Education (Student Support) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999

PART IIIGRANTS FOR FEES

Eligibility for Grants for Fees

10.—(1) Subject to the following paragraphs and regulation 11 an eligible student shall in respect of each academic year be eligible for a grant for fees equal to the aggregate of any fees payable by him in respect of, or otherwise in connection with, his attendance on the course (“the present course”), including admission, registration, tuition and graduation fees, but excluding—

(a)fees payable to an institution for awarding or accrediting any qualification where the institution does not provide the whole or part of the course and is not a publicly-funded institution;

(b)fees payable for board and lodging;

(c)fees payable for field trips (including any tuition element of such fees); and

(d)fees payable for attending any graduation or other ceremony.

(2) Subject to paragraph (3) an eligible student shall not be eligible for a grant under this regulation if he has previously attended any full-time higher education course (“the previous course”) provided by—

(a)an institution in the United Kingdom which was at or before the time the course was provided maintained or assisted by recurrent grants out of public funds; or

(b)an institution in the United Kingdom or a university or relevant institution of higher education or a private institution in the Republic of Ireland in respect of his attendance at which a scholarship, exhibition, bursary, grant, allowance or award of any description which was available to defray fees mentioned in paragraph (1) was paid out of public funds or funds attributable to public funds, by any person or body, public or private.

(3) For the purposes of this regulation a course is not a previous course if it is—

(a)the present course; or

(b)any course in connection with the eligible student’s attendance at which he was determined to be eligible for support and that eligibility was transferred as a result of one or more transfers under regulation 7 to the present course.

(4) Paragraph (2) shall not apply where—

(a)the present course is a course for the initial training of teachers referred to in paragraph 4 of Schedule 2 the duration of which does not exceed two years (a part-time course being treated as its full-time equivalent) and the eligible student has not previously attended a course referred to in paragraph (2) the successful completion of which results in the person completing it being a qualified teacher within the meaning of section 218(2)(a) of the Education Reform Act 1988(1) or eligible to be employed as a teacher under Article 70(1) of the 1986 Order(2);

(b)the eligible student has previously attended—

(i)only one course referred to in paragraph (2); and

(ii)the period of attendance for that course did not exceed one academic year; or

(c)the aggregate duration of the previous course or courses did not exceed two academic years.

(5) Where paragraph (4)(c) applies the Department may determine that the eligible student concerned shall not be eligible for grant for fees in respect of any academic year of the present course other than—

(a)a year which is the only year of the course;

(b)the final year of a course of two or three year’s duration; or

(c)the number of final years of a course which is two years less than its duration.

(6) In this regulation any reference to the duration of a course is a reference to the period ordinarily required for its completion by a student who is not excused part of the course on account of his having attended a previous course (in the case of a sandwich course ignoring periods of experience) but for the purposes of paragraph 4(c) if a student with the consent of the academic authority or authorities concerned—

(a)ceases to attend one course without completing it; and

(b)starts to attend another course at the same or another institution,

the duration of the course shall be treated as the aggregate of the period spent following the first course and the period which the student in question would ordinarily require for the completion of the second course, in the case of either course being a sandwich course ignoring any periods of experience.

(7) An eligible student shall not be eligible for a grant for fees in respect of an academic year if—

(a)in relation to that year he is eligible to receive any payment under a bursary or award of similar description made to him under Article 44 of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972 or under Section 63 of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968 the amount of which is calculated by reference to his income; or

(b)eligible to receive a maintenance award under the Students' Allowances (Scotland) Regulations 1996(3) in relation to his attendance on a course leading to a qualification that is appropriate for entry into one of the health care professions other than as a medical doctor or dentist; or

(c)he is participating in the action scheme of the European Community for the mobility of university students known as ERASMUS(4) and—

(i)his course is a course referred to in regulation 5(1)(d); and

(ii)all the periods of study during the academic year are at an institution outside the United Kingdom.

(8) Where an eligible student repeats—

(a)the first year or part of the first year of his course more than once; or

(b)any part of his course other than the first year or part of the first year of his course,

the Department may determine that he shall not be eligible for grant for fees in respect of the academic year during which the student repeats.

