Right to student loan

A UK student has won a significant victory over the right to apply for a student loan, in a landmark case at the Supreme Court.

Beaurish Tigere, who moved here from Zambia at the age of six and is lawfully resident in the UK, wished to study international business management but was treated as an overseas student, which meant she was ineligible for student loans and charged foreign student fee rates.

Students with “discretionary” or “limited” but not indefinite leave to remain (ILR) have been treated as overseas students when it comes to university since 2012, under the Education (Student Fees, Award and Support (Amendment) Regulations 2011 (SI 2011/87).

In R (on the application of Tigere) v Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills [2015] UKSC 57, however, the Supreme Court held that a blanket ban on student loans to anyone who doesn’t have either ILR or British citizenship, regardless of their length of residence or strength of their ties to the country, is disproportionate and cannot not be justified.

Delivering the lead judgment, Lady Hale said: “The reality is, even though she does not have ILR, her established private life here means that she cannot be removed from the UK unless she commits a serious criminal offence and she will almost inevitably secure ILR in due course. She is just as closely connected and integrated into the UK society as her settled peers.”

In his judgment, Lord Hughes said there was no evidence that BIS considered the impact on young people with strong ties to the UK, whose future is clearly here, when it amended the rules.

Just for Kids Law, which acted for Tigere, estimates that about 600-1,000 students a year have been affected since the restrictions were introduced in 2012.  Its director, Shauneen Lambe says: “This ruling is wonderful news for many ambitious and academically successful young people, who would otherwise be blocked from ever entering professions which require a degree.”