Nationals from Anguilla and other Overseas Territories studying in England will no longer be required to pay the international student fee at higher educational institutions there.

This is according to a press release from Staff Officer at the Governor’s Office Joe Legg. The release confirmed that on Tuesday, November 21, Bill Rammell MP, the British Minister for Higher Education, announced proposals to that effect. The proposals “will enable students from Anguilla and other Overseas Territories to be treated as home students for fee purposes at Higher Educational institutions in England.”

The change will be put in place for the start of the 2007/08 academic year in England.

Mr. Rammell made the announcement at the start of this year’s annual Overseas Territories Consultative Council meeting in London. Among those at the meeting were Governor Andrew George, Anguilla’s Chief Minister, Osbourne Fleming and Minister of Finance, Victor Banks.

The release noted that Mr. Rammell and Lord Triesman, Minister for the Overseas Territories who chaired the meeting, have worked hard on behalf of the territories to bring the change to fruition.

The release quoted Mr. Rammell as saying: “This ends an anomaly whereby some students coming from Territories of EU countries have been treated as overseas students while others have been eligible to pay home fees. Once implemented, students from the Overseas Territories of the specified EU countries, who meet a three-year residence qualification in the overseas territory concerned, and are EC nationals will pay the home fee only for their Further Education and undergraduate degree courses.”

Lord Triesman added: “This change will have long-term benefits in terms of self-sufficiency of the Overseas Territories and it fits well with the commitments we gave in the 1999 White Paper on the Overseas Territories.”

Mr. Rammell, formerly Minister for the Overseas Territories, also expressed his hope that the proposals would encourage students from the Territories to consider England as their destination of choice for higher education.

Up until now, perspective students from Anguilla and other British Overseas Territories have been charged the international student fee for studying in England. This contrasted with their counterparts from French St.Martin who have been able to pay the same fee as those from mainland France and other EU countries. Currently the average fee charged to international students in England is approximately eight to ten thousand pounds a year. But can be much more for clinical subjects such as medicine. The home student fee in England is three thousand pounds.

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