BRADES, Montserrat:  The British Government has moved to clarify its decision to grant home fee status to students from Montserrat and other British Overseas Territories (OTs) in the Caribbean planning to study at Universities in the United Kingdom.

A written statement made in the UK House of Parliament on November 21, 2006, by British Higher Education Minister Bill Rammell announced that, from September 2007, students from Montserrat and other British Overseas Territories are to be treated as home students for fee purposes at educational institutions in the UK.

The decision also allows students from Montserrat and other British Overseas Territories to borrow three thousand pounds tuition fees from the UK Government to enroll in courses. They will not have to pay back the money either before or after graduation, until their earnings reach a level equivalent to fifteen thousand pounds a year.

The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) has now issued to Montserrat and other British OTs a specific clarification of the changes to explain that the provision for students in the new category relates to under-graduate education and does not extend to post-graduate studies.

The DfES statement highlights:

“It’s the Higher Education Institutions that are responsible for setting the final costs for post graduate studies in England. They do have to take the residence criteria into consideration. The post-graduate fees may therefore be higher than undergraduate home fees and will vary according to course choice and higher education institutions.”

The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) is now drafting the necessary amendments to the existing regulations, which are due to come into effect on 1st April 2007.

The DfES says it is keeping all universities in England up to date on the home fees status provisions, for students from Montserrat and other Overseas Territories.

It says all education institutions will have access to the new regulations once they are finalised.