(This note is not part of the Regulations)
Article 4 of the Higher Education (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 requires the Department to impose a condition on grants given to the governing body of higher and further education institutions. This condition requires the governing bodies to secure that the qualifying fees payable in respect of any qualifying course by a qualifying person do not exceed the basic or higher fee amounts applicable to that course. The fee amounts are prescribed by The Student Fees (Amounts) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (S.R. 2006 No. 455).
These Regulations revoke previous Regulations. They prescribe the qualifying courses and class of qualifying persons for the purposes of the Higher Education (Northern Ireland) Order 2005. The qualifying courses prescribed by regulation 4 are those courses which are designated under Article 3 of the Education (Student Support) (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 and which are provided by institutions in Northern Ireland.
The class of qualifying persons prescribed in regulation 5 are those persons who, on the first day of the relevant academic year, fall within the Schedule, save for those persons who are not eligible for student support under the Education (Student Support) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007 (S.R. 2007 No. 195) by reason of certain paragraphs of regulation 5 of those Regulations, or who already have an honours degree from a publicly-funded institution. There is an exception in respect of a previous honours degree for a person undertaking a course of initial teacher training or a degree in social work in Northern Ireland or who has obtained the honours degree only as part of a single course they are currently undertaking.
Regulation 6 re-enacts provision for transitional cases made in the revoked Student Fees (Qualifying Courses and Persons) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006.