordinarily resident outside the relevant area for any part of the three-year period, they do not meet the ordinary residence requirements, even if they were ordinarily resident outside the area for a few months within that period. However, a student may be considered resident in two countries simultaneously - see Dual Residence.
Most undergraduates will be deemed ordinarily resident in the same country as their parents during this three-year qualifying period. The residence of other family members is generally less significant unless the student can show they were dependent on or caring for a wider family member during the year(s) leading up to their degree course.
Habitual residence
This refers to the place in which a student normally lives and can demonstrate links to during the three years leading up to their course start date. This contrasts with temporary residence whilst travelling to another location. Examples of habitual residence would be:
- Utility bills showing energy consumption (aside from any standing charge) at an address within the nominated country for each of the three years
- Council Tax bill (alongside other proofs of residency, as some landlords remain liable for Council tax bills whilst the property is let)
- Bank statements showing in-person activities within that country/geographical area
- Evidence of National Insurance Contributions (NICs) or tax paid on earnt income
- Employment contracts or benefit claims
- Travel tickets within that country/geographical area
- TV or driving licence
- Confirmed attendance at face-to-face training courses, clubs or group meetings
- Evidence of medical appointments / GP registration letter(s)
- Home deliveries to a particular address e.g. food delivery or other online delivery confirmation emails (ideally for a selection of dates over the three-year ordinary residence period)
- Membership of a local or national organisation or society e.g. attendance at a place of worship, music lessons, youth groups, the National Trust.
This list is not exhaustive. Students may have other means of proving the nature of their residence in a particular country or wider geographical area (e.g. the EU).
Dual residence
Occasionally an offer holder or student is able to demonstrate that they have equally longstanding and sustained links with two countries. In these cases, fee assessors will consider whether the individual is ordinarily resident in two countries at once, subject to appropriate evidence.
Temporary absence
This covers medical or work trips, holidays and gap years to a country or countries outside the student's usual residence, as well as longer stays elsewhere - provided the absence is clearly temporary in nature. It also covers periods of education, fixed-term employment or assignments (by the student or immediate family member) in a different country.
If an offer holder claims a period of residence is temporary, they must provide appropriate documents as evidence, such as an internship award letter, exchange scheme offer letter, or copies of all employment/assignment contracts (including extension letters) covering the three-year period used to determine ordinary residence. The University will also request evidence of where the family/offer holder would reside at the end of this absence. In such cases, fee assessors may request documents issued before the start of the three-year period to help them determine where the family would normally live.
There is no fixed rule that stipulates the maximum length of time that can be considered as temporary absence, so fee assessors will evaluate the original intention and reasons for absence on a case-by-case basis. As a guide, however, an absence of 10 years or more is unlikely to be considered temporary.
Periods of temporary absence do not break the continuity of ordinary residence in the relevant area, and can therefore be disregarded when calculating the length of ordinary residence in that area.
Course Start Date
Although degree courses at the University of Cambridge begin several days or weeks later, the official 'course start dates' as stated by the Fee Regulations are:
- 1 September for undergraduate courses
- 1 September, 1 January or 1 April for postgraduate courses.
Consequently, these are the dates used by the University in relation to fee status assessments.