MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands to benefit from lower university tuition fees

Students from UK overseas territories, including the Falkland Islands, will pay lower university tuition fees next year, ministers have announced.

According to a BBC reports this means undergraduates at universities in England from places including the Falkland Islands and Bermuda will be treated as if they live in the UK.

The changes will also apply to overseas territories belonging to France, Denmark and the Netherlands.

British officials said the change followed calls for reform from British overseas territories. The UK has an obligation under the UN Charter to promote the well-being of inhabitants of its overseas territories.

Gibraltar is currently the only British overseas territory whose students currently qualify for the home fee rates - fees for overseas students are considerably more than the up-to-£3,000 charged for UK students.

Higher Education Minister Bill Rammell said: "This is a long-awaited change for the overseas territories, which do not have their own higher education provision.

"It is a move that will help them to improve their self-sufficiency."

The change will apply to students living in places including the British Virgin Islands, the Falklands, the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and Monserrat.

French and Danish territories include Greenland and the Faeroe Islands, Aruba, French Polynesia, Mayotte and New Caledonia.

International Development Minister Gareth Thomas said it was a significant decision for the future of overseas territories. "It will help increase the educational options for students from Britain's remaining overseas territories, and in turn help to boost the long-term prosperity of the territories."