Explanatory note

Section 5 of the Agriculture Act (Northern Ireland) 1949 (“the Act”) enables the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (“the Department”) to provide instruction in agriculture and related matters. Section 5A, which was added to the Act by way of amendment through the Education (Northern Ireland) Order 2006, provides that the Department may through regulations charge fees for or in connection with the provision of the aforementioned instruction.

These Regulations make provision about fees payable by persons in higher education delivered by the Department through the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) to the Department and replaces the Agriculture (Student fees) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022 .

Regulation 1 and regulation 2 refer to the citation, commencement and interpretation of these regulations while regulation 3 revokes the Agriculture (Student fees) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022.

Part 2 (Courses) regulation 4 through to regulation 7 define the types of higher education courses and their mode of study that student fees will apply at CAFRE.

Part 3 (Student Fee Frameworks) regulation 8 and regulation 9 define the two higher education student fee frameworks in operation at CAFRE, namely the current fee framework and the 2022 legacy fee framework. These frameworks ensure that students who commenced their course before the current fee framework came into operation will continue on the terms of the 2022 legacy framework until such times as they complete that course.

Part 4 (Student Categories) regulation 10 through to regulation 12 define the 3 categories of students at CAFRE – home student, student from Great Britain and international student. These categories are used as one of the determining factors in the appropriate level of fee to be charged to the student at CAFRE.

Part 5 (Intensity of Study) regulation 13 sets out the formula to calculate the percentage of study to be undertaken by a student based on course credits to that of a full-time student in an academic year.

Part 6 (Student Fee Codes) is split into two chapters with each chapter specific to one of the student fee frameworks. Regulation 14 through to regulation 17 defines the student fee codes applicable under the current fee framework, separated firstly by the student category and then by the type of higher education course being undertaken. Regulation 18 through to regulation 21 defines the student fee codes applicable under the 2022 legacy fee framework, separated firstly by the student category and then the type of higher education course being undertaken.

Part 7 (In-Year Events) regulation 22 permits a fee code, and subsequently the student fee rate, to change in the following academic year where the student’s qualifying person circumstances change during an academic year that affects their student category.

Part 8 (Higher Education Student Fee Amounts) regulation 23 through to regulation 25 stipulates the fee payable to the Department.

Schedule 1 (Student Fee Amounts) lists the full-time fee payable by a student to the Department in accordance with the fee code that is applied to the student.

Schedule 2 (Qualifying Persons) sets out the different categories of qualifying persons to which the appropriate student category and student fee is applied.