Regulation 161 Designated postgraduate courses

England and Wales

(1)

A postgraduate course is designated for the purposes of section 22(1) of the 1998 Act and regulation 159 if—

(a)

it is a course for entry to which a first degree (or equivalent qualification) or higher is normally required;

(b)

it is a course—

(i)

of at least one academic year's duration; and

(ii)

in the case of a part-time course, it is ordinarily possible to complete the course in not more than—

(aa)

twice the period ordinarily required to complete the full-time equivalent where the course begins before 1st September 2012 or the student transfers to the current course pursuant to regulation 163 from a course beginning before 1st September 2012; or

(bb)

four times the period ordinarily required to complete the full-time equivalent where the course begins on or after 1st September 2012;

F1(c)

it is either—

(i)

wholly provided by a registered providerF2... in England;

(ii)

wholly provided by an authority-funded institution in Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales;

(iii)

provided by a registered provider on behalf of an authority-funded institution in Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales;

(iv)

provided by an institution situated in Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales on behalf of a registered provider in England, or by a publicly funded institution situated in Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales on behalf of an authority-funded institution in Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales;

(v)

provided by a registered provider in England in conjunction with an institution which is situated outside the United Kingdom F3, except where the institution which is situated outside the United Kingdom provides that course on behalf of the registered provider in England; F4...

(vi)

provided by an authority-funded institution in Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales in conjunction with an institution which is situated outside the United Kingdom;

F5(vii)

provided by a registered or unregistered provider on behalf of a registered provider in England, where the course begins before 1st September; or

(viii)

provided by a qualifying franchised provider (or multiple qualifying franchised providers), on behalf of a registered provider in England, where the course begins on or after 1st September 2028;

(ca)

it is substantially provided in the United Kingdom; and

(d)

it is not a course for the initial training of teachers or a course taken as part of an employment-based teacher training scheme.

(2)

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 it has entered an agreement with the student to provide the course;

F6(aa)

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;

(b)

a university and any constituent college or institution in the nature of a college of a university is to be regarded as F7authority-funded if either the university or the constituent college or institution is authority-funded; F8...

(c)

an institution is not to be regarded as publicly funded F9or 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 M1 F10; and

F11(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 F12in Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales, or by a private institution which is an unregistered provider in England.

(3)

For the purposes of paragraph (1)(b)(ii)—

(a)

“full-time equivalent” means a full-time postgraduate course leading to the same qualification as the part-time postgraduate course in question;

(b)

“period ordinarily required to complete the full-time equivalent” means the period that a standard full-time student would require to complete the full-time equivalent;

(c)

“standard full-time student” means a student who is to be taken—

(i)

to have begun the full-time equivalent on the same date as the eligible postgraