Hi,

I am a UK citizen that graduated in 2000.

I left the UK in 2001 to go traveling. I have returned a few times for short stints of work to fund my travels. (the last time was in October 2005 for 3 months)
In the time away, I have had only low paid, 'cash in hand' work in the dive industry in Thailand.

I now wish to return to the UK, to follow a career. I wish to do a MSc in Sport Management starting September 2008.

I understand that to be able to be considered as a EU student that I have to meet the criteria

" Have been resident in the EU by 1st September 2005 (for sep 08 entry) the main reason for your residence can not have been to receive FT education."

I would still consider myself being a UK resident, however I fear that universities may not!

Will I be considered a non-EU student and have to pay international student fees?

Cheers,

Mike

hey mike,
that's a tricky one. the parallel situation is concerning the funding through research councils. if you look at the details of the RC eligibility criteria, you will see:
- the clause "not for the main reason of full time education" does not apply to EU nationals. so it doesn't apply to you.
- they make some sort of allowance for "temporary absence". they do not really want to make British students uneligible for funding, and they do not want to make it impossible for Brits to go abroad for a while, due to them losing the chance for funding through this. so the RC all have a clause somewhere saying that if you left Britain temporarily but have kept relations to Britain strong and have never intended to leave forever, the temporary absence does not count.
that said, i have British citizenship myself and tried to argue temporary absence but this was rejected without any reasons given. i am sure they had good reasons but would have liked to know...

now the case concerning your fee status might be a bit different. i strongly advise you to check out www.ukcosa.org.uk. they have the PRECISE information available there on this question. and you can call them if the information specific to your case is unclear.
British universities are bound by the rules as they are outlined by UKCOSA. And if UKCOSA says you should be paying home fees but the university wants to charge you overseas fees, UKCOSA will talk to your university for you. They did in my case and saved me from paying overseas fees... I had been arguing with the Uni for months, quoting their own regulations at them, but just being walled off. Then, one call from UKCOSA settled the question.
(my case is different from yours however as I had been living in Switzerland which, though it is not EU, has bilateral agreements with the EU making it equivalent to EU in terms of residency. But try getting that across to your uni officials!)

Given that lots of NHS patients spend most of the year outside the UK - even outside the EU - and still get free treatment, I don't think it's that hard, give the support of your family, to demonstrate that you have a permanent address in the UK. You're not, after all, obliged to do taxable work, therefore whether you remain in the UK or leave it cannot easily be proved one way or the other. If you have bank accounts, etc. here that should be sufficient.