The Council Tax (Discount Disregards) Order 1992

4.—(1) A full-time course of education is, subject to subparagraphs (2) and (3), one—

(a) which subsists for at least one academic year of the educational establishment concerned or, in the case of an educational establishment which does not have academic years, for at least one calendar year;

(b) which persons undertaking it are normally required by the educational establishment concerned to attend (whether at premises of the establishment or otherwise) for periods of at least 24 weeks in each academic or calendar year (as the case may be) during which it subsists, and

(c) the nature of which is such that a person undertaking it would normally require to undertake periods of study, tuition or work experience which together amount in each such academic or calendar year to an average of at least 21 hours a week during the periods of attendance mentioned in paragraph (b) above in the year.

(2) In determining whether a course falls within the definition in sub-paragraph (1)—

(a) in applying paragraph (c) of that definition, a person is to be treated as undertaking work experience at any time if, as part of the curriculum of the course—

(i) he is at a place of employment of his and is providing services under his contract of employment, or

(ii) he is at a place where a trade, business, profession or other occupation which is relevant to the subject matter of the course is carried on, and he is there for the purposes of gaining experience of that trade, business, profession or other occupation,

and references in sub-paragraph (3) below to periods of work experience shall be construed accordingly;

(b) in applying paragraphs (b) and (c) of that definition, the first calendar year shall be treated as beginning with the day on which the course begins, and subsequent calendar years (if any) as beginning on the anniversary of that day;

(c) in applying those paragraphs to a course which begins part-way through an academic year of the educational establishment concerned, the academic year shall be treated as beginning at the beginning of the term in which the course begins, and subsequent academic years (if any) as beginning at the beginning of the equivalent terms in those years; and

(d) in applying those paragraphs to a course which subsists (or is treated as subsisting) for other than a number of complete academic or calendar years (as the case may be), any last part of the course shall be disregarded.

(3) A course is not to be treated as a full time course of education if the aggregate for the course as a whole of all the periods of work experience normally required to be undertaken as part of it exceeds the aggregate of all the periods of study or tuition not constituting work experience normally so required (taking account for this purpose of any period of study, tuition or work experience in a part year which, might otherwise fall to be disregarded under sub-paragraph (2)(d)).