# The Education (Student Support) ( No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009, Regulation 124: Designated part-time courses

Extent: N.I.

(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), a part-time course is designated for the purposes of Article 3(1) of the Order and regulation 122 if—
(a) it is a course mentioned in Schedule 3 other than a course for the initial training of teachers or a graduate entry course ;
(b) it is of at least one academic year’s duration;
(c) it is ordinarily possible to complete the course in not more than four times the period ordinarily required to complete the full-time equivalent;
(d) it is either—
(i) wholly provided by an authority-funded institution in Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales;
(ii) provided by a publicly-funded institution situated in Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales, on behalf of an approved (fee cap) provider in England, or on behalf of an authority-funded institution in Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales;
(iii) wholly provided by an approved (fee cap) provider, or provided by an approved (fee cap) provider on behalf of an approved (fee cap) provider in England;
(iv) provided by an approved (fee cap) provider on behalf of an authority-funded institution in Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales;
(v) provided by an approved (fee cap) provider in England in conjunction with an institution which is situated outside the United Kingdom; or
(vi) provided by an authority-funded institution in Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales, in conjunction with an institution which is situated outside the United Kingdom.
(da) it is substantially provided in the United Kingdom;
(e) it is not designated by or under regulation 6; and
(f) it is not designated under regulation 107.
(2) A course falling within paragraph 7 or 8 of Schedule 3 is not a designated part-time course where the governing body of a school has arranged for the provision of such a course to a pupil of the school.
(3) A course that is taken as part of an employment-based teacher training scheme is not a designated part-time course.
(4) A first degree course is not a designated part-time course where—
(a) it leads to the award of a professional qualification;
(b) a first degree (or equivalent qualification) would normally be required for entry to a course leading to the award of that professional qualification; and
(c) the current course begins on or after 1st September 2009.
(5) For the purposes of paragraph (1)—
(a) a course is provided by an institution if it provides the teaching and supervision which comprise the course, whether or not the institution has entered into an agreement with the student to provide the course;
(b) a university and any constituent college or institution in the nature of a college of a university is to be regarded as authority-funded if either the university or the constituent college or institution is authority-funded; ...
(c) an institution is not to be regarded as publicly funded or authority-funded by reason only that it receives public funds from the governing body of a higher education institution in accordance with section 65(3A) of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 ; and
(d) a course is not to be regarded as provided on behalf of an authority-funded educational institution where a part of the course is provided by a private institution in Northern Ireland, Scotland, or Wales, or by a private institution which is an approved provider or an unregistered provider in England ;
(e) a course is substantially provided in the United Kingdom where at least half of the teaching and supervision which comprise the course is provided in the United Kingdom.
(6) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(c)—
(a) “full-time equivalent” means a full-time course leading to the same qualification as the part-time course in question;
(b) “period ordinarily required to complete the full-time equivalent” means—
(i) where the course is provided by or on behalf of the Open University, the period that a standard full-time student would require to complete the full-time equivalent if that student were awarded 120 credit points in each academic year;
(ii) where the course is provided by or on behalf of any other institution, the period in which a standard full-time student would complete the full-time equivalent;
(c) “standard full-time student” is a student who is to be taken—
(i) to have begun the full-time equivalent on the same date as the eligible part-time student began the part-time course in question;
(ii) not to have been excused any part of the full-time equivalent;
(iii) not to have repeated any part of the full-time equivalent; and
(iv) not to be absent from the full-time equivalent other than during vacations.
(7) For the purposes of Article 3 of the Order and regulation 122(1) the Department may designate courses of higher education which are not designated by paragraph (1).
(8) In designating a part-time course studied through distance learning, the Department may disregard-
(a) any requirement imposed by the institution or institutions providing the course to attend any institution for the purposes of-
(i) registration or enrolment;
(ii) an examination;
(b) any requirement imposed by the institution or institutions providing the course to attend any institution on a weekend, from time to time during the week or during any vacation;
(c) any period of attendance at the institution or institutions providing the course which a student may but is not required to complete by that institution or those institutions.
(9) The Department may revoke or suspend the designation of a course which is designated under this regulation.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr/2009/373/regulation/124 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/education-student-support-no-2-regulations-northern-ireland-2009/regulation-124
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.