Changes to residency criteria for access to financial support in Further and Higher Education

Following a judicial review hearing at the Court of Session, the Court issued a decision in the case of Ola Jasim v Scottish Ministers [2022] CSOH 64 on 9 September 2022.

At the time of the Court’s decision, Scottish Ministers gave an undertaking to review the residency eligibility criteria in advance of the 2023/24 Academic Year (AY) which commences on 1 August 2023.

We asked for views on the residency eligibility conditions that should be considered as part of any new Regulations for the 2023/24 AY.

The Consultation ran from 24^th January 2023 to 31^st March 2023.

We received 131 responses. 31 were received from organisations primarily based in Scotland, 97 from individuals, and 3 from campaign groups.

Respondents were generally supportive of eligible students requiring a relevant connection to Scotland, including asylum seekers.

The Consultation also highlighted that added flexibility should be considered to the current eligibility rules to enable students to become eligible for funding part way through a course. The current residency conditions determine eligibility at the start of a course.

There were a number of responses in the consultation in relation to armed forces personnel and/or their dependants. Several bodies representing various factions of the Armed Forces were critical of the current policies around access to home fee status and student financial support.

The Scottish Government has published a comprehensive response to the consultation findings. This outlines the changes that are being made in legislation for the 2023/24 AY around the relevant connection to Scotland and support for some asylum seekers.

The Report also highlights some areas where it was not possible to reach a conclusion on and address in the current regulatory timescales. Scottish Government officials will consider these matters further and acknowledge that many of the stakeholder groups who responded to the consultation noted their willingness to engage in more detail on the matter. 

The Scottish Government would like to thank everyone who took the time to provide a written response to the consultation exercise and who took the time to meet with officials especially those individuals who had been adversely impacted by the previous long residence rules.