Damned if you Do: Leeds Student Trapped in Academic Limbo
Having completed an undergraduate degree in General Biology at the American University in Cairo –a four-year program—Mohammed Lotaief returned to Britain to begin his post-graduate study in Bio-Informatics and Computational Biology at Leeds University. However, due to university guidelines which stipulate that to be considered a British resident one must reside in Britain for a minimum of three years, Lotaief was required to enroll as an international student. This is where his trouble began.
“You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t” says Lotaief, whose application for UK financial assistance was rejected because he failed to meet this minimum residency requirement; his submission for an international scholarship was likewise refused on the basis of his British citizenship.
Despite several letters to Leeds University offices, little has been done to resolve this issue: “I have elevated the situation and written a letter to the Dean of the school of Biosciences” explains Lotaief. In a return letter received by Lotaief just days ago, he was promised that the request would be ‘forwarded to the appropriate office’.
Currently lacking the funds to personally finance the international tuition fee –a cost of more than €10,000 above the residential fee—Lotaief is temporarily residing with family in Dorset while contemplating his options; however the situation has left him with little recourse: “it seems we have a love for bureaucracy that leaves even us too baffled to fight back…I’m still trying to get home status at Leeds, and they are either stalling or not taking it very seriously because I haven’t heard from them yet, so I’m still in limbo at the moment”. Should his requests for reconsideration go unheeded, Lotaief states that he will have no other option but to study elsewhere.
Having completed an undergraduate degree in General Biology at the American University in Cairo –a four-year program—Mohammed Lotaief returned to Britain to begin his post-graduate study in Bio-Informatics and Computational Biology at Leeds University. However, due to university guidelines which stipulate that to be considered a British resident one must reside in Britain for a minimum of three years, Lotaief was required to enroll as an international student. This is where his trouble began.
“You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t” says Lotaief, whose application for UK financial assistance was rejected because he failed to meet this minimum residency requirement; his submission for an international scholarship was likewise refused on the basis of his British citizenship.
Despite several letters to Leeds University offices, little has been done to resolve this issue: “I have elevated the situation and written a letter to the Dean of the school of Biosciences” explains Lotaief. In a return letter received by Lotaief just days ago, he was promised that the request would be ‘forwarded to the appropriate office’.
Currently lacking the funds to personally finance the international tuition fee –a cost of more than €10,000 above the residential fee—Lotaief is temporarily residing with family in Dorset while contemplating his options; however the situation has left him with little recourse: “it seems we have a love for bureaucracy that leaves even us too baffled to fight back…I’m still trying to get home status at Leeds, and they are either stalling or not taking it very seriously because I haven’t heard from them yet, so I’m still in limbo at the moment”. Should his requests for reconsideration go unheeded, Lotaief states that he will have no other option but to study elsewhere.
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