Education (Student Support) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999

PART IIELIGIBILITY

Eligible students

4.—(1) Subject to and in accordance with these Regulations a person shall be eligible for support in connection with his attendance at a designated course if he is a person mentioned in Schedule 1.

(2) A person shall not be eligible under this regulation if—

(a)an award made to him in respect of his attendance on the course is an old award unless it is an award made to him under regulation 8(4)(e) of the Student Awards Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998, or where no award was made an award would have been an old award if it had been made;

(b)he is eligible for a loan in relation to an academic year of the course under the Education (Student Loans) (Northern Ireland) Order 1990 or the Education (Student Loans) Act 1990;

(c)there has been made to him or paid to him in relation to his attendance on the course—

(i)a bursary or award of similar description under Article 44 of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972(1) or section 63 of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968(2) the amount of which is not calculated by reference to his income; or

(ii)any allowance under the Nursing Midwifery Student Allowances (Scotland) Regulations 1992(3);

(d)he is in breach of any obligation to repay any loan;

(e)he has not ratified any agreement for a loan made with him when he was under the age of 18; or

(f)he has, in the opinion of the Department, shown himself by his conduct to be unfitted to receive support.

(3) For the purposes of paragraph (2)(d) and (e) “loan” means a loan made under the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998, the Education (Student Loans) Act 1990, the Education (Student Loans) (Northern Ireland) Order 1990, the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 and regulations made thereunder, the Education (Student Support) (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 and regulations made thereunder.

(4) Paragraph (2)(e) shall only apply in a case where the agreement for a loan is subject to the law of Scotland if it was made—

(a)before 25th September 1991; and

(b)with the concurrence of the borrower’s curator, or at a time when he had no curator.

Designated courses

5.—(1) A course shall be designated for the purposes of Article 3(1) of the Order and regulation 4(1) if it is—

(a)mentioned in Schedule 2;

(b)either a full-time course or a part-time course for the initial training of teachers;

(c)of at least one academic year’s duration; and

(d)wholly provided by—

(i)an educational institution or institutions in the United Kingdom which are maintained or assisted by recurrent grants out of public funds; or

(ii)such an institution or institutions in conjunction with an institution or institutions outside the United Kingdom.

(2) For the purposes of these Regulations a full-time course is a sandwich course or a course—

(a)which persons undertaking it are normally required by the institution providing it to attend (whether at premises of the institution or elsewhere)—

(i)in the case of a course of one academic year’s duration, for a period of at least 24 weeks; and

(ii)in the case of a course of two or more academic years' duration, for a period of at least 24 weeks in each academic year except the final year and of at least eight weeks in the final year; and

(b)the nature of which is such that a person undertaking it would normally be required to undertake periods of study, tuition or work experience which together amount in each academic year to an average of at least 21 hours a week as respects the periods of attendance mentioned in sub-paragraph (a) for the year.

(3) For the purposes of these Regulations a sandwich course is a course, other than a course for the initial training of teachers referred to in paragraph 4 of Schedule 2, consisting of alternate periods of full-time study in an institution and periods of work experience so organised that, taking the course as a whole, the student attends the periods of full-time study for an average of not less than 19 weeks in each year; and for the purposes of calculating his attendance the course shall be treated as beginning with the first period of full-time study and ending with the last such period.

(4) For the purposes of these Regulations “periods of work experience” means—

(a)periods of industrial, professional or commercial experience associated with full-time study at an institution but at a place outside the institution; and

(b)in the case of a course which includes the study of one or more modern languages for not less than one half of the time spent studying on the course and which includes periods of residence in a country whose language is a language of the course, such periods of residence during which the student is employed.

(5) For the purposes of these Regulations a course is provided by an institution if it provides the teaching and supervision which comprise the course, whether or not it has entered an agreement with the student to provide the course.

(6) For the purposes of paragraph (1) a university and any constituent college or institution in the nature of a college of a university shall be regarded as maintained or assisted by recurrent grants out of public funds if either the university or the constituent college or institution is so maintained or assisted.

(7) For the purposes of paragraph (1) an institution shall not be regarded as maintained or assisted by recurrent grants out of public funds by reason only that it receives public funds from the governing body of a higher education institution in accordance with section 65(3A) of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992(4).

(8) For the purposes of these Regulations a course the standard of which is not higher than a first degree course which leads to a qualification as a medical doctor, a dentist, a veterinary doctor, an architect, a landscape architect, a landscape designer, a landscape manager, a town planner or a town and country planner shall be considered to be a single course for a first degree or for an equivalent qualification notwithstanding that the course may lead to another degree or qualification being conferred before the degree or equivalent qualification, and notwithstanding that part of the course may be optional.

(9) For the purposes of Article 3 of the Order and regulation 4(1) the Department may designate courses of higher education which are not designated under paragraph (1).

Applications for financial support

6.—(1) A person shall apply for support in connection with his attendance on a course by completing and submitting to the Department an application (“a support application”) in such form as it may require, but which shall include a declaration signed by the student that—

(a)the particulars given in the form are correct to the best of his knowledge and belief;

(b)he will notify the Department of any change in them which might affect his eligibility for support; and

(c)he will if required to do so repay to the Department any amount paid to him which, for whatever reason, exceeds the amount of support to which he is entitled under these Regulations.

(2) Subject to paragraph (3), a support application must reach the Department not later than four months after the first day of the course to which it relates.

(3) Where—

(a)the course to which a support application relates becomes a designated course after the first day of the course, the application must reach the Department not later than four months after the date on which the course was designated;

(b)the student making an application under paragraph (1) (“the applicant”), or his spouse or parent, is recognised as a refugee or has been granted leave to enter or remain as mentioned in paragraph 3 of Schedule 1 after the first day of the course, his application must reach the Department not later than four months after the date of recognition or the date leave was granted respectively;

(c)the applicant is not a student mentioned in paragraph 7 of Schedule 1 on the first day of the course but as a result of the accession of the State of which he is a national to the European Community he becomes such a student, his application must reach the Department not later than 4 months after the date of the accession;

(d)the Department considers that having regard to the circumstances of the particular case the time limit should be relaxed, the support application in question must reach the Department not later than such date as it specifies.

(4) An applicant shall demonstrate his eligibility for support by providing such evidence as the Department may require.

(5) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (4) an applicant shall produce—

(a)if he was born in the United Kingdom, a certificate issued by the appropriate authority showing the place and date of his birth; or

(b)if he was born outside the United Kingdom, a valid passport, unless he is a refugee or does not hold one, and in any event a letter or other document issued by a responsible person which contains particulars of his date, place and country of birth and his full name on birth.

(6) The Department may take such steps and make such inquiries as it considers necessary to determine whether an applicant is eligible for support.

(7) If the Department considers that an applicant is eligible for support it shall notify him of that fact, and thenceforth the student shall be an “eligible student” for the purpose of these Regulations.

(8) An eligible student shall demonstrate his eligibility for a particular grant or loan under these Regulations, and the amount of such grant or loan to which he is entitled, by providing such evidence as the Department may require, and the Department may take such steps and make such inquiries as it considers necessary to determine whether the eligible student is eligible for a particular grant or loan and the amount to which he is entitled.

(9) If the Department considers that an eligible student is eligible for a particular grant or loan it shall notify him of than fact and the amount to which the Department considers he is entitled.

Transfers of eligibility

7.—(1) An eligible student may request that the Department transfer his eligibility in any case where—

(a)on the recommendation of the academic authority for the institution he is attending an eligible student starts to attend another course at the institution;

(b)with the written consent of the academic authorities of both institutions concerned, given on educational grounds, an eligible student attending a course at one institution starts to attend a course at another institution;

(c)after commencing a course for the Certificate in Education, an eligible student is, on or before the completion of that course, admitted to a course for the degree of Bachelor of Education;

(d)after commencing a course for the degree (other than an honours degree) of Bachelor of Education an eligible student is, on or before the completion of that course, admitted to a course for the honours degree of Bachelor of Education; or

(e)after commencing a course for a first degree (other than an honours degree) at any institution an eligible student is, before the completion of that course, admitted to a course for an honours degree in the same subject or subjects at the same institution.

(2) Subject to paragraphs (3) and (5) the Department, on being satisfied—

(a)that the eligible student concerned falls within one of the cases prescribed by paragraph (1); and

(b)that the second course mentioned in the case in question is a designated course,

shall transfer the eligible student’s eligibility, and thenceforth the eligible student shall for all purposes be an eligible student in connection with his attendance at the second course, whether or not he may have been eligible for support if he had applied therefor under regulation 6.

(3) The Department may, after consulting the academic authority concerned, refuse to transfer the eligibility under paragraph (2) of any student falling within a case prescribed by paragraph (1)(a) or (b) if it is satisfied that, when the student applied for support, he did not intend to complete the course to which his application related.

(4) For the purposes of the duty of the Department to transfer the eligibility of any student falling within a case prescribed by paragraph (1)(c) or (d) it shall be immaterial whether or not the two courses mentioned in the case in question are provided by the same institution.

(5) An eligible student’s eligibility for support may not be transferred after it was expired or been terminated under regulation 8.

Termination of eligibility

8.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2) an eligible student shall cease to be eligible for support on the expiry of the period ordinarily required for the completion of the course to which the eligibility relates, and accordingly he shall then cease to be an eligible student.

(2) The Department may before or after an eligible student ceases to be an eligible student under paragraph (1) determine that he shall continue to be eligible for support for such further period after the expiry of the period referred to in that paragraph as it specifies, and accordingly, he shall be or be considered to have been an eligible student from the beginning of the period referred to in paragraph (1) to the end of the further period determined under this paragraph.

(3) Where an eligible student has withdrawn from a course in circumstances where the Department has not transferred or will not transfer his eligibility to another course under regulation 7, or has abandoned or been expelled from his course, the Department shall determine that he is no longer eligible for support, and on such determination he shall then cease to be an eligible student.

(4) Where an eligible student has shown himself by his conduct to be unfitted to receive support the Department may determine that he is no longer eligible for support, and on such determination he shall then cease to be an eligible student.

Information

9.—(1) Every applicant and every eligible student shall as soon as reasonably practicable after he is requested to do so provide the Department with such information as the Department considers necessary for the exercise of its functions under these Regulations.

(2) Every applicant and every eligible student shall forthwith inform the Department if any of the following occurs, and provide it with the particulars thereof, that is to say—

(a)he withdraws from, abandons or is expelled from the course to which his eligibility relates or is intended to relate “the relevant course”;

(b)he transfers from the relevant course to another course, at the same or a different institution, whether or not that other course is a designated course;

(c)he ceases to attend the relevant course and does not intend to or is not permitted to return for the remainder of the academic year;

(d)he is absent from the relevant course for more than 60 days due to illness, or is absent from his course for any period for any other reason;

(e)the month for the start or completion of the relevant course changes;

(f)his home or term time address or telephone number changes.

(3) If the Department is satisfied that an eligible student has willfully failed to comply with any requirement under this regulation to provide information or has provided information which the student knows to be false in a material particular or has recklessly provided information which is false in a material particular it may determine that the student shall—

(a)no longer be eligible for any support; or

(b)not be eligible for any particular support or particular amount of support as it considers appropriate in the circumstances.