The long term future remains uncertain for EU students studying at UK universities and for home students whowant to study in Europe. However, the short termfuture is clear in that the status of both undergraduates and postgraduates will remain unchanged for the next few years.

The Government is reassuring EU nationals starting UK courses in both Autumn 2018 & 2019 that they will be paying the same fees as home students until their degrees have been completed, and will also have the same employment rights and access to loan rates, grants and other support. They will still need their own medical insurance though. Students from the EU who are looking to start courses a few months after the UK officially leaves the UK in March 2019 can be safe in the knowledge that their status won’t change at any point during their three year course.

English tuition fees have been frozen at a maximum of £9,250 for the 2019-20 Academic year, which is the most expensive rate in Europe. The Government has agreed with the EU that UK students who start courses at European universities before the Brexit transition period ends in December 2020 can study on the same terms as students from that country ie pay the same fees.

There has yet to be an announcement on what the future holds for students after these dates, but we’ll keep you informed as soon as any information becomes available. There are fears that EU nationals starting courses at UK universities in the 2020s will be given the same status as overseas students, but that is speculation at this stage. The Government’s stance so far has been to retain the status quo, so it will be interesting to see whether this continues after the Brexit transition period is over.

From the end of August, students from three Liverpool universities will trial the Government’s application process for the EU Settlement Scheme, which is due to go live at the end of 2018. Click the link to find out more about Pre Settled and Settled Status.

In October, we’ll be focusing on Students as part of our Brexit Decoded topics programme. The forum will be filled with more useful information and you can get your own questions answered by our team of experts. Keep checking for updates!