Vice-Chancellor hosts conversation about Brexit for Oxford students

The Vice-Chancellor Louise Richardson hosted a special event for current Oxford students on Thursday 21 February.

A Conversation About Brexit took place at the Examination Schools, with a range of topics discussed including fees and funding, visas and immigration, year abroad schemes, and travel to Europe.

There is ongoing uncertainty about the UK’s departure from the EU, and students are advised to continue checking the Oxford and the EU page on the University website for further updates.

Key advice outlined to students at the event was:

Visas, immigration and travel

• Regardless of whether there is a deal or not, current Oxford students from the EEA or Switzerland can continue to leave and enter the UK using only their passport or national identity card up until 31 December 2020.

• EEA and Swiss students are encouraged to consider applying for settled or pre-settled status; either if your course will continue beyond 2020 or if you may be interested in remaining in the UK longer. See the UK Government website for details. Applications will be free after 29 March.
  • If you need to prove your residency as part of your application, you can download your enrolment certificate from Student Self-Service.
• There may be some travel disruption around the date that the UK leaves the EU without a deal. However, flights are likely to be maintained without interruption, even in a no-deal scenario. 

Year abroad schemes

• We expect year abroad arrangements (currently supported by Erasmus+) up to and including the 2019/20 academic year to be in place and are committed to continuing student exchanges in the future.

• If you are due to have a compulsory year abroad during your studies, you should continue to plan as you have previously, and you will be kept informed of any developments.

 Fees and funding

• EU students who are already on-course will be charged fees at the home rate for the duration of their current degrees.

• For EU students who are already on-course, and who are receiving UK research council funding, University funding or a UK government loan, we do not expect funding arrangements to change as a result of the UK leaving the EU.

Healthcare

• EEA and Swiss students will still be able to access NHS healthcare after the UK leaves the EU.

• If the UK leaves without a deal, the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) may not be valid, in which case UK residents will need to purchase private travel insurance for residence in Europe. 

A more detailed listed of Q&As can be found on the Oxford and the EU page on the University website, along with a full transcript of the event.