Students Awards Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995

Interpretation

3.—(1) In these Regulations—

• “academic authority” in relation to an institution means the governing body or other body having the functions of a governing body and includes a person acting with the authority of that governing body or other body;

• “area” means the area of a board;

• “award” includes an award made under previous awards regulations, and either a fees only award or a full award made under these Regulations;

• “British Islands” means the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man;

• “the Council Regulation” means Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1612/68 on freedom of movement for workers within the Community as extended by the EEA Agreement(1);

• “course comparable to a first degree course” means—

  (a)

  A course of at least 3 academic years' duration provided by a university for a certificate, diploma or other academic award;

  (b)

  an educational facility designated by the Department under Article 50(1);

• “course for the Diploma of Higher Education” means a course provided by an institution for—

  (a)

  the Diploma of Higher Education;

  (b)

  the Diploma of Higher Education or a first degree as the student may elect after the commencement of the course;

• “course for the Higher Diploma” means a course provided by an institution for the Higher National Diploma or the Higher National Diploma of the Business and Technology Education Council (“BTEC”);

• “course of higher education” means a course of a type listed in Schedule 7 to the Education Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 1989(2) and, for the purposes of paragraph 2(b) of Schedule 2, includes a full-time course outside Northern Ireland which is comparable to a full-time course of higher education in Northern Ireland;

• “course of initial teacher training” means—

  (a)

  a course for the initial training of teachers (other than a course for the degree of Bachelor of Education) provided by an institution;

  (b)

  a part-time course of teacher training, involving not less than 3 days' attendance a week during the course, for the time being specified for the purposes of this provision by the Department;

  (c)

  any other course of teacher training, whether part-time or partly full-time and partly part-time, for the time being so specified—

• “degree” means a degree awarded by a university, institution of higher education in the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland or the Council for National Academical Awards;

• “dependent” means wholly or mainly financially dependent;

• “discretionary award” shall be construed in accordance with regulation 8(2);

• “employment” means full-time employment or part-time employment which, in a normal week, involves a significant number of hours of work and “employed” shall be construed accordingly, and for the purposes hereof the references to employment include references to the holding for gain of any office and to the following for gain of any occupation;

• “establishment of further education” excludes a university but includes a college of education and an institution of further education which also provides higher education;

• “European Community” means the area comprised by the member states of the European Community (including the United Kingdom) as constituted from time to time, and as respects any period prior to the unification of the Federal Republic of Germany with the former German Democratic Republic, that former Republic;

• “EEA Agreement” means the Agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2nd May 1992(3) as adjusted by the Protocol signed at Brussels on 17th March 1993(4);

• “European Economic Area” means the European Community and subject to the conditions laid down in the EEA Agreement the area comprised by the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland, the Republic of Iceland, the Kingdom of Norway, the Kingdom of Sweden and, from such date as the EEA Council, established by Article 89 of the EEA Agreement, determines that that Agreement shall enter into force as regards the Principality of Liechtenstein, the Principality of Liechtenstein;

• “European student” means a person who is a national of a member state of the European Community or the child of such a national and has been ordinarily resident within the European Community throughout the period of 3 years before the commencement of his course, but who is not entitled to a full award by virtue of regulation 11(2);

• “fees only award” means an award made only in respect of fees described in Schedule 6;

• “first degree course” means—

  (a)

  a course provided by an institution for a first degree or for the degree of Bachelor of Medicine or an equivalent degree;

  (b)

  a course provided by the University of Buckingham for a first degree of that university;

  (c)

  an international course, that is to say a course provided by an institution in conjunction with an overseas institution for a first degree;

• “full award” means an award made in respect of both fees described in Schedule 6 and a maintenance grant;

• “highest-cost country” means Denmark, Finland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Taiwan;

• “higher-cost country” means Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Iceland, France, the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Korea;

• “high-cost country” means Australia, Canada, Indonesia, the Republic of Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, countries of the former Soviet Union, Spain and the United States of America;

• “independent student” means a student who—

  (a)

  has attained the age of 25 years before the beginning of the year for which payments in pursuance of his award fall to be made; or

