Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Act 2022

32 Mandatory ongoing registration condition on fee limits

(1) The Commission must ensure that the ongoing registration conditions of each registered provider—

(a) falling within a fee limit category, and

(b) providing qualifying courses, or having qualifying courses provided on its behalf,

include a fee limit condition.

(2) A fee limit category is a category of registration—

(a) for which the Commission must make provision in the register, and

(b) which is specified for the purpose of this section in regulations made by the Welsh Ministers.

(3) A fee limit condition is a condition that requires the governing body of a registered provider to—

(a) have a fee limit statement approved under section 47, and

(b) secure that regulated course fees do not exceed the applicable fee limit.

(4) A qualifying course is a course of a description specified in regulations made by the Welsh Ministers to which subsection (5)‍ applies.

(5) This subsection applies to a course provided—

(a) at one or more places in Wales or elsewhere,

(b) by means of correspondence, equipment or other facility that enables persons who are not in the same place (whether in Wales or elsewhere) to participate in teaching or studying the course, or

(c) by a combination of the ways described in paragraphs (a) and (b).

(6) The power to specify a description of course under subsection (4) must not be exercised so as to discriminate—

(a) in relation to courses of initial teacher training, between different courses on the basis of the subjects in which such training is given;

(b) in relation to other courses, between different courses at the same or a comparable level on the basis of the areas of study or research to which they relate.

(7) Regulated course fees are fees payable to the tertiary education provider by a qualifying person—

(a) in connection with the person undertaking a qualifying course, and

(b) in respect of an academic year applicable to that course, where the year begins on a day when the applicable provisions in the fee limit statement have effect.

(8) The applicable fee limit is—

(a) in a case where the tertiary education provider’s fee limit statement specifies a fee limit for the course and year in question, that limit;

(b) in a case where the provider’s fee limit statement provides for the determination of a fee limit for the course and year in question, that limit as determined in accordance with the statement.

(9) A qualifying person is a person who—

(a) is not an international student, and

(b) falls within any class of persons specified in regulations made by the Welsh Ministers for the purposes of this Part.

(10) An international student is a person who may or must be charged higher fees by virtue of regulations made under section 1 of the Education (Fees and Awards) Act 1983 (c. 40) (charging of higher fees in case of students not having prescribed connection with the United Kingdom).

(11) The Welsh Ministers may, by regulations, make provision for circumstances in which fees payable to a person, in connection with a qualifying person’s undertaking a course, or part of a course, provided on behalf of a tertiary education provider, are to be treated for the purposes of subsection (7) and section 46 as being payable to that provider in connection with the qualifying person’s undertaking the course.