Does anybody have any information on the rules for sending Thai children to the UK to get higher education.

My wife casually dropped this on me last week that she wanted to send our son (only 2 now) to the UK when he is about 14 for higher education.

He has a British passport and Birth certificate so he will have no problem getting into the UK. His Mother is Thai but has no right of abode in the UK and actually does not want a British passport etc.

He would stay with a good friend but we would not go with him as by then I will be 74 and his Mum will be 53.

Would I also be able to claim benefits for him even though we don't live in the UK and we cannot claim child benefits now as we live in Thailand?

Any sensible replies appreciated but at this time there is a lot of time for changes in education in both countries.

Well i think 14 is the wrong age to come here, as this is about the time kids start studying for gcse's. And unless he can speak and read and write really good English he might struggle a bit.

We are in sort of the same situation, my step daughter is 12 and lives in Thailand with the grand parents. We have talked at length about bringing her over to goto school, but as she speaks no English this could be quite tricky. So we have decided to wait until she is 16 and she has a good command of English, she can then come over and goto college. I think this would be of great benefit to her.

As for problems enrolling kids, then i cant see that being a problem as he already has a British passport, so therefore has a right to free education upto the age of 16 and probably upto 18 if he goes to college as well, and then if he wants uni there are grants and loans available. If if the child is a foreign national then i still think a child will be entitled to free education as long as they are resident here in the U.K.

Hope this is of some help

most start higher education at 18, but maybe you are confident you have a child prodigy on your hands - in which case I'm sure you will manage to secure some kind of scholarship!

To pay the university fees at the non - foreigner rate - your son may have had to be resident in UK for some time before going (despite having a british passport) - not sure but worth checking.

Well i think 14 is the wrong age to come here, as this is about the time kids start studying for gcse's. And unless he can speak and read and write really good English he might struggle a bit.

We are in sort of the same situation, my step daughter is 12 and lives in Thailand with the grand parents. We have talked at length about bringing her over to goto school, but as she speaks no English this could be quite tricky. So we have decided to wait until she is 16 and she has a good command of English, she can then come over and goto college. I think this would be of great benefit to her.

As for problems enrolling kids, then i cant see that being a problem as he already has a British passport, so therefore has a right to free education upto the age of 16 and probably upto 18 if he goes to college as well, and then if he wants uni there are grants and loans available. If if the child is a foreign national then i still think a child will be entitled to free education as long as they are resident here in the U.K.

Hope this is of some help

Yes I think 12 would be better. I know of a Thai girl who enrolled in an English Secondary school at 12. She did not speak English at the time. She was placed in a special needs class for six months, after which was placed in the normal class environment. She did OK and got a grade B in English language in GCSE. She now lives in Thailand and is making good use of her English Education. BTW she can still speak read and write Thai.

most start higher education at 18, but maybe you are confident you have a child prodigy on your hands - in which case I'm sure you will manage to secure some kind of scholarship!

To pay the university fees at the non - foreigner rate - your son may have had to be resident in UK for some time before going (despite having a british passport) - not sure but worth checking.

I think you misunderstood my post. I class higher education as anything that follows secondary school, i.e college or "a" levels. But i see what your saying about uni, i guess that is what is really classed as higher education

With regards to 'claiming child benefits' ..I would say no but if you have paid sufficient tax and N.I contributions over the years then you may want to pursue this with the Inland Revenue.

Best to check out the Inland Revenue's website as they now deal N.I and tax contribution queries and may be able to point you in the right direction. Google it.

All the best!

To pay the UK rates for higher education, as opposed to 'nasty foreigner' rates, you need to be living in the UK for 3 years prior to your proposed course of education. This applies even if you hold a full British passport.

I applied recently to study (by distance-learning), an MSc in renewable Energy Systems. The intention was that with this knowledge, I would be better equipped to develop some form of renewable/sustainable energy system for the benefit of Thailand etc. (It wasn't for my own benefit - I'm happy with what I'm doing right now...)

Imagine my horror when I was accepted immediately onto the course, but told that I would be classed as a nasty foreigner and required to pay 6,420,234 pounds each term in fees......

I was able, by blatant lies, to get the university to accept me at UK rates. But it is worth bearing in mind if you have a son or daughter with full British passport who currently lives in LoS, and who intends to study in the UK at a later date.

(The answer is clearly to send them over to the UK at 11 or 12 years old and get them to work as child labour in a Thai restaurant for 3 years....)

Simon

Thanks for the good and useful information so far but I hope that Simon43 made an error in his calculations.

simon43 Posted Yesterday, 2006-08-14 21:43:34

Imagine my horror when I was accepted immediately onto the course, but told that I would be classed as a nasty foreigner and required to pay 6,420,234 pounds each term in fees......

I suspect at that rate you could probably buy a university. Sorry but I hope it was a typing error.

a typical foriener rate for universities in Uk is around £10,000 a year (course fee only)- this is how they make their money!