  (b)

  has supported himself out of his earnings for periods (including any period mentioned in paragraph (3)), before the first year of his course aggregating not less than three years; or

  (c)

  has been married for at least two years before the beginning of the year for which payments in pursuance of his award fall to be made whether or not the marriage is still subsisting; or

  (d)

  has no parent living;

• “institution” means a university or institution of higher education in the United Kingdom maintained or assisted by recurrent grants out of public funds or a university or institution of higher education in the Republic of Ireland providing a full-time course comparable to one listed in paragraph 1, 2, 3 or 4 of Schedule 3;

• “maintenance grant” means a grant calculated in accordance with regulation 13;

• “modified proportion” means the proportion which the number of weeks in a sandwich year during which the student has no periods of experience bears to 52;

• “Order” means the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1986; and a reference by number to an Article is a reference to the Article bearing that number in the Order;

• “ordinary maintenance requirement” shall be construed in accordance with paragraph 1(1) of Schedule 7;

• “overseas institution” means an educational institution in a country outside the United Kingdom providing further or higher education or both;

• “periods of experience” means—

  (a)

  periods of industrial, professional or commercial experience associated with full-time study at an institution but at a place outside the institution, other than periods of—

  (i)

  unpaid service in a hospital or in a public health service laboratory in the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland;

  (ii)

  unpaid service with a public body in the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland acting in the exercise of its functions relating to health, welfare or the care of children and young persons or with a voluntary Organisation providing facilities or carrying out activities of a like nature in the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland;

  (iii)

  unpaid service in the prison, probation and aftercare service in the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland;

  (iv)

  teaching practice;

  (v)

  unpaid research in an institution or, in the case of a student attending an overseas institution as a necessary part of his course, in an overseas institution;

  (vi)

  such experience as aforesaid falling wholly within the periods appointed by an institution for instruction and study thereat in any year which do not comprise paid service or employment and which do not aggregate more than either 6 weeks during that year or -fall within that year and another year and do not aggregate more than 12 weeks during the two years taken together, where that other year has not already been taken into account for the purposes hereof;

  (vii)

  unpaid service with a health authority (within the meaning of section 128(1) of the National Health Service Act 1977(5));

  (viii)

  unpaid service with a health board constituted under section 2 of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978(6); or

  (ix)

  unpaid service with a health and social services board established under Article 16 of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972(7);

  (b)

  in the case of a student whose course includes the study of one or more modem languages for not less than one half of the time spent studying on the course and which includes periods of residence in a country whose language is a language of the course, any such period of residence during which he is in gainful employment;

• “prescribed proportion” means the proportion which the number of weeks in a sandwich year during which the student attends the institution for full-time study bears to 30, except that, where that proportion is greater than the whole, it means the whole;

• “previous awards regulations” means the Regulations revoked by regulation 2 and any regulations superseded by those Regulations;

• “refugee” means a person recognised by Her Majesty’s government as a refugee within the meaning of the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees done at Geneva on 28th July 1951(8) as extended by the Protocol thereto which entered into force on 4th October 1967(9) and any reference to the child of a refugee includes a reference to a person adopted in pursuance of adoption proceedings and a step-child;

• “relevant day” means—

  (a)

  except in the case mentioned in sub-paragraph (b), the last day of the month of October, February, April or June (according as the academic year of the course begins in the winter, spring, summer or autumn respectively) preceding the beginning of the course;

  (b)

  in the case of a refugee, or the spouse or child of a refugee, or a person mentioned in regulation 7(4), who has entered the United Kingdom on or after a relevant day as defined in sub-paragraph (a), where—

  (i)

  he has entered the United Kingdom before the day one month earlier than the first day of the academic year in which he commences his course, the said day or the day on which he applies for an award, whichever is the earlier;

  (ii)

  he has not so entered the United Kingdom, the first day of the academic year in which he commences his course or the day on which he applies for an award, whichever is the earlier;

• “sandwich course” means a course consisting of alternate periods of full-time study at an institution and periods of experience so organised that, taking the course as a whole, the student attends the periods of full-time study for an average of not less than 19 weeks in each year of the course; and for the purpose of calculating his attendance the course shall be treated as beginning with the first period of full-time study and ending with the. last such period;

• “sandwich year” means, as respects any student, a year of a sandwich course which includes both attendance at full-time study at an institution and periods of experience;

• “specified course” means a course of a type listed in Schedule 3; and in relation to any person any reference (otherwise unqualified) to a specified course shall, as the context requires, be construed as a reference to a specified course which the person attends or has applied to attend and any reference to a specified course shall be construed as a reference to either a course of full-time study or a sandwich course;

• “statutory award” means any award made or grant paid by virtue of Article 50 (except a maintenance allowance payable under the Maintenance Allowances (Pupils over Compulsory School Age) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1994(10)) or Article 51 and includes any comparable award made or grant or other payment made in respect of attendance at a course which is paid out of moneys provided by Parliament;

• “student” means a person to whom an award has been made under these Regulations or previous awards regulations;

• “supplementary requirement” shall be construed in accordance with paragraph 4 of Schedule 7;

• “the excess period” shall be construed in accordance with paragraph 5(1)of Schedule 7;

• “the new course” shall be construed in accordance with regulation 8(3);

• “the Tax Acts” has the same meaning as in Schedule 1 to the Interpretation Act 1978(11);

• “university” means a university in the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland and includes a university college and a constituent college, school or hall of such a university;

• “year”, in respect of a course, means the period of twelve months beginning on 1st January, 1st April, 1st July or 1st September according as the academic year of the course begins in the winter, spring, summer or autumn respectively; and any reference to the first or the final year of a course shall be construed accordingly.

(2) In paragraph (1) “parent” shall have the same meaning as in Part 11 of Schedule 8.

(3) A period during which a student has supported himself out of his earnings includes any period during which—

(a) the student was in receipt of training in pursuance of a programme of the type described in Schedule 1;

(b) the student was in receipt of unemployment benefit under section 25(1) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992(12);

(c) the student was available for employment and, if under the age of 18 years, registered for unemployment;

(d) the student held a post-graduate studentship or comparable award;

(e) the student received sickness benefit under section 31(1), maternity allowance under section 35(1)(13), severe disablement allowance under section 68(1), invalidity pension under section 33(1)(b), 40(3)or 41(2), or statutory sick pay under Part XI(14) or statutory maternity pay under Part XII(15) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992;

(f) the student could not reasonably have been expected to support himself out of his earnings because he had the care of a person under the age of 18 years who was dependent upon him.

(4) In paragraph (3), a reference to a person registered or available for employment is a reference to his being so registered or available for the purposes of section 123(1) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992.

(1)

O.J. No. L257, 19.10.68, p. 2 (O.J./S.E. 1968 (11) p. 475)

(2)

S.I. 1989/2406 (N.I. 20) as amended by S.I. 1993/2810 (N.I. 12) Art 50(1) and Sch. 4 Part 11

(3)

Cmnd. 2073

(4)

Cmnd. 2183

(5)

1977 c. 49.amended by paragraph 11 of Schedule 3 to the Health and Social Security Act 1984(c. 48)

(6)

1978 c. 29

(7)

S.I. 1972/1265 (N.I. 14)

(8)

Cmnd. 9171

(9)

Cmnd. 3906 (Out of print: photocopies are available, free of charge, from Student Support Branch, Department of Education, Rathgael House, Balloo Road, Bangor. Co. Down BT19 7PR)

(10)

S.R. 1994 No. 298

(11)

1978 c. 30; definition of “Tax Acts” substituted by 1987 c. 16, section 7 1, Schedule 15, paragraph 12

(12)

1992 c. 7

(13)

Section 35(1) was amended by Regulation 2 of S.R. 1994 No. 176

(14)

Part XI was amended by Article 2 of S.R. 1994 No. 82 and by Articles 3 and 5(1) of the Statutory Sick Pay (Northern Ireland) Order 1994 (S.I. 1994/766 (N.I. 5))

(15)

Part XII was amended by Article 4(b) of the Still-Birth (Definition) (Northern Ireland) Order 1992 (S.I. 1992/1310 (N.I. 10)) and by S.R. 1994 No. 176