The Education (Student Support) Regulations 1998

Certificate of eligibility

5.—(1) A student shall demonstrate his eligibility by completing an eligibility questionnaire and by providing such supporting evidence of eligibility as the Secretary of State may require.

(2) Without restricting the generality of paragraph (1) a student shall produce—

(a) if he was born in the United Kingdom, a certificate issued by the appropriate authority showing the date of his birth;

(b) if he was born outside the United Kingdom, a valid passport, unless he is a refugee or does not hold one, and in any event a letter or other document issued by a responsible person which contains particulars of his date, place and country of birth and his full name at birth;

(c) a United Kingdom national insurance card, or some other document issued or sent to the student by a government department or agency or by an employer which refers to his national insurance number, unless he does not have such a number;

(d) evidence of the student’s bank or building society sort code and account number; and

(e) evidence from his institution that he has commenced attending a designated course and of the duration of that course.

(3) The Secretary of State may take such steps and make such inquiries as he considers necessary to determine whether the student is an eligible student.

(4) If the Secretary of State considers that a student is an eligible student he shall issue to the student an eligibility form for the student to complete.

(5) An eligibility form shall include the following particulars:

(a) the full name of the student, and his or her sex;

(b) his United Kingdom national insurance number, unless he does not have one;

(c) his most recent student loan account number, if any;

(d) if the student’s full name at birth was different from the above name, his full name at birth;

(e) the country in which the student was born;

(f) if the student was born in the United Kingdom, the district or subdistrict where his birth certificate was issued;

(g) the student’s date of birth;

(h) the student’s home and term-time address and telephone number, and an indication to which address correspondence should be sent;

(i) whether the student was on the first day of the course ordinarily resident for the purposes of these Regulations in England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland;

(j) the student’s bank or building society sort code and account number;

(k) the student’s age on the first day of the course;

(l) the date on which the student has started and on which he expects to complete his course;

(m) whether the course is—

(i) for a Postgraduate Certificate of Education or Art Teacher’s Certificate;

(ii) an accelerated course; or

(iii) another designated course;

(n) the name of the institution which provides the designated course, and if any part of the course is provided by an institution other than that institution an indication to that effect; and

(o) the number of academic years of the course, and whether the student is in the first, second, third or other of those years on the date the certificate is signed.

(6) The student shall sign a declaration on the eligibility form that—

(a) the particulars given in the eligibility form are correct to the best of his knowledge and belief; and

(b) he will notify the Secretary of State of any change in them.

(7) If the Secretary of State is satisfied that the particulars in the eligibility form are correct and that the student is an eligible student he shall certify those matters to the best of his knowledge and belief and also certify the amount of loan for maintenance to which he considers the student is entitled (a “certificate of eligibility”).

(8) The Secretary of State shall issue to each student whose eligibility he has certified an application form which identifies the particular certificate of eligibility.