The Education (Student Support) (No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009

Assistance for part-time courses

126.—(1) For the purposes of this regulation, the assistance available is—

(a) a grant in respect of fees not exceeding the lesser of the following amounts—

(i) the basic grant, and

(ii) the “actual fees”, being the amount of fees charged to the student in respect of an academic year of the designated part-time course; and

(b) a grant not exceeding £265 for books, travel and other expenditure in connection with the designated part-time course.

(2) An eligible part-time student does not qualify for assistance under paragraph (1)(b) if the only paragraph in Part 2 of Schedule 2 into which the student falls is paragraph 9.

(3) An eligible part-time student qualifies for assistance—

(a) under paragraph (1)(a) if the Department considers that the student is undertaking the designated part-time course in Northern Ireland; and

(b) under paragraph (1)(b) if the Department considers that the student is undertaking the designated part-time course in the United Kingdom.

(4) An eligible part-time student does not qualify for support under this regulation if the student has undertaken one or more part-time courses for eight academic years in aggregate and the student has received in respect of each of those academic years a loan or a grant of the kind described in paragraph (5).

(5) The loans and grants are—

(a) a loan, a grant in respect of fees or a grant for books, travel and other expenditure each made in respect of an academic year of a part-time course pursuant to regulations made under Article 3 of the Order;

(b) a loan, a grant in respect of fees or a grant for books, travel and other expenditure each made in respect of an academic year of a part-time course pursuant to regulations made under section 22 of the 1998 Act; or

(c) a loan in respect of an academic year of a part-time course made pursuant to regulations made under sections 73(f), 73B and 74(1) of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980.

(6) Subject to paragraphs (7) and (8), an eligible part-time student does not qualify for support under this regulation if —

(a) the current part time course leads to an equivalent or lower qualification, where the student begins the course on or after 1st September 2009; or

(b) the student has an honours degree from an educational institution in the United Kingdom or from a relevant institution of higher education in the Republic of Ireland for which he received financial support under previous regulations, where the student began the current part-time course before 1st September 2009.

(7) Where paragraph (8) applies, an eligible part-time student is not prevented from qualifying for support under this regulation because the current part-time course leads to an equivalent or lower qualification, where the student begins the course on or after 1st September 2009.

(8) This paragraph applies where the student’s status as an eligible part-time student has been transferred to the current part-time course in accordance with regulation 134 from a course which began before 1st September 2009.