The Education (Student Support) Regulations 2008

Old system students who are gap year students who have studied on a previous course

26.—(1) This regulation applies where—

(a) an old system student is a gap year student who has studied on a previous course;

(b) an old system student has transferred from a course in relation to which he was a gap year student to another designated course in accordance with regulations made by the Secretary of State under section 22 of the 1998 Act.

(2) An old system student to whom this regulation applies does not qualify for fee support in respect of a designated course if—

(a) he has an honours degree from an institution in the United Kingdom and the exemption in regulation 34(1) or (2) does not apply; or

(b) the designated course is an old flexible postgraduate course for the initial training of teachers.

(3) An old system student to whom this regulation applies does not qualify for a grant for fees in respect of an academic year of a designated course that is a bursary year or an Erasmus year.

(4) When assessing an application for support in respect of an academic year of a designated course, the Secretary of State must determine the “standard entitlement”.

(5) The standard entitlement is calculated as follows—

where

• OD is the number of academic years that make up the ordinary duration of the course,

• PC is the number of academic years that the student has spent on previous courses.

(6) When assessing an application for support in connection with an academic year of a designated course, the Secretary of State must allocate a grant for fees from the standard entitlement first to the final standard academic year of the course and then to each preceding standard academic year in turn until the standard entitlement is exhausted or a grant for fees has been allocated to each standard academic year of the course.

(7) An old system student to whom this regulation applies qualifies for a grant for fees in respect of a standard academic year of the designated course if the Secretary of State allocates a grant for fees to that year when assessing the application for support for that year.

(8) In addition to the standard entitlement, an old system student to whom this regulation applies qualifies for a grant for fees in respect of the first academic year that he takes of the designated course that is not a bursary year or an Erasmus year if he failed to complete the most recent previous course because of compelling personal reasons.

(9) Where an old system student to whom this regulation applies qualifies for a grant for fees under paragraph (8), the Secretary of State must not allocate a grant for fees under paragraph (6) to the first academic year that the student takes of the designated course that is not a bursary year or an Erasmus year.

(10) The amount of the grant for fees in respect of an academic year is determined in accordance with regulation 28 or 29 where the eligible student falls within paragraph (1)(a) and in accordance with regulation 28, 29 or 30 where the eligible student falls within paragraph (1)(b) and in either case the amount may be nil.