I'm merely trying to demostrate to you that not everythings wonderful in the garden elsewhere too. It appears to be very swings and roundabouts as regards geographical funding inequalities.

Well, first, thanks for your comments.

I am finding it a little (or rather, very) odd that
- EU citizens who haven't been resident in the UK get to apply for fees only awards,
- but British citizens (who are after all also EU citizens) who have not been resident in the UK are excluded from this. At least that's what the eligibility guidelines state.

So, as a British citizen, if you have been resident in the UK, you can apply for the full award, if not, you get nothing. As EU citizen other than British, if you have been resident in the UK, you can apply for the full award, if not, you can apply for the fees only award. Weird, huh? Anybody know anything more about these things?

I am in exactly the position you put so well, shani. I'm a British citizen and I've been living in Poland most of the time for the past 10 years apart from a year's postgrad study in the UK. I now want to do a phD in the UK and it seems that, although I am an EU citizen it is impossible for me to get funding in the UK, an EU country.

Has anyone won this argument with a funding body? The university who have offered me a place, UEA, are still mulling over my fees status form, but seem to think that I may be counted as EU. My reading of the ESRC guidelines, however, state pretty clearly that I fall between the lines.

wow sarenka, I thought I was the only one! My department also thinks I should be EU (eligible for fees only, but at least that) whereas the criteria clearly state this is only for EU citizens "other than British". I am trying to argue towards the ESRC that I am the child of an expatriate, therefore getting an exemption from the residency requirement, but am not getting any response. We'll see what happens.

My supervisor told me that the ESRC are sometimes stumped by their own overly complicated regulations and tend to decide on the basis of general impression (as long as there is a proper paper trail) rather than sticking to the rules. So there is hope for us

And, something else - a friend here was classed as EU by the department, last year - but then the ESRC "upgraded" her to full eligibility. So sometimes it doesn't matter too much what the department thinks. Another reason to hope...

aha, it does seem a little bit more hopeful now - thanks!

I can't argue that I'm the child of expats (I am now worrying about my kids when they get to this stage, should they want to study in the UK, but they have dual nationality, so they can pull out the Polish passport, right?) I left of my own free will, when I was 26. My argument is that I am an EU citizen, pure and simple. I understand the argument that I haven't paid my taxes in the UK, I have however paid them in the EU, so why should I be discriminated against - some kind of punishment for leaving the country?!

Sorry to rant, you know exactly what I mean!

I am reassured that your dept think you should be classed as EU. That's the impression I have got from mine too, so at least I won't be charged International fees by them. That would take the biscuit.

hey sarenka,
well, if you left at age 26, you're not a child of an expat, but perhaps an expat yourself, which would be even better! i think you'd have to show that your absence from england was always intended to be temporary. then you would qualify for the full scholarship.

about the fee status, a word of caution. my dept. thinks I qualify for EU 'fees only award' at ESRC BECAUSE my uni classified me as home/EU for fee matters (which happened chronologically earlier). BUT I originally had a real fight for my uni to accept me as home/EU fee status. I had to ask them a thousand times to read their own regulations and guidelines, but they kind of thought they knew better... It might take some determination to get through. Just don't get dismayed if you get negative responses at first and insist that the regulations say otherwise.