The Education (Student Support) (No.2) Regulations 2008

CHAPTER 3 FEE LOANS FOR CURRENT SYSTEM STUDENTS

Availability of fee loans to current system students - general

20.—(1) A current system student does not qualify for a fee loan in respect of a designated course if—

(a) the designated course leads to an equivalent or lower qualification, the exemption in regulation 14(1), (2) or (3) does not apply and the student begins the course on or after 1st September 2009,

(b) the student has an honours degree from an institution in the United Kingdom, the exemption in regulation 14(1), (2) or (3) does not apply and the student began the course before 1st September 2009; or

(c) the designated course is an old flexible postgraduate course for the initial training of teachers.

(2) A current system student does not qualify for a fee loan in respect of an academic year of a designated course that is a bursary year or an Erasmus year.

(3) When assessing an application for support in respect of an academic year of a designated course, the Secretary of State must determine the “standard entitlement”.

(4) The standard entitlement is calculated in accordance with regulation 21, 22 or 23.

(5) When assessing an application for support in respect of an academic year of a designated course, the Secretary of State must allocate a fee loan from the standard entitlement first to the final standard academic year of the course and then to each preceding standard academic year in turn until the standard entitlement is exhausted or a fee loan has been allocated to each standard academic year of the course.

(6) A current system student qualifies for a fee loan in respect of a standard academic year of the designated course if the Secretary of State allocates a fee loan to that year when assessing the application for support for that year.

(7) In addition to the standard entitlement, a current system student who falls within regulation 22 qualifies for a fee loan in respect of the first academic year that the student takes of the designated course that is not a bursary year or an Erasmus year if the student failed to complete the most recent previous course because of compelling personal reasons.

(8) Where a current system student qualifies for a fee loan under paragraph (7), the Secretary of State must not allocate a fee loan under paragraph (5) to the first academic year that the student takes of the designated course that is not a bursary year or an Erasmus year.

(9) In addition to the standard entitlement, if the Secretary of State determines that the student is repeating an academic year of the designated course because of compelling personal reasons, a current system student qualifies for a fee loan in respect of the year of repeat study provided that the academic year that the student is repeating was a qualifying year of study and the year of repeat study is not a bursary year.

(10) A current system student qualifies for a fee loan in respect of an academic year of a designated course that is a year of repeat study which the student is taking other than for compelling personal reasons if—

(a) the academic year which the student is repeating was a qualifying year of study;

(b) the academic year of repeat study is not a bursary year; and

(c) when the academic year of repeat study is added to the number of any other academic years of repeat study that the student has already taken on the current course other than for compelling personal reasons, it does not exceed the number of additional years of support.

(11) In this regulation, the “number of additional years of support” is the number of years which make up the standard entitlement less the number of standard academic years (plus one where the student qualifies for a fee loan under paragraph (7)).

(12) The amount of the fee loan in respect of an academic year is determined in accordance with regulation 24 and may be nil.

Standard entitlement of current system students who have not studied on a previous course

21.  The standard entitlement of a current system student who has not studied on a previous course is calculated as follows—

where

• OD is the number of academic years that make up the ordinary duration of the course.

Standard entitlement of current system students who have transferred from or otherwise studied on a previous course

22.—(1) The standard entitlement of a current system student who has studied on a previous course and who does not fall within regulation 23 is calculated as follows—

where

• OD is the number of academic years that make up the ordinary duration of the course

• PC is the number of academic years that the student has spent on previous courses.

(2) For the purposes of this regulation, a “current system student who has studied on a previous course” includes a current system student whose status as an eligible student has been transferred to the current course as a result of one or more transfers of that status by the Secretary of State pursuant to regulations made by the Secretary of State under section 22 of the 1998 Act from a designated course which—

(a) is a previous course; and

(b) the student began on or after 1st September 2006.

Standard entitlement of current system students on end-on courses and certain degree courses

23.—(1) Where the current course began before 1st September 2009, this regulation applies to—

(a) a current system student who is on an end-on course of the kind described in paragraph (a) or (b) of the definition of “end-on course” in regulation 2;

(b) a current system student who—

(i) has completed a full-time course mentioned in paragraph 2 or 3 of Schedule 2;

(ii) is on a full-time first degree course (other than a first degree course for the initial training of teachers) that the student did not begin immediately after the course referred to in paragraph (i); and

(iii) has not taken a full-time first degree course after the course referred to in paragraph (i) and before the current course;

(c) a current system student who—

(i) has completed a full-time foundation degree course;

(ii) is on a full-time honours degree course that the student did not begin immediately after the course referred to in paragraph (i); and

(iii) has not taken a full-time first degree course after the course referred to in paragraph (i) and before the current course.

(2) Where the current course begins on or after 1st September 2009, this regulation applies to–

(a) a current system student who is on an end-on course of the kind described in paragraph (d) of the definition of “end-on course” in regulation 2;

(b) a current system student who—

(i) has completed a full-time, part-time, full-time distance learning or compressed degree course and achieved a lower level qualification;

(ii) is on a full-time first degree course (other than a first degree course for the initial training of teachers) that the student did not begin immediately after the course referred to in paragraph (i); and

(iii) has not taken a full-time first degree course after the course referred to in paragraph (i) and before the current course.

(3) Regulations 21 and 22 do not apply to students to whom this regulation applies.

(4) The standard entitlement of a student to whom paragraph (1) applies is calculated as follows—

where

• D is the greater of 3 and the number of academic years that make up the ordinary duration of the course

• X is 1 where the ordinary duration of the preliminary course was less than three years and 2 where the ordinary duration of the preliminary course was three years

• PrC is the number of academic years that the student spent on the preliminary course excluding any years of repeat study for compelling personal reasons.

(5) The standard entitlement of a student to whom paragraph (2) applies is calculated as follows–-

where

• D is the greater of 3 and the number of academic years that make up the ordinary duration of the course

• X is –

  1

  where the ordinary duration of the preliminary course was less than three years,

  2

  where the ordinary duration of the preliminary course was three years,

  3

  where the ordinary duration of the preliminary course was four years,

  4

  where the ordinary duration of the preliminary course was five years, and

  5

  where the ordinary duration of the preliminary course was six years

• PrC is the number of academic years that the student spent on the preliminary course excluding any years of repeat study for compelling personal reasons.

Amount of the fee loan

24.—(1) Unless one of the cases set out in paragraph (3) applies, the amount of a fee loan in respect of an academic year of a designated course must not exceed the lesser of—

(a) £3,225; and

(b) the fees payable by the student in connection with that year.

(2) In the cases set out in paragraph (3), the amount of a fee loan in respect of an academic year of a designated course must not exceed the lesser of—

(a) £1,610; and

(b) the fees payable by the student in connection with that year.

(3) The cases are—

(a) the final academic year of a designated course where that academic year is normally required to be completed after less than 15 weeks’ attendance;

(b) in respect of a sandwich course, an academic year—

(i) during which any periods of full-time study are in aggregate less than 10 weeks; or

(ii) if in respect of that academic year and any previous academic years of the course the aggregate of any one or more periods of attendance which are not periods of full-time study at the institution (disregarding intervening vacations) exceeds 30 weeks;

(c) in respect of a course for the initial training of teachers, an academic year during which any periods of full-time study are in aggregate less than 10 weeks;

(d) in respect of a course provided in conjunction with an overseas institution, an academic year—

(i) during which any periods of full-time study at the institution in the United Kingdom are in aggregate less than 10 weeks; or

(ii) if in respect of that academic year and any previous academic years of the course the aggregate of any one or more periods of attendance which are not periods of full-time study at the institution in the United Kingdom (disregarding intervening vacations) exceeds 30 weeks.

(4) If a student’s status as an eligible student is transferred from one designated course to another under these Regulations and the circumstances in paragraph (5) apply, the student may apply to the Secretary of State to borrow an additional amount by way of a fee loan in respect of the academic year of the course to which that student transfers.

(5) The circumstances are—

(a) the fees payable in respect of the academic year of the course to which the current system student transfers exceed the fees payable in respect of the academic year of the course from which the student is transferring; and

(b) the academic year of the course to which the current system student transfers does not begin on a later date than the academic year of the course from which the student is transferring.

(6) If a student’s status as an eligible student is transferred from one designated course to another under these Regulations and the circumstances in paragraph (7) apply, the student may apply to the Secretary of State for another fee loan in respect of the academic year of the course to which the student transfers.

(7) The circumstances are that the academic year of the course to which the current system student transfers begins on a later date than the academic year of the course from which that student is transferring.

(8) Where the circumstances in paragraph (5) apply, the maximum additional amount that the current system student may borrow in respect of the academic year to which that student transfers, provided that the student qualifies for a fee loan in respect of that year, is determined by deducting the amount of any fee loan the student has taken out under these Regulations in respect of the academic year from which the student is transferring from the lesser of—

(a) £3,225 or, where one of the cases set out in paragraph (3) applies, £1,610; and

(b) the fees payable by the student in respect of the academic year to which the student is transferring.

(9) Where the circumstances in paragraph (7) apply, the maximum amount of fee loan that a current system student may borrow in respect of the academic year to which that student transfers provided that the student qualifies for a fee loan in respect of that year is the lesser of—

(a) £3,225 or, where one of the cases set out in paragraph (3) applies, £1,610; and

(b) the fees payable by the student in connection with that year.

(10) Where a current system student has applied for a fee loan of less than the maximum amount available in relation to an academic year, that student may apply to borrow an additional amount which when added to the amount already applied for does not exceed the relevant maximum applicable in that student’s case.