British national, occasionally United Kingdom national is a term used differently in various United Kingdom Acts of Parliament. Most commonly, it refers to the following classes of persons:
In some other Acts, e.g. the Atomic Energy Act 1989, the term "United Kingdom national" does not include British subjects and British protected persons.
Except for British Protected Persons, all the above are also Commonwealth citizens. British Protected Persons, like Irish citizens, are in a unique category in that they are neither Commonwealth citizens (British subjects in the pre-1981 definition) nor aliens.
The term British national for European Union purposes refers to a subset of United Kingdom nationals who are entitled to be regarded as European citizens under the treaties constituting the European Union. They consist of: