Residency eligibility
Residents of the WMCA area will be eligible for funding if they fulfil the residency as listed below.
- WMCA resident on start date of learning
- A UK national or other person with rights of abode
- UK nationals in the EEA
- EEA nationals in the UK
- Other non-UK nationals
Residents temporarily outside of England - If someone ordinarily resident in the WMCA area works outside of England as part of their job, they are eligible for funding if some of the learning takes place in England. You cannot claim for the additional expense of delivering learning outside of England or the WMCA.
UK nationals and other persons with right of abode
Individuals who meet the criteria in paragraphs 26-39 and they:
- are UK nationals or other person with a right of abode in the UK
- have been ordinarily resident in the UK or British Overseas Territories or Crown Dependencies (Channel Islands and Isle of Man) for at least the previous 3 years on the first day of learning
UK nationals in the EEA
Individuals who meet the criteria in paragraphs 26-39, and they:
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are UK nationals
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are living in the EEA on or before 31 December 2020
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have lived in the EEA only or the EEA and UK only for at least the previous 3 years on the first day of learning
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have lived continuously in the EEA only and/or the EEA and the UK only between 31 December 2020 and the start of the course
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the course starts before January 2028
EEA nationals in the UK
Individuals who meet the criteria in paragraph 35, and
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with respect to EEA nationals other than Irish nationals, have obtained either pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme
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have lived continuously in the EEA, Gibraltar or UK for at least the previous 3 years on the first day of learning
Other non-UK nationals
Individuals who meet the criteria in paragraph 25, and they fulfil the requirements of one or more of the below
A non-UK national who:
- has permission granted by the UK government to live in the UK and such permission is not for educational purposes only, and has been ordinarily resident in the UK for at least the previous 3 years on the first day of learning
A non-UK national who is also a non-EEA national and:
- has obtained pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme and has been ordinarily resident in the UK for at least the previous 3 years on the first day of learning
- An Irish national
- who is not also a UK national and has been ordinarily resident in the UK or Ireland for at least the previous 3 years on the first day of learning.
Family members of UK and EEA nationals
A ‘family member’ is the husband, wife, civil partner, child, grandchild, dependent parent or grandparent of a UK or EEA national. A family member is eligible for funding if they:
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where required to do so, have obtained pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme
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have been ordinarily resident in the UK or EEA for at least the previous 3 years on the firstday of learning
Individuals with certain types of immigration status and their family members
Any individual resident in WMCA with any of the statuses listed below is eligible to receive funding and are exempt from the three-year residency requirement rule.
You must have seen the learner’s immigration permission which would include the biometric residence permit (BRP) and in some cases an accompanying letter from the Home Office in these circumstances:
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Refugee Status
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Discretionary Leave to Enter or Remain
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Exceptional Leave to Enter or Remain
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Indefinite Leave to Enter or Remain
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Humanitarian protection
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Leave Outside the Rules
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Ukraine Family Scheme
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Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme (Homes for Ukraine)
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Ukraine Extension Scheme
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Afghan Locally Engaged Staff under the intimidation policy
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The husband, wife, civil partner and child of any of the above in subparagraphs
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section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 leave
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Calais leave to remain
Extension or variation of current immigration permission
Any learner or family member who has applied for an extension or variation of their current immigration permission in the UK is still treated as if they have that leave. This only applies if the application was made before their current permission expired. Their leave continues until the Home Office decide on their immigration application. Their leave will continue where they have appealed or sought an administrative review of their case within the time allowed to them for doing so.
Therefore, a learner or family member is considered to still have the immigration permission that they held when they made their application for an extension, administrative review or appeal, and their eligibility would be based upon this status.
You may wish to find information, advice and support on eligibility from the UK Council for International Student Affairs.
The learner’s immigration permission in the UK may have a ‘no recourse to public funds’ condition. Public funds do not include education or education funding. Therefore, this does not affect a learner’s eligibility, which must be decided under the normal eligibility conditions.
Children of Turkish workers
A child of a Turkish worker is eligible if both the following apply:
- the Turkish worker is ordinarily resident in the UK on or before 31 December 2020 and has
- Turkish European Community Association Agreement (ECAA) rights or extended ECAA leave
- the child has been ordinarily resident in the UK, EEA and/or Turkey for at least the previous
- 3 years on the first day of learning and is resident in the UK on or before 31 December 2020
Asylum seekers
Asylum seekers are eligible to receive funding if:
- they have lived in the UK for six months or longer while their claim is being considered by the Home Office, and no decision on their claim has been made
- are receiving local authority support under section 23C or section 23CA of the Children Act 1989 or the Care Act 2014
- An individual who has been refused asylum will be eligible if:
- they have appealed against a decision made by the UK government against granting refugee
- status and no decision has been made within six months of lodging the appeal
- they are granted support for themselves under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- they are receiving local authority support for themselves under section 23C or section 23CA of the Children Act 1989.
Persons granted stateless leave (WMCA residents)
A person granted stateless leave is a person who:
- has extant leave to remain as a stateless person under the immigration rules (within the meaning given in section 33(1) of the Immigration Act 1971)
- has been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the period since the person was granted such leave.
A stateless person must:
- be ordinarily resident in the UK on the first day of the first academic year of the course
- have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the three-year period preceding the first day of the first academic year of the course.
Certain family members are also eligible under this category:
- the spouse or civil partner of a person granted stateless leave (and who was the spouse or civil partner of that person on the leave application date), who is ordinarily resident in the UK on the first day of the first academic year of the course, and who has been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the three-year period preceding the first day of the first academic year of the course
- the child of a stateless person or of the stateless person’s spouse or civil partner (and who was the child of that stateless person or the child of the stateless person’s spouse or civil partner on the leave application date), was under 18 on the leave application date, is ordinarily resident in the UK on the first day of the first academic year of the course, and has been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the three-year period preceding the first day of the first academic year of the course
Leave application date” means the date on which a person granted stateless leave made an application to remain in the UK as a stateless person under the immigration rules (within the meaning given in section 33(1) of the Immigration Act 1971).
Individuals who are not eligible for funding
You must not claim funding for individuals who do not meet the eligibility criteria set out in paragraphs 35 -
Examples of individuals who do not meet the eligibility criteria include the following. Please note this list is not exhaustive:
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those who are here without authority or lawful status
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those who are resident in the UK on a student visa unless they are eligible through meeting any other of the categories described above
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those who are in the UK on holiday, with or without a visa
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those who are a family member of a person granted a student visa, who have been given immigration permission to stay in the UK and have not been ordinarily resident in the UK for the previous 3 years on the first day of learning
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those whose biometric residence permit or residence permit imposes a study prohibition or restriction on the individual
Residents in the armed forces
The WMCA will fund armed forces personnel, Ministry of Defence (MoD) personnel or civilian crown servants where they are residents within the WMCA area. The WMCA will class members of the British armed forces on postings outside of the European Union (EU), including their family members, as ordinarily resident in the WMCA area.
Members of other nations’ armed forces stationed in WMCA, and their family members, aged 19 and over, are eligible for funding if the armed forces individual has been ordinarily resident in England for three years. The WMCA will not fund family members that remain outside of the WMCA area.
Members of other nations’ armed forces stationed in WMCA area, and their family members, aged 19 and over, are eligible for funded AEB if the armed forces individual has been ordinarily resident in England for the previous 3 years on the first day of learning. We will not fund family members that remain outside of England.