Paying for a UK degree from Europe
Germany, France and Ireland after Brexit — what changed, and what still works.
On the cover: the Brandenburg Gate, Berlin. Germany's major study foundations fund full degrees only in the EU or Switzerland. Photo: Florian Wehde / Unsplash.
The Bottom Line
Until 2021, students from across the European Union paid the same tuition as British students and could borrow it from the UK government. Brexit ended that for most of them. A German or French student starting a UK degree today is classed as an international student, and pays international fees.
Not everyone lost out, and some routes still work. Irish students still pay UK home fees — £9,790 a year in England for 2026–27 — and can borrow them, and Ireland's own maintenance grant covers their living costs. In Germany, an income-based study fund lends for a UK degree. In France, the support we found is built for study at home, so French families need to look elsewhere.
What you absolutely need to know:
- Irish students still pay UK home fees — and can borrow them
- Ireland's maintenance grant covers living costs at a UK university too
- Most other EU students now pay international fees, so funding matters more
- In Germany, an income-based study fund lends for a UK degree
- Germany's major study foundations fund full degrees only in the EU and Switzerland
- In France, support is built for study at home — plan around other routes
1. Irish students still pay UK home fees — and can borrow them
Under the Common Travel Area between the UK and Ireland, Irish citizens keep their access to UK higher education on the same terms as British students. An Irish citizen who has lived in the UK, the Islands or Ireland for the three years before the course starts is eligible in England for home fee status and a tuition fee loan from Student Finance England, on the same basis as a UK national.
Home fees in England are capped at £9,790 for 2026–27, against a median international fee of £21,795 a year.
What this means for you: an Irish family pays a fraction of what other European families pay — and can defer even that through the UK's own tuition fee loan.
2. Ireland's maintenance grant covers living costs at a UK university too
SUSI, Ireland's student grant scheme, lists an undergraduate course in the EU or UK as eligible for its maintenance grant. It pays towards living costs, not tuition — but alongside UK home fees and a UK tuition fee loan, it means an Irish student's UK degree can be supported on both sides.
What this means for you: apply to SUSI for the maintenance grant and to Student Finance England for the tuition fee loan. Between them, they cover much of the cost.
3. Most other EU students now pay international fees, so funding matters more
From autumn 2021, students from EU countries other than Ireland lost home fee status in the UK, unless they hold settled status. They now pay the international fee each university sets, and don't qualify for UK student loans.
| Ireland | Germany | France | |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK fees | Home fees, with a UK tuition fee loan | International fees | International fees |
| National support for a UK degree | SUSI maintenance grant, for living costs | BAföG only for students who started a UK course before 2021 | None for a full degree abroad |
| Other routes we found | — | Deutsche Bildung's income-based study fund | None confirmed |
Source: Telariq data; Durham University, citing UK government rules on Irish citizens.
What this means for you: a German or French family faces the same costs as a family from outside Europe — and should plan the funding as carefully.
4. In Germany, an income-based study fund lends for a UK degree
Deutsche Bildung's study fund names Great Britain among the countries it funds. Instead of fixed repayments, graduates repay a share of their income after studying, and the fund doesn't depend on the parents' income. It asks for a German Abitur and a state-recognised university, and funds amounts from €5,000 for the final stage of a degree up to €30,000 or more.
BAföG, Germany's federal student support, funded full UK degrees before Brexit. Today, funding through to the end of a UK degree is confirmed only for students who began their UK study before 31 December 2020. Germany's federal Bildungskredit treats a foreign university equivalent to a German Hochschule as eligible, but the equivalence is only decided once a student applies — worth asking about.
Of the nine German banks we checked, none publishes terms confirming it will fund a UK degree; five fund study in Germany only.
What this means for you: start with Deutsche Bildung, and ask the Bildungskredit office about your UK university directly.
5. Germany's major study foundations fund full degrees only in the EU and Switzerland
Germany's largest study foundations — the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung and Cusanuswerk — all fund full bachelor's degrees in EU countries or Switzerland, but not in the UK.
They haven't left the UK entirely. Several still support study stays in the UK, and some a UK master's or doctorate in justified cases.
What this means for you: if a foundation scholarship matters to you, it currently points to a degree in the EU or Switzerland — or to a German bachelor's followed by a UK master's.
6. In France, support is built for study at home — plan around other routes
France's state-guaranteed student loan requires a French institution issuing a French diploma; its only study-abroad allowance is an exchange period within a French degree. The CROUS grants are for study in France. The regional and other French schemes we found fund exchange periods or other levels of study, not full degrees abroad, and none of the ten French banks we checked confirms it will fund a UK degree.
What this means for you: French families should plan around savings, UK university scholarships, and direct, written enquiries to banks — several banks' pages simply don't say.
Our advice
If you're Irish, apply for UK home fees, a UK tuition fee loan and the SUSI maintenance grant — together they make a UK degree one of your most affordable options.
If you're German, look at Deutsche Bildung first, and ask the Bildungskredit office about your UK university.
If you're French, plan the funding early — savings, UK university scholarships and banks you ask directly.
Confirm fee status with each university in writing, and every funding provider's terms before you rely on them.
The not so fine print: what was excluded in this report
- EU nationals with settled or pre-settled status in the UK, whose fee status follows different rules
- Fee and loan rules for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which differ from England's
- Interest rates and the cost of borrowing
- The names of individual banks, which sit in Telariq's records
- Other European countries, which were outside this research
A note on this guide. This is what we found when we read each provider's own pages. Its purpose is to show you that options exist and where to start looking. There will be routes we haven't found yet, and some here may have changed since we checked — so treat it as a starting point, not a complete list, and confirm everything with the provider before you rely on it.
Have a question? We'd love to hear from you — admin@telariq.com