The Education (Student Support) Regulations 2002

Calculation of student’s income

1.—(1) In calculating an eligible student’s income for the purposes of regulation 23 there shall be taken into account his income (reduced by income tax and social security contributions) from all sources, and any payment referred to in paragraphs (b) and (c), whether or not it is income, but there shall be disregarded the following—

(a)in a case not covered by paragraph (x), the first £880 of income of any description, or where the eligible student is a lone parent, the first £1,915 of income of any description, in each case other than any sum treated as income under sub-paragraph (6);

(b)the first £4,000 of any payment by way of scholarship, studentship, exhibition, bursary, award, grant, allowance or benefit however described payable in connection with the student’s attendance on the course, otherwise than under the Act and regulations made under it;

(c)the case of a student in gainful employment, the first £1,075 of any payment by way of remuneration (reduced by income tax and social security contributions) paid in respect of any period for which he has leave of absence or is relieved of his normal duties for the purpose of attending the course; except that, if the person’s course is a course for the initial training of teachers referred to in paragraph 4 of Schedule 2 during which the periods of full-time attendance, including attendance for the purpose of teaching practice, are in aggregate less than 6 weeks, any payments by way of remuneration shall be disregarded;

(d)any payment under a bursary or award of similar description bestowed on him under section 63 of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968(1) or article 44 of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972(2);

(e)any allowance paid to him under sections 73(f) and 74(1) of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 in respect of a course leading to a qualification in a healthcare profession, other than as a medical doctor or dentist;

(f)any grant to facilitate teacher training paid to the eligible student under regulations made under section 50(1) of the Education (No.2) Act 1986(3) or any payment made in respect of the student’s training as a teacher by an institution to which grants, loans or other payments for that purpose are provided under section 5 of the Education Act 1994(4) or under section 65(3) of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992(5);

(g)in the case of an eligible student for whose benefit any income is applied or any payments are required to be applied as described in paragraph 5(5), the whole of that income or those payments if a parental contribution ascertained in accordance with Part II or a spouse’s contribution ascertained in accordance with Part III is applicable (at whatever amount, including nil, that contribution is ascertained to be);

(h)any pension, allowance or other benefit paid by reason of a disability or incapacity to which the eligible student is subject and any war widow’s or war widower’s pension;

(i)any bounty received as a reservist with the armed forces;

(j)remuneration for work done during any academic year of the eligible student’s course;

(k)in the case of an eligible student in whose case a parental contribution is by virtue of Part II of this Schedule applicable (at whatever amount, including nil, that contribution is ascertained to be) any payment which is made under covenant by a parent by reference to whose income that contribution falls to be ascertained;

(l)any payment made for a specific educational purpose otherwise than to meet such fees as are mentioned in Part III and living costs as are mentioned in Parts IV and V;

(m)child benefit payable under Part IX of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992(6);

(n)any allowance payable to the eligible student by an adoption agency in accordance with regulations made under section 57A of the Adoption Act 1976(7);

(o)any guardian’s allowance to which he is entitled under section 77 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992;

(p)in the case of an eligible student with whom a child in the care of a local authority is boarded out, any payment made to him in pursuance of section 23 of the Children Act 1989(8);

(q)any payments made to the eligible student in pursuance of an order made under section 34 of the Children Act 1975(9) or under section 15 of and Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989 in respect of a person who is not the student’s child or any assistance given by a local authority pursuant to section 24 of that Act;

(r)income support or working families' tax credit under Part VII of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992(10);

(s)any housing benefit or community charge benefits granted to the eligible student in pursuance of a statutory or local scheme under Part VII of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 or any council tax benefit granted to him in pursuance of a statutory or local scheme under that Act;

(t)in a case not covered by paragraph (x), (the first £3,340 of any pension, allowance or other benefit payable by reason of the eligible student’s old age, his retirement, the death of his spouse or parent or another person on whom he was wholly or mainly financially dependent, or by reason of his military or other public service;

(u)any payments made to the eligible student under the action scheme of the European Community for the mobility of university students known as ERASMUS(11), the European Community programme for foreign language competence known as LINGUA(12) or the European Community Programme known as LEONARDO DA VINCI(13);

(v)any payment made to the eligible student out of access bursary funds or hardship funds paid to the institution at which he attends his course under section 65 of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, sections 73 and 74 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980(14) or out of access funds under article 30 of the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1993(15) or article 5 of the Further Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1997(16);

(w)any payments made to the eligible student for the maintenance of his child by virtue of any agreement, instrument or enactment;

(x)where a parental contribution does not apply because the eligible student falls within paragraph 3(1) of this Schedule and a spouse’s contribution does not apply under Part III of this Schedule, the first £7,500 of income of any description, other than any sum treated as income under sub-paragraph (6).

(2) Where income may be disregarded under more than one of the sub-paragraphs of paragraph (1) it shall be disregarded under the sub-paragraph or sub-paragraphs which will result in the largest amount of the eligible student’s income from all sources being disregarded under paragraph (1).

(3) Where an eligible student is a person mentioned in paragraph 7 of Schedule 1 and not in any other paragraph and his income arises from sources or under legislation different from sources or legislation normally relevant to a person mentioned in paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 his income shall not be disregarded in accordance with paragraph (1) but shall be disregarded to the extent necessary to ensure that he is treated no less favourably than a person in similar circumstances in receipt of similar income who is mentioned in Schedule 1 would be treated.

(4) Where an eligible student makes any payment for the maintenance of his child or former spouse or person who lived with him as his spouse by virtue of any agreement, instrument or enactment, the amount of such payment shall be deducted in calculating his income for the purposes aforesaid.

(5) In the case of an eligible student who makes any payment in pursuance of an obligation incurred before the first year of his course, in calculating his income for the purposes aforesaid there shall be deducted therefrom—

(a)if, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, the obligation had been reasonably so incurred, an amount equal to the payment in question;

(b)if, in his opinion, only a lesser obligation could have been reasonably so incurred, such correspondingly lesser amount (if any) as appears to him appropriate;

except that no deduction shall be made from the income of a student who has a spouse who is a dependant for the purpose of regulation 15 and in pursuance of regulation 15(14) the payment is taken into account in determining the spouse’s income.

(6) In a case where the eligible student is the parent or step-parent of an eligible student in respect of whom a contribution is ascertained under Part II of this Schedule or of a child who holds an award in respect of which a parental contribution is applicable, so much of the amount (if any) by which the contribution is reduced under paragraph 4(3) as the Secretary of State considers just shall be treated as part of the eligible student’s income for the purposes of this regulation.

(7) Where the eligible student is a lone parent having one or more dependent children under the age of 19 and he has elected to be ineligible for grant under regulation 16 in accordance with regulation 15(6), he may also elect to be ineligible for grant under regulation 15 and to have disregarded in calculating his income under this regulation £2,560 in respect of his only or eldest such child and £810 in respect of every other such child.

(8) Where the eligible student receives income in a currency other than sterling the value of the income shall be—

(a)if the student purchases sterling with the income the amount of sterling the student receives for it, and

(b)otherwise the value of the sterling which the income would purchase using the rate for the month in which it is received published by the Office for National Statistics in “Financial Statistics”.