(9) Where the eligibility of an eligible student is transferred under regulation 7(1)(a) or (b) and—

(a)the necessary recommendation or consent to the transfer is given after the first day on which students were ordinarily required to start attending the second academic year of the course which the student originally attended (“the first course”);

(b)the Department is satisfied after consulting the academic authority or authorities concerned that the recommendation or consent was given after the expiry of the period mentioned not only because the student was required to apply through a clearing admission system; and

(c)the Department is satisfied after consulting the academic authority or authorities concerned that the period from the beginning of the first academic year of the first course to the end of the final academic year of the course which he now attends (“the second course”) exceeds the duration of the first course or the second course, whichever is the longer,

the student shall not be eligible for grant for fees in respect of the number of academic years which is the difference between the above-mentioned period and the above-mentioned duration.

(10) For the purposes of paragraph (9)—

(a)the final academic year of the second course shall be the academic year during which the student is expected to complete the course;

(b)in determining the period referred to in that paragraph there shall be included vacations, but not periods of experience which form part of a sandwich course;

(c)the duration of a course shall be the period ordinarily required for its completion by a student who is not excused part of the course on account of his having attended a previous course, in the case of a sandwich course ignoring periods of experience; and

(d)a difference which is less than a whole academic year shall be treated as a whole academic year.

(11) The academic years in respect of which the eligible student shall not be eligible for grant for fees in accordance with paragraph (9) shall be the first academic year or years of the second course which the student attends.

(12) An eligible student shall be eligible for a grant for fees in respect of—

(a)any academic year before the expiry of three months from the beginning of which—

(i)his course becomes a designated course;

(ii)he or his spouse or parent is recognised as a refugee or is granted leave to enter or remain as mentioned in paragraph 3 of Schedule 1; or

(iii)he becomes a student mentioned in paragraph 7 of Schedule 1 as a result of the accession of the State of which he is a national to the European Community; and

(b)any academic year which begins after the events referred to in paragraph (a),

but shall not be eligible for a grant for fees in respect of any other academic year.

Maximum amounts of grants

11.  The amount of grant for fees for which a student is eligible under this Part in respect of an academic year shall not exceed—

(a)in the case of a course undertaken at the Pontifical College, Maynooth, or at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland for which the student is in receipt of a transitional award, or in the case of a course not covered by any other paragraph, £1,025, but where the final year of the course if ordinarily required to be completed after less than 15 weeks' attendance, £510;

(b)in the case of a course at an institution which is neither maintained not assisted by recurrent grants out of public funds, £960;

(c)where during the academic year of a sandwich course any periods of full-time study are in aggregate less than 10 weeks, £510;

(d)where during the academic year of a course for the initial training of teachers referred to in paragraph 4 of Schedule 2 any periods of full-time study are in aggregate less than 10 weeks, £510;

(e)where during the academic year of a course provided in conjunction with an overseas institution the periods of full-time study at the institution in the United Kingdom are in aggregate less than 10 weeks, £510;

(f)in the case of a sandwich course or a course provided in conjunction with an overseas institution where the periods of full-time study at the institution in the United Kingdom are 10 weeks or more, but in respect of the academic year and any previous academic years the aggregate of any one or two periods of attendance which are not periods of full-time study at the institution (disregarding intervening vacations) exceeds 30 weeks, £510;

(g)subject to sub-paragraph (h), in the case of a course at a university or relevant institution of higher education in the Republic of Ireland, an amount specified by the Department in writing;

(h)in the case of a student who has been awarded a transitional award in respect of a course undertaken at the Pontifical College, Maynooth, or at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland—

(i)£855 in the case of a course which is not covered by any other sub-paragraph;

(ii)£1,770 in the case of a course a substantial component of which consists of work in a laboratory or workshop, or the pre-clinical elements of courses in medicine;

(iii)£3,985 in the case of the clinical training elements of courses in medicine.

(i)in the case of a full-time course at the Union Theological College, Belfast, the Edgehill College, Belfast, the Irish Baptist College, Belfast, or the Belfast Bible College, Belfast, the degrees of Bachelor of Divinity, Bachelor of Theology or the Diploma in Theology of Queen’s University, Belfast, a first and second instalment of £618 and a third instalment of £619.