Designated courses
4.—(1) Subject to paragraphs (5) and (6), a course is a designated course for the purposes of section 22(1) of the 1998 Act and regulation 3 if it is—
(a)a postgraduate master’s degree course which falls within paragraph (2);
(b)one of the following—
(i)wholly provided by an authority-funded institution;
(ii)provided by a publicly funded institution situated in the United Kingdom on behalf of an authority-funded institution; or
(iii)provided by an authority-funded institution in conjunction with an institution which is situated outside the United Kingdom;
(c)substantially provided in the United Kingdom; and
(d)a postgraduate master’s degree course which—
(i)leads to an award granted or to be granted by a body falling within section 214(2)(a) or (b) of the Education Reform Act 1988(1); and
(ii)the teaching and supervision which comprise the course has been approved by that body.
(2) For the purpose of paragraph 1(a), the postgraduate master’s degree course must be one of the following—
(a)a full-time course of one or two academic year’s duration;
(b)a part-time course which it is ordinarily possible to complete in no more than twice the period ordinarily required to complete its one or two academic year full-time equivalent; or
(c)a part-time course that does not have a full-time equivalent and which it is ordinarily possible to complete in up to three academic years.
(3) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(b) and (c)—
(a)a course is provided by an institution if it provides the teaching and supervision which comprise the course, whether or not the institution has entered into an agreement with the student to provide the course;
(b)a course is substantially provided in the United Kingdom where at least half of the teaching and supervision which comprise the course is provided in the United Kingdom;
(c)a university and any constituent college or institution in the nature of a college of a university is to be regarded as authority-funded if either the university or the constituent college or institution is authority-funded;
(d)an institution is not to be regarded as publicly funded or authority-funded by reason only that it receives public funds from the governing body of a higher education institution in accordance with section 65(3A) of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992(2); and
(e)a course is not to be regarded as provided on behalf of an authority-funded educational institution where a part of the course is provided by a private institution.
(4) The designated course may, but need not, be a distance learning course.
(5) A course cannot be a designated course for the purposes of regulation 3 if it is recognised as a designated course for the purposes of regulation 5 of the student support regulations(3).
(6) For the purposes of section 22 of the 1998 Act(4) and regulation 3(1), the Secretary of State may designate courses of higher education which are not designated under paragraph (1).
(7) The Secretary of State may revoke or suspend the designation of a course which is designated under paragraph (6).
1988 c.40; s214(2)(a) was amended by 1992 (c.13).
1992 c.13; section 65(3A) was inserted by the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998 (c.30), section 27.
S.I. 2011/1986; regulation 5 was amended by S.I. 2013/1728, S.I. 2013/3106, S.I.2014/2765.