The Education (Student Support) (Wales) Regulations 2018

CHAPTER 4 OVERPAYMENTS AND RECOVERY

Overpayments – general

89.—(1) Any overpayment of a tuition fee loan is recoverable by the Welsh Ministers from the academic authority.

(2) Where an eligible student has been paid an amount of any grant or maintenance loan which exceeds the amount to which the student is entitled under these Regulations, the student must repay the excess amount if required to do so by the Welsh Ministers.

(3) In this Chapter, references to an eligible student are to be treated as including a person who has received support but is not, or is no longer, an eligible student.

Recovery of overpayments of grants

90.—(1) The Welsh Ministers must recover any overpayment of a grant unless they think it is not appropriate to do so.

(2) A payment of a grant made before the day on which the course begins in respect of the academic year in question is an overpayment if the eligible student withdraws from the course before that day.

(3) A payment of disabled student’s grant is an overpayment if either of the following cases apply—

Case 1

An amount of the grant has been paid for the purpose of assisting with expenditure on major items of specialist equipment but the equipment has not been delivered to the eligible student before the student’s period of eligibility ends or is terminated.

Case 2

Payment of an amount of the grant for the purpose of assisting with expenditure on major items of specialist equipment is made after the eligible student’s period of eligibility ends or is terminated.

(4) Overpayment of a grant may be recovered by subtracting the overpayment from any grant payable to the eligible student from time to time under these Regulations or any other regulations made by the Welsh Ministers under section 22 of the 1998 Act.

(5) Where—

(a) there is an overpayment of a disabled student’s grant, and

(b) any amount of the grant was paid for the purpose of assisting with expenditure on major items of specialist equipment,

the Welsh Ministers may accept the return of specialist equipment by way of recovery of all or part of the overpayment.

(6) Paragraphs (4) and (5) do not prevent the Welsh Ministers from recovering an overpayment by any other method available to them.

Recovery of overpayments of maintenance loans

91.—(1) Where a maintenance loan has been overpaid for any of the reasons mentioned in paragraph (2), the Welsh Ministers may recover the overpayment—

(a) by subtracting it from any maintenance loan payable to the eligible student from time to time under these Regulations or any other regulations made by the Welsh Ministers under section 22 of the 1998 Act, or

(b) by any other method available to them.

(2) The reasons are—

(a) the student failed to promptly provide information which may have affected whether the student qualified for the loan or the amount of loan payable;

(b) the student provided the information but it was materially inaccurate;

(c) the student failed to provide information which the Welsh Ministers think is material in the context of recovering the loan.

(3) Where a maintenance loan has been overpaid for any other reason, the Welsh Ministers may recover the overpayment only by subtracting it from any maintenance loan payable to the eligible student from time to time under these Regulations or any other regulations made by the Welsh Ministers under section 22 of the 1998 Act.