# The Education (Student Support) ( No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009, Regulation 59: Qualifying conditions for the special support grant

Extent: N.I.

(1) A current system student qualifies in accordance with this regulation for a special support grant in connection with the student’s attendance on a designated course to defray the costs of books, equipment, travel or childcare incurred for the purpose of attending that course.
(2) A current system student qualifies for a special support grant if the student—
(a) falls within a prescribed category of person for the purposes of section 123(1)(e) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act (Northern Ireland) 1992; ...
(b) is treated as being liable to make payments in respect of a dwelling prescribed by regulations made under section 129(2) of that Act; or
(c) under regulation 26(3) (housing costs element) of the Universal Credit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 is liable or treated as being liable to make payments in respect of the accommodation they occupy as their home.
(3) If a current system student does not qualify for a fee loan or relevant institution charge loan in respect of an academic year of the designated course, the student cannot qualify for a special support grant for that year unless the reason that the student does not qualify for a fee loan or relevant institution charge loan is that—
(a) the year is an Erasmus year in accordance with regulation 20(3); or
(b) the designated course is an old flexible postgraduate course for the initial training of teachers.
(4) Subject to paragraph (5), a special support grant is payable in respect of the four quarters of the academic year.
(5) Where a protected category event which results in a student becoming an eligible student occurs—
(a) in the course of the first academic year of a course; and
(b) on or before the course start date,
the student may qualify for a special support grant in respect of the four quarters of that academic year.
(5A) Where—
(a) a course designation event which results in student’s course becoming a designated course occurs in the course of an academic year; or
(b) an in-year qualifying event (other than a settled status event) which results in a student becoming an eligible student occurs in the course of an academic year,
the student may qualify for a special support grant in respect of such quarters of the academic year as begin after the event in question occurs.
(6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(7) A current system student does not qualify for a special support grant if the current course is a graduate entry course.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr/2009/373/regulation/59 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/education-student-support-no-2-regulations-northern-ireland-2009/regulation-59
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.