Education (Student Support) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations revoke and replace, with amendments, the Education (Student Support) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 and come into operation on 2nd August 2001. The Regulations provide for support for students attending higher education courses in respect of academic years beginning on or after 1st September 2001.

The regulations make a number of minor changes. The definitions of “high cost country” and “higher cost country” are amended in regulation 2(1). Reference to the Royal Agricultural College in regulation 11(2)(b) has been deleted as the Secretary of State for Education and Skills has designated it as an institution eligible to receive funds from the Higher Education Funding Council for England with effect from 1st August 2001 and as a consequence it will attract the rate of grant for tuition fees for publicly funded institutions.

Regulation 5(2) is amended so that, taking the course as a whole, a sandwich course student is required to attend periods of full-time study for an average of at least 18 instead of 19 weeks in each year. A new paragraph is inserted (regulation 5(3)) to provide that where periods of full-time study and work experience alternate within any week of a sandwich course, the days of full-time study shall be aggregated with any weeks of full-time study in determining the number of weeks of full-time study in each year.

Regulation 6(7) makes provision for a new deadline for the submission of an application for a financial assessment for a loan or grant(s) (other than a disabled student’s grant) under the Regulations; in future, a student will have nine months from the beginning of the academic year in which to submit his application for a financial assessment, although the Department may exercise its discretion to extend this deadline.

The previous study provisions in regulation 10(4) have been expanded so that a student who has dropped out of a previous course for “compelling personal reasons”, may, at the Department’s discretion, be eligible for grant for fees (regulation 10(4)(d)). A student who has already had a “false start” under regulation 10(4)(b) may also benefit from this provision.

Students who are undertaking flexible postgraduate courses for the initial training of teachers, approved by the Teacher Training Agency as defined in these Regulations, will not be eligible for grant for tuition fees (regulation 10(7)(c)). For any such courses which have not been approved by the Teacher Training Agency, tuition fee support may be available under regulation 11, provided that the courses are of at least one academic year’s duration.

Special provision is made for students at the British Institute in Paris (“BIP”) which is a constituent institution of the University of London: for those starting the B.A. course in French studies on or after September 2001, grant for tuition fees will be payable at the rate for courses at publicly funded institutions in the UK, in accordance with the rates set out at regulation 11(1)(a) to (f). For existing students at the BIP, the grant for tuition fees will remain at the lower rate (regulation 11(1)(g)). Students at BIP will be eligible for travel grant (regulation 18(1)(b)) and they will also be eligible for loans for living costs at the appropriate rate for France (regulations 20(1)(b)(ii) and 20(2)(b)(ii)). There are also consequential amendments to the regulations to include references to the BIP in relation to expenditure incurred by disabled students for the purpose of attending the BIP (regulation 13(2)(c)(ii)); medical insurance abroad (regulation 18(4)); and the means-testing provisions (regulations 24(3)(a), 24(5)(b)(ii) and 24(6)(b)(ii)).

Franchised courses (which are courses provided by publicly funded institutions at private institutions), which start on or after 1st September 2001, will attract the tuition fee rate for courses at publicly funded institutions (regulation 11(2)(a)(i)). There will be transitional protection for students who started such courses before 1st September 2001, for whom the private fee rate will continue to apply and for whom the grant for fees will not be means-tested.

A new dependants grant will be available in relation to childcare costs (regulation 16). Students who are parents will be eligible for this grant if they satisfy the criteria set out in regulation 16(1). The grant will be based on the actual costs of registered or approved childcare (as defined in regulation 16(7)) of up to £135 per week for one child and £200 for two or more children, paid at a rate of 85% for the first 40 weeks (starting on the first day of the first term, for the purposes of this regulation) and at the rate of 70% for the remainder of the academic year (except where the student is in his final year) (regulation 16(2)). Where a student’s spouse is also an eligible student, the amount of grant payable under this regulation will be halved (regulation 16(5)). A student who is eligible for this grant, or eligible for grant under regulation 15(1) and who has not elected to be ineligible for grant under regulation 16, will also be eligible for a new grant of £500 in respect of expenditure on travel, books and equipment for the purpose of attending his course (regulation 15(8)), as well as a top-up grant of £250 to the first dependant’s allowance where the first dependant is a child (regulation 15(1)(c)).

There are transitional arrangements for existing and end-on students who are lone parents who may opt to receive the lone parents grant (regulation 15(6)) by electing to be ineligible for grant under regulation 16. They may only make one such election either before or during the academic year, and they are entitled to revoke it at any time during the academic year (regulation 15(7)). Such students will not be eligible for the new travel, books and equipment grant (regulation 15(8)), nor will they be eligible for the additional £250 top-up to the first dependant’s allowance (regulation 15(1)(c)). These students will however be entitled to a higher grant under regulation 15(5) than students with dependants who have not elected to be ineligible for grant under regulation 16.

Where a dependent child’s net income exceeds the maximum applicable amount under regulation 15(1), this income less the sum of £950 will be offset against the grant for childcare costs (regulation 16(3)).

There are consequential amendments to regulation 24(1)(b) so that the new childcare costs grant under regulation 16 will be included in the means test. The overpayment provisions have been amended to include references to the new grant (regulation 27(2) and (3)). Paragraph 1(7) of Schedule 3 has been amended so that a lone parent who has elected to be ineligible for grant under regulation 16 may also elect to be ineligible for grant under regulation 15 and to have disregards in relation to his child or children allowed in calculating his income.

In relation to hardship loans, a definition of hardship has been introduced, with the effect that a student will have to satisfy the Department that he is in serious financial difficulty such that his access to a course or his continued attendance on a course may be at risk, in order to become eligible (regulation 22(4)).

These Regulations correct a drafting error in regulations 28(3) and (4).

In calculating an eligible student’s income for the purposes of determining his contribution, the current disregard of scholarship, bursary and other such award income has been increased to £4,000 (paragraph 1(1)(b) of Schedule 3).

The income thresholds for the parental contribution and the spouse’s contribution have been raised and the calculations above these thresholds simplified (paragraphs 4(1) and 8(2) of Schedule 3).