I'm irrelevant
Or, according to the Scottish government I am, at least as far as tuition fees are concerned.
Next year I am planning to study at a university in Scotland, which happens to be the country that my mother comes from. In fact, she is still a British national, and hence; So am I, in addition to being Norwegian that is. Now, I have always been told by everyone that this would make me eligible to pay "home fees" rather than the significantly more expensive "overseas fees". This is a big deal, as the prices of engineering courses vary from (somewhere in he area of) 16 000 pounds for overseas students, opposed to somewhere around 3 000 pounds for home students. Over five years that is quite a substantial amount.
I thought I was a home student. Apparently I was wrong.
Even though I am a British national, eligible for a British passport, I do, per definition, "Not have a relevant connection to the UK." Why? Because I have not been "settled" there for three years or more. I suppose that makes me irrelevant to Scotland.
But of course, there are exceptions to these rules. Oh yes. Any EU national - or their children - are eligible to pay home fees. Great! Norway might not be in the EU, but I'm British as well! Me, me, me, me! Oh wait... That were the rules for England. Scotland puts a few additional words into that rule; "Any non-UK EU national."
What?
So to summarise; The fact that my mother and I are British nationals -excludes- me from paying home fees. In other words, if my mother had been from Sweden, or Poland, or Germany, or any other non-UK EU country I would be eligible for home fees. So, apparently, German citizens are more "home" in Scotland than UK nationals. I feel so welcome.
To be fair though, I do understand the reasoning behind this. This summary probably contains errors, but as I have understood it, the following is the case:
The UK needs educated workers. Because of this they don't want international students "wasting space" in their universities. What use is great universities when foreigners travel into them, go through them, then travel back out of the country?
Thus - home and overseas fees were born, making the tuition fees about seven times higher for overseas students. I am sure this works, or at least worked. I know a lot of people who chose not to study in the UK based only on the fact that it's too expensive.
But then the UK became a member of the EU, and I can only assume this means they have to give the same tuition fees to everyone within the EU. Free trade, free movement of workers and all that. In effect this means other EU citizens are free to occupy the universities as much as they like. Unfortunately for me, this probably made them pursue as many other methods of blocking foreign students as they can. And yes, perhaps my mother having migrated from the UK, it could be the case that I am "abusing" this to be able to get cheap tuition fees, and wouldn't work in the UK anyway. But the truth is, I wouldn't mind working in the UK as a post-graduate. Most universities promise to put me into UK businesses anyway, why wouldn't I stay there from a while? I am just frustrated that being a British national excludes me, and puts me a step behind a citizen of any other EU country. I would be more understanding of this if one would have to be "settled" in the EU country in question, but that is not the case. Someone in my exact situation with a Swedish father would qualify.
Ah well, I still want to study in Scotland.... But.... But... If only I had known this before I applied to five Scottish universities without putting any from England in there. That being said, the rules are not clear - at least they do not seem that clear to me. They can be interpreted in different ways, I am pretty sure the correct way of interpreting them excludes me, but I might be wrong. I'll continue to try qualifying for home fees. I might get lucky.
Image from Wikimedia Commons.