Thais studying in England must come from seriously rich families!

To pay the UK rates for higher education, as opposed to 'nasty foreigner' rates, you need to be living in the UK for 3 years prior to your proposed course of education. This applies even if you hold a full British passport.

I applied recently to study (by distance-learning), an MSc in renewable Energy Systems. The intention was that with this knowledge, I would be better equipped to develop some form of renewable/sustainable energy system for the benefit of Thailand etc. (It wasn't for my own benefit - I'm happy with what I'm doing right now...)

Imagine my horror when I was accepted immediately onto the course, but told that I would be classed as a nasty foreigner and required to pay 6,420,234 pounds each term in fees......

I was able, by blatant lies, to get the university to accept me at UK rates. But it is worth bearing in mind if you have a son or daughter with full British passport who currently lives in LoS, and who intends to study in the UK at a later date.

(The answer is clearly to send them over to the UK at 11 or 12 years old and get them to work as child labour in a Thai restaurant for 3 years....)

Simon

I had understood that all Masters courses in the UK were charged at a single rate for both foreign and UK/EU students. Bachelors courses tend to be subsidised by the Government (at all but 1 UK University) and thus differential fees are charged. Masters courses on the other hand tend to rely upon students paying the full costs of their course. When I did my MBA the fees I paid were exactly the same as foreign students in my class.

Since Bachelors courses are funded (at least in part) by the taxpayer it is only reasonable that foreign students do not benefit from this subsidy. At my girlfriends Uni British Students pay approximately half the rate of foreign students, (it costs me c.£12k PA) but then even the British Students have to pay.

Edited August 14, 200619 yr by Expat2B

a typical foriener rate for universities in Uk is around £10,000 a year (course fee only)- this is how they make their money!

Thais studying in England must come from seriously rich families!

Or are on scholarships provided by the Thai goverment or private Thai companies.

To pay the UK rates for higher education, as opposed to 'nasty foreigner' rates, you need to be living in the UK for 3 years prior to your proposed course of education. This applies even if you hold a full British passport.

I applied recently to study (by distance-learning), an MSc in renewable Energy Systems. The intention was that with this knowledge, I would be better equipped to develop some form of renewable/sustainable energy system for the benefit of Thailand etc. (It wasn't for my own benefit - I'm happy with what I'm doing right now...)

Imagine my horror when I was accepted immediately onto the course, but told that I would be classed as a nasty foreigner and required to pay 6,420,234 pounds each term in fees......

I was able, by blatant lies, to get the university to accept me at UK rates. But it is worth bearing in mind if you have a son or daughter with full British passport who currently lives in LoS, and who intends to study in the UK at a later date.

(The answer is clearly to send them over to the UK at 11 or 12 years old and get them to work as child labour in a Thai restaurant for 3 years....)

Simon

I had understood that all Masters courses in the UK were charged at a single rate for both foreign and UK/EU students. Bachelors courses tend to be subsidised by the Government (at all but 1 UK University) and thus differential fees are charged. Masters courses on the other hand tend to rely upon students paying the full costs of their course. When I did my MBA the fees I paid were exactly the same as foreign students in my class.

Since Bachelors courses are funded (at least in part) by the taxpayer it is only reasonable that foreign students do not benefit from this subsidy. At my girlfriends Uni British Students pay approximately half the rate of foreign students, (it costs me c.£12k PA) but then even the British Students have to pay.

master degree courses are charged at different rates for uk/eu/commenwealth and foreign students. Or at least there were two years ago when my wife looked into it.

carrying on from Simon's post about different fees for foreigners and UK residents:

you must also take into consideration the fact that if you child is not classed as a Uk resident (lived in the UK for over 3 years - not sure if being in full-time education counts), not only will they have to pay international student fees, they will also not be eligible for student grants and loans.

Maybe you could get a family member in the UK to legally adopt your kid so when its time for them to go to uni they can pay local fees and get a student loan.

This is something i wished my parents had done. Supporting yourself through uni is not much fun when your mates are out spending their student loans down the pub.

carrying on from Simon's post about different fees for foreigners and UK residents:

you must also take into consideration the fact that if you child is not classed as a Uk resident (lived in the UK for over 3 years - not sure if being in full-time education counts), not only will they have to pay international student fees, they will also not be eligible for student grants and loans.

Maybe you could get a family member in the UK to legally adopt your kid so when its time for them to go to uni they can pay local fees and get a student loan.

This is something i wished my parents had done. Supporting yourself through uni is not much fun when your mates are out spending their student loans down the pub.

This is interesting. How old were you when you started your education in the UK. My son is still a baby plenty of time to plan, but forwarned is forarmed.

My intention was to educate him in Thailand through Panom 6 and then let him start his secondary education in the UK My worry is that I will turn him into a jack of two education systems but a master of none.

Are you after primary, secondary or tertiary education?

Please give us a break and DON'T go for private schools (public schools in UK), we don't need another hoorah henry!!!