The Assembly Learning Grants and Loans (Higher Education) (Wales) Regulations 2008

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations provide for financial support for students who are ordinarily resident in Wales taking designated higher education courses in respect of academic years beginning on or after 1 September 2008. They consolidate, with some changes, the Assembly Learning Grants and Loans (Higher Education) (Wales) Regulations 2007, as amended.

The Regulations revoke those 2007 Regulations. Regulation 3 sets out the extent of the revocation. Changes of substance made in these Regulations (other than rates of grants and loans) are highlighted below.

The distinction between old system eligible students and new system eligible students (introduced by the 2006 Regulations) in relation to financial support to students for full-time courses is retained (regulation 2(1)).

Old system eligible students are eligible students attending courses that started before 1 September 2006 and gap-year students starting courses before 1 September 2007, and certain other categories of student. The following grants and loans are available to old system eligible students subject to the specified conditions —

• grant for fees (Part 4);

• fee contribution loan (regulation 20);

• grant for disabled students' living costs (regulation 24);

• grant for dependants (regulations 25 to 30);

• grant for travel (regulations 31 to 33);

• higher education grant (regulation 35); and

• loans for living costs (Part 6).

A new system eligible student is an eligible student who starts their course on or after 1 September 2008 and who is not an old system eligible student. The following grants and loans are available to new system eligible students, subject to the specified conditions —

• new fee grant (regulation 18);

• fee loans (regulations 21 and 22);

• grant for disabled students' living costs (regulation 24);

• grant for dependants (regulations 25 to 30);

• grant for travel (regulations 31 to 33);

• maintenance grant (regulation 36);

• special support grant (regulation 37); and

• loans for living costs (Part 6).

To qualify for financial support a student must be an “eligible student”. Broadly, a person is an eligible student if he or she falls within one of the categories listed in Part 2 of Schedule 1 and the eligibility provisions in Part 2 of the Regulations. The Regulations apply to students ordinarily resident in Wales wherever they study on a designated course. For the purposes of these Regulations a person who is ordinarily resident in Wales, England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man as a result of having moved from one of those areas for the purpose of undertaking his or her course is considered ordinarily resident in the place from which that person moved (Schedule 1, paragraph 1(3)). An eligible student must also satisfy any requirements elsewhere in the Regulations; in particular the specific requirements applicable to each type of financial support.

Support is only available under the Regulations in respect of “designated” courses within the meaning of regulations 5, 64, 80, 93 and Schedule 2.

Part 3 of the Regulations makes provision for applications for support (regulation 9), time limits for applications (regulation 10) and regulation 11 and Schedule 3 specify the information that must be provided by applicants.

Part 4 of these Regulations provides for fee support, in the form of grants for fees and fee loans. Changes have been made to allow students on flexible post-graduate courses for the initial training of teachers starting on or after 1 September 2008 to qualify for fee support where the course is at least six weeks in length. This means that for the first time a designated course (one which meets the criteria in Regulation 5) may be of less than one academic year’s duration, providing that it is a flexible post-graduate course for the initial training of teachers.

Part 5 makes provision for grants for living costs which includes grants for travel for certain categories of eligible students. Regulations 31 and 32 have been amended to clarify the types of expenses in respect of which the travel grant for students studying overseas is payable, and the way in which the amount of that grant is calculated.

Part 6 makes provision for loans for living costs.

Part 7 sets out general provisions relating to loans made under the Regulations.

Part 8 and Schedule 4 make provision for “college fee loans”. These are loans in respect of the college fees payable by a qualifying student to a college or permanent private hall of the University of Oxford or to a college of the University of Cambridge in connection with attendance of a qualifying student on a qualifying course.

Part 9 and Schedule 5 continue to make provision for the means-testing of students taking designated full-time courses. A contribution from the student is calculated on the basis of household income. The contribution is to be applied to specified grants and loans until it is extinguished against the amount of the particular grants and loans for which the student qualifies.

Part 10 makes provision for payment of grants and loans.

Part 11 makes provision for support to students who are undertaking designated distance learning courses.

Part 12 makes provision for support for part-time courses.

Part 13 makes provision for postgraduate students with disabilities.