IN GENERAL, Irish students studying in Britain and Northern Ireland qualify for free fees and, if they are eligible for maintenance grants here, they will also be paid this grant. However, there are some important exceptions.

Tuition fees for Irish students studying in British and Northern Ireland colleges are normally paid by the relevant educational authority - local education authorities in England and Wales, the Student Awards Agency in Scotland and the library boards in Northern Ireland.

Essentially, Irish students, as EU members, are entitled to free fees, however, in the case of certain paramedical courses in England and Wales, the fees are paid by the local health authority and Irish students are not automatically entitled to free fees.

A final note of caution the University of Buckingham, which is included in UCAS, is a private-college with fees exceeding grants.

Maintenance grants are payable by the Irish Department of Education for full-time undergraduate courses of not less than two years duration in a university or third-level institution which is maintained or assisted by recurrent grants from public funds in Britain. However, there are exceptions to this rule, notably courses with controlled entry: here medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine and teacher-training courses, including those leading to the award of the bachelor of education.

The reason for these exceptions, is simple the numbers in these subjects are controlled here to stay in balance with the projected jobs market, so helping students study elsewhere would not make sense.

Also excluded are courses provided in a college in Britain which are also offered in private commercial third-level colleges here with validation from that British college; and courses in British colleges that are akin to private commercial colleges in Ireland.