The Education (Student Fees and Support) (Amendment) (No.2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2021

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend legislation which makes provision about, or in connection with, student finance. Two sets of Student Support Regulations are amended. Those Regulations are the Education (Student Support) (No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009 “the 2009 Regulations” and the Student Fees (Qualifying Courses and Persons) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007 “the 2007 QCP Regulations”.

Regulations 2 to 13 amend the Student Support Regulations. The principal amendments are made in consequence of the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union, and take effect in relation to an academic year beginning on or after 1st August 2021.

Regulation 4 amends the provisions relating to eligibility for student support to provide that eligibility categories applicable before 1st August 2021 to nationals of the European Union (including for these purposes nationals of the United Kingdom), EEA EFTA States and Switzerland and their family members and children of Turkish workers are restricted to persons undertaking a course beginning before 1st August 2021. The amendments also make provision for new eligibility categories which apply in relation to applications for support by persons undertaking courses in relation to an academic year beginning on or after 1st August 2021.

Regulations 5 to 12 make related amendments to provisions enabling a student to become eligible part way through an academic year and to provisions relating to eligibility for other types of support under the Student Support Regulations.

Regulation 13 amends Schedule 2, principally to insert new eligibility paragraphs and related definitions. The new paragraphs apply in relation to—

• UK nationals and Irish citizens who have been ordinarily resident in the territory comprising the United Kingdom, Gibraltar, the EEA or Switzerland.

• persons falling within the personal scope of the citizens’ rights provisions of the EU withdrawal agreement, the EEA EFTA separation agreement and the Swiss citizens’ rights agreement (“the Agreements”) who have leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom granted under residence scheme immigration rules (as defined in section 17 of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020), and those with equivalent rights;

• frontier workers within the meaning of regulation 3 of the Citizens’ Rights (Frontier Workers) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1213) who have a right of admission to the United Kingdom under regulation 6 of those Regulations;

• Irish citizen migrant and frontier workers and their family members;

• persons settled in the United Kingdom who exercised a right of residence in the European Economic Area or Switzerland before IP completion day;

• nationals of the United Kingdom and their family members who before IP completion day have been ordinarily resident in the European Economic Area or Switzerland and who come to the United Kingdom to study;

• family members of nationals of the United Kingdom who are resident in the United Kingdom and Islands;

• persons resident in Gibraltar before IP completion day; and

• children of Turkish workers resident in the United Kingdom before IP completion day.

Regulations 14 to 16 make similar amendments to the 2007 QCP Regulations.