Explanatory note

These Regulations amend the Education (Student Support) Regulations 2011 (S.I. 2011/1986) (the “Student Support Regulations”); the Student Fees (Qualifying Courses and Persons) (England) Regulations 2007 (S.I. 2007/778); the Education (Fees and Awards) (England) Regulations 2007 (S.I. 2007/779); and the Education (Student Support) (European University Institute) Regulations 2010 (S.I. 2010/447).

Regulation 1(3)(b) provides that the determination of eligibility under the amended Student Support Regulations applies to an academic year beginning on or after 1st August 2017.

Regulation 1(4) excludes certain students from the changes made to the Erasmus definition. Regulation 1(5) makes specific provision about applicants to whom the amendments to residency requirements for EU students will not apply. These are applicants who apply for support under the Education (Student Support) (European University Institute) Regulations 2010 before the amendments made by these Regulations come into force or who apply after that date, having been determined before that date as being eligible for support. These are also students who would have met the previous three year ordinary residence requirement had they applied for support in relation to an academic year beginning before 1st August 2017.

Regulation 3 makes amendments to certain existing definitions and inserts some new definitions, to reflect changes to operation of the NHS Bursary Scheme and the Erasmus scheme in Scotland and the introduction of regulated institutions offering full-time courses starting on or after 1st September 2017 in Wales.

Regulation 5 amends regulation 5 of the Student Support Regulations to enable courses starting on or after 1st September 2017 that are offered by regulated institutions in Wales to be automatically designated.

Regulations 6, 7(a) and 13 provide an exemption from the usual restriction on funding for equivalent and lower qualifications, in circumstances where the student is studying a full-time pre-registration course in specified healthcare-related subjects.

Regulation 7(b) amends regulation 13 of the Student Support Regulations to clarify that a student in the armed forces or an armed forces family member may still qualify for a fee loan if they are undertaking a full-time distance learning course outside the UK. Regulations 10, 16, 17, 19, 20 and regulation 22 make similar amendments in respect of full-time and part-time disabled students’ allowance, part-time fee loans, fee grants and course grants for members of the armed forces and their family members undertaking distance learning courses.

Regulation 8 amends regulation 19 of the Student Support Regulations to enable students studying an Erasmus year in Scotland to access fee loans.

Regulation 9 amends regulation 23 of the Student Support Regulations to specify the differing amounts of full-time fee loan available depending on whether a provider is publicly funded, private, or in Wales regulated or non-regulated, and whether or not a private or non-regulated provider has received a rating of Meets Expectations as part of the Teaching Excellence Framework assessment.

Regulation 11 omits an obsolete provision in regulation 41 of the Student Support Regulations relating to students undertaking initial teacher training courses starting before 1 September 2010.

Regulation 12 amends regulation 45 of the Student Support Regulations to clarify that a student may not claim support for childcare under both the NHS Scheme and/or a Scottish healthcare allowance, and the Student Support Regulations.

Regulations 15(a) and (b)(i) omit obsolete provisions in regulation 80 of the Student Support Regulations relating to students undertaking initial teacher training courses starting before 1st September 2010.

Regulations 18(e) and (f) corrects an error made in earlier regulations.

Regulation 20 amends regulation 144 of the Student Support Regulations to provide an exemption from the usual restriction on funding for equivalent and lower qualifications, in circumstances where the student is studying a part-time pre-registration course in specified healthcare-related subjects or a part-time course in specified science, technology, engineering and maths subjects.

Regulation 21 amends regulation 145 of the Student Support Regulations to specify the part-time fee loan limit for private institutions in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales and for private institutions in England who have not received a rating of Meets Expectations as part of the Teaching Excellence Framework assessment.

Regulation 23 amends regulation 159 of the Student Support Regulations to provide that a student is not an eligible postgraduate student if they are eligible for a healthcare tuition payment.

Regulation 24 and regulations 28-31 replace the existing wording of several eligibility categories to address a minor grammatical error. Regulations 24(b), 29(b) and 31(b) clarify that students satisfying the long residence eligibility criteria must be ordinarily resident in the UK on the first day of the first academic year of the course, rather than in England.

Regulation 25 makes a technical amendment to the Student Support Regulations to replace references to the Office for National Statistics, which no longer publishes conversion tables from EU currencies into Pounds Sterling, with references to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.

Regulation 26 introduces a schedule to the Student Support Regulations listing private and non-regulated institutions who have receiving a rating of Meets Expectations as part of a Teaching Excellence Framework assessment.

Regulation 27 introduces a schedule to the Student Support Regulations with updated loan and grant amounts.

Regulations 32-36 amend the Education (Student Support) (European University Institute) Regulations 2010 to make clear that an applicant who is an EU national (but not a UK national) will no longer qualify for grants by demonstrating three years’ ordinary residence in the UK immediately preceding the start of the course for which they seek support.

Regulation 37(a) then introduces a new eligibility category to the Education (Student Support) (European University Institute) Regulations 2010 by providing that an applicant who is an EU national (but not a UK national) will have to demonstrate five years’ residence in the UK immediately preceding the start of the course for which they seek support in order to be eligible.

Regulation 37(b) introduces a new eligibility category to the Education (Student Support) (European University Institute) Regulations 2010 for access to support for applicants who are not settled in the UK but have been residing in the UK for a long time. Such applicants who are under 18 years old must have lived in the UK for 7 years prior to the start of their course. If aged 18 or over, they must have lived in the UK for either half their life or the 20 year period prior to the start of their course. Such applicants will be able to access support under the Education (Student Support) (European University Institute) Regulations 2010 subject to meeting the other requirements of those Regulations.

An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as it has no impact on the costs of business, charities or the voluntary sector.

The Explanatory Memorandum is published alongside the Regulations on www.legislation.gov.uk.