The Education (Student Support) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008

Old system students who are on end-on courses

26.—(1) An old system student who is on an end-on course of the kind described in paragraph (a) of the definition of “end-on course” in regulation 2 that he began before 1st September 2006 qualifies for a grant for fees in respect of that course in accordance with regulation 24.

(2) An old system student who is on an end-on course of the kind described in paragraph (c) of the definition of “end-on course” in regulation 2 qualifies for a grant for fees in respect of that course in accordance with regulation 24.

(3) Paragraphs (4) to (12) apply to—

(a) an old system student in respect of an end-on course of the kind described in paragraph (a) of the definition of “end-on course” in regulation 2 that he—

(i) began on or after 1st September 2006 and is continuing on after 31st August 2008; or

(ii) begins on or after 1st September 2008;

(b) an old system student in respect of an end-on course of the kind described in paragraph (b) of the definition of “end-on course” in regulation 2.

(4) An old system student to whom this paragraph applies does not qualify for fee support in respect of a course mentioned in paragraph (3)—

(a) he has an honours degree from an institution in the United Kingdom and the exemption in regulation 36(1) or (2) does not apply; or

(b) he has an honours degree from an institution in the Republic of Ireland for which he received financial support under previous regulations and the exemption in regulation 36(1) or (2) does not apply.

(5) Notwithstanding paragraph (4)(a) and (b) an old system student qualifies for fee support in respect of a course leading to a degree in social work at an educational institution in Northern Ireland.

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

(7) When assessing an application for support in respect of an academic year of a course mentioned in paragraph (3), the Department must determine the “standard entitlement”.

(8) Subject to paragraph (9), the standard entitlement is calculated as follows—

where

• D is the greater of 3 and the number of academic years that make up the ordinary duration of the course,

• X is 1 where the ordinary duration of the preliminary course was less than three years and 2 where the ordinary duration of the preliminary course was three years,

• PrC is the number of academic years that the student spent on the preliminary course excluding any years of repeat study for compelling personal reasons.

(9) The standard entitlement of an old system student to whom paragraph (3)(a) applies whose course is a course leading to a degree in social work at an educational institution in Northern Ireland is calculated as follows—

where

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

(10) When assessing an application for support in respect of an academic year of a course to which this paragraph applies, the Department 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.

(11) An old system student to whom this paragraph applies qualifies for a grant for fees in respect of a standard academic year of a course to which this paragraph applies if the Department allocates a grant for fees to that year when assessing the application for support for that year.

(12) The amount of the grant for fees in respect of an academic year of a course to which this regulation applies is determined in accordance with regulation 30, 31 or 32 and may be nil.