Designated courses
4.—(1) Subject to paragraphs (4) and (5), a course is a designated course for the purposes of section 22(1) of the 1998 Act and regulation 3 if —
(a)the duration of the ordinary period of registration for the course is—
(i)not less than three academic years; and
(ii)not more than eight academic years;
(b)it is one of the following—
(i)wholly provided by a publicly funded institution;
(ii)provided by a publicly funded institution situated in the United Kingdom on behalf of a publicly funded institution; or
(iii)provided by a publicly funded institution in conjunction with an institution which is situated outside the United Kingdom;
(c)it is substantially provided in the United Kingdom; and
(d)it is a course which—
(i)leads to a doctoral degree 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 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 publicly funded if either the university or the constituent college or institution is publicly funded;
(d)an institution is not to be regarded as publicly funded by reason only that it receives public funds from the governing body of—
(i)a higher education institution in accordance with section 65(3A) of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992(2);
(ii)an eligible higher education provider as a qualifying connected institution in accordance with section 39 of the Higher Education and Research Act 2017(3); and
(e)a course is not to be regarded as provided on behalf of a publicly funded educational institution where a part of the course is provided by a private institution.
(3) The designated course may, but need not, be a distance learning course.
(4) A course is not a designated course for the purposes of regulation 3 if it is recognised as a designated course for the purposes of—
(a)regulations 5 or 83 of the 2017 Student Support Regulations;
(b)regulation 4 of the 2017 Master’s Degree Loans Regulations;
(c)regulation 5 of the 2018 Student Support Regulations.
(5) For the purposes of section 22 of the 1998 Act(4) and regulation 3, the Welsh Ministers may designate courses of higher education which are not designated under paragraph (1).
(6) The Welsh Ministers may revoke or suspend the designation of a course which is designated under paragraph (5).
1988 c. 40; section 214(2) was amended by the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 (c. 13), section 93 and Schedule 8 and the Higher Education and Research Act 2017 (c. 29), section 53.
1992 c. 13; section 65(3A) was inserted by the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998 (c. 30), section 27 and amended by the Higher Education and Research Act 2017 (c. 29), section 122(1) and Schedule 11, paragraph 15(1) and (6). Despite that amendment, S.I. 2018/245 provides that, for the period which begins 1 April 2018 and ends 31 July 2019, section 65(1) to (4) of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 continues to apply as if paragraph 15 of the Higher Education and Research Act 2017 had not been commenced but as if the reference to “matters within the responsibility of the Higher Education Funding Council for England” in section 62(6)(a) of that 1992 Act were a reference to “matters within the responsibility of the Office for Students and, where applicable, United Kingdom Research and Innovation”. The Office for Students is body corporate established by section 1 of the Higher Education and Research Act 2017.
2017 c. 29. This provision is not yet in force.