Part 1The Office for Students

Mandatory registration conditions

10Mandatory fee limit condition for certain providers

(1)

The OfS must ensure that the ongoing registration conditions of each registered higher education provider of a prescribed description include a fee limit condition.

(2)

In this Part, “a fee limit condition” means a condition that requires the governing body of the provider to secure that regulated course fees do not exceed the fee limit.

(3)

“Regulated course fees” are fees payable to the provider by a qualifying person—

(a)

in connection with his or her undertaking a qualifying course, and

(b)

F1in respect of an academic year applicable to that course which begins at the same time as, or while, the provider is registered in the register.

F1in respect of so much of the course as is undertaken during a regulated course year of that course.

F2(3A)

The reference in subsection (3) to fees payable to the provider includes fees payable to any other institution or person who, under arrangements with the provider, participates in the provision of the qualifying course.

(4)

A “qualifying person” means a person who—

(a)

is not an international student, and

(b)

is within a prescribed description of persons.

(5)

An “international student” means a person who is not within any description of persons prescribed under section 1 of the Education (Fees and Awards) Act 1983 (charging of higher fees in case of students without prescribed connection with the UK) for the purposes of subsection (1) or (2) of that section.

(6)

A “qualifying course” means a higher education course of a prescribed description.

F3(6A)

A module that falls within a description prescribed under subsection (6) is not to be treated as a qualifying course in relation to a course year of the module if—

(a)

the fee limit applicable to the course year would be determined by the credit-based method (see paragraph 1 of Schedule 2), but

(b)

credits are not to be regarded as attached to the course year for the purposes of paragraphs 1D and 1E of Schedule 2.

(7)

The power to prescribe descriptions of higher education course under subsection (6) may not be exercised in such a way 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, and

(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.

F4(7A)

Subsection (7) does not prevent regulations under subsection (6) from treating courses differently according to whether, or how, regulations under section 22 of the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998 apply in relation to them.

F5(7B)

A “course year”, in relation to a qualifying course, means—

(a)

the period of 12 months beginning with the first day of the month in which the course begins, and

(b)

each subsequent period of 12 months (if any) in which part of the course is undertaken;

and a course year is a “regulated course year” if it begins at the same time as, or while, the provider of the course is registered in the register.

(7C)

Regulated course fees “exceed the fee limit” if they exceed the fee limit applicable to the regulated course year in question (see subsection (3)(b)).

(8)

The OfS has no power, apart from this section, to limit the fees payable to an English higher education provider.

(9)

In this section—

“higher education course” does not include any postgraduate course other than a course of initial teacher training;

“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Secretary of State for the purposes of this section.

(10)

Schedule 2 contains provision about determining “the fee limit”; see section 85(2) for the meaning of “fees”.