Islanders to pay same English university fees as UK residents

Students from Crown Dependencies can be charged more than £20,000 a year in England

A deal has been struck between the UK and the Crown Dependencies to ensure students from the islands are charged the same university tuition fees in England as UK residents from September.

Currently, some institutions class Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey as international students and charge more than double the UK student rate.

The agreement will stop that practice for new students and require existing students' rates to be lowered.

The Manx government welcomed the move.

Chief Minister Howard Quayle said the change would provide students with "certainty over their future goals".

About 1,500 Manx students attend higher education facilities in the UK, with the vast majority of them studying in England.

A Manx government spokesman said that while most universities and colleges gave the island's students equal treatment, an "increasing number" had indicated they planned to categorise them as international, which could see them paying about £20,000 annually, as opposed to about £9,000.

The agreement does not cover universities and colleges in Scotland and Wales, which set their own fees and where island students pay the lower UK fee.