EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations provide for support for students taking designated higher education courses in respect of an academic year beginning on or after 1st September 2007.
These Regulations are based on the Education (Student Support) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (as amended by the Education (Student Support) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006) (the “2006 Regulations”) to which they make a number of amendments some of which are minor and drafting amendments. Changes of substance other than increases in rates of grants and loans are described below.
From 1st September 2007 the Department for Agriculture and Rural Development will transfer responsibility for providing financial support to students attending higher education courses at the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise to the Department for Employment and Learning. These regulations have been amended as appropriate to include these students.
In order to qualify for support under the Regulations a person must be an eligible student. Regulation 5 sets out the criteria that a full-time student must satisfy in order to be determined to be an eligible student. These criteria have been amended so that where a student’s eligibility for support is based on his (or a family member’s) status as a refugee or person with leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom (as defined in regulation 2) and that status has, subject to certain exceptions, terminated before the start of the academic year in respect of which he is applying for support he will not be eligible for support on this basis for that or any future academic year of the course. Equivalent changes have been made to regulations 108 and 125 which set out the eligibility criteria for part-time and postgraduate support respectively.
Part 5 of these Regulations provides for grants for living and other costs for eligible students taking designated full-time courses. Changes have been made to the types of childcare costs that are to be treated as qualifying childcare costs for the purposes of the childcare grant (regulation 46).
Changes have also been made to the qualifying criteria for the grant for travel payable to a student attending as part of his course an overseas institution or the University of London Institute, Paris (the “Institute”). From 1st September 2007, an eligible student may qualify for the grant in respect of any quarter during which he attends the overseas institution or the Institute for at least half the period covered by that quarter.
Part 6 of these Regulations provides for the loans for living costs for eligible students taking designated full-time courses. The rate of loan for which a student qualifies depends on where he is studying and where he is living. A specific rate of loan is payable to students who are attending as part of their course an overseas institution or the Institute (the “overseas rate of loan”). Changes have been made to ensure that an eligible student will no longer be required to spend at least 8 weeks attending an overseas institution or the Institute in order to qualify for the overseas rate of loan and that where a student’s circumstances change in the course of an academic quarter, he may still qualify for the overseas rate of loan.
Part 10 of these Regulations deals with payment of support in connection with full-time designated courses and recovery of overpayments. Regulation 97 deals with the payment of grants for living and other costs that are payable under these Regulations. This regulation has been amended so that no payments of these grants are to be due after an eligible student’s period of eligibility has terminated. Specific provision has been made to enable the Department to continue to make support payments in exceptional circumstances. Under regulation 99, the Department may make it a condition of entitlement to payment of any loan payable under these Regulations that the student provide him with his valid United Kingdom national insurance number. Subject to certain exceptions, no payment of loan may be made by the Department until the required national insurance number has been provided.
Part 11 of these Regulations provides for support for designated part-time courses. The general rule is that a part-time course will not be a designated part-time course if it cannot be completed within twice the ordinary duration of a full-time course leading to the same qualification (regulation 110). Changes have been made to regulation 110 in order to clarify how the duration of the relevant full-time course is to be determined.
Regulation 111 specifies that, as was the case under the 2006 Regulations, an eligible part-time student will cease to be eligible for support if they will be unable to complete the relevant designated part-time course within twice the ordinary duration of the full-time course leading to the same qualification. An eligible part-time student will cease to be eligible for support at the end of the academic year in which it becomes evident that he will not be able to complete the course within the required time frame. Corresponding changes have been made to the declaration that an institution is required to provide under regulation 118 in support of a student’s application for support.
Equivalent changes have been made to Part 12 of the Regulations which deals with the payment of support to students undertaking designated postgraduate courses (regulations 127 and 128).
The level of support paid to an eligible part-time student is determined by reference to his intensity of study. Regulation 113 introduces a new method of calculating intensity of study.
These Regulations provide that students on courses determined by the Secretary of State for Education and Skills to be compressed degree courses can qualify for support for the duration of those courses. Schedule 1 to these Regulations makes corresponding changes to the 2006 Regulations.
These Regulations revoke the Education (Student Support) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 and the Education (Student Support) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006. Regulation 4 sets out the extent of the revocation, together with saving and transitional provisions.
A regulatory impact assessment has not been produced for this regulation as it has no impact on the costs of business.