The Agriculture (Student Fees) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

Section 5 of the Agriculture Act (Northern Ireland) 1949 (“the Act”) enables the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (“the Department”) to provide instruction in agricultural and related matters. Section 5A, empowers the Department to set fees for education and instruction.

These Regulations amend the Agriculture (Student Fees) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2023 “the 2023 Regulations”.

Regulation 1 refers to the citation and commencement of these regulations while regulation 2 revokes the Agriculture (Student Fees) (Amendment) Regulations Northern Ireland (2024).

Part 2 (Amendment to Student Fee Amounts) lists the revised full-time fee payable by a student to the Department in accordance with the fee code that is applied to the student. In each case a 2.3% inflationary uplift has been applied.

Part 3 (Amendments to Qualifying Persons) amends the 2023 Regulations in order to:

• amend the definition of “overseas territories” to reflect the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles;

• amend the definition of “person granted indefinite leave to remain as a victim of domestic violence or abuse” to align with changes made by the Home Office to the immigration rules, to include persons granted indefinite leave to enter as a result of being a victim of transnational marriage abandonment;

• amend the definition of “persons granted indefinite leave to remain as a bereaved partner” to align with changes made by the Home Office that replace existing provisions for Bereaved Partners and their dependent children Part 8, Appendix FM and Appendix Armed Forces of the immigration rules.

• make provision so that children granted indefinite leave to enter or remain on the basis that their parent has been granted indefinite leave to enter or remain as a victim of domestic violence or domestic abuse or indefinite leave to remain as a bereaved partner are included under the appropriate student category and student fee applied;

• make provision so that certain family members of persons who are granted leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom under an Afghan or Ukraine related immigration scheme are included under the appropriate student category and student fee applied;

• amend the reference to the relevant paragraph in Appendix Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy of the immigration rules to describe the way indefinite leave to enter or remain is given under that paragraph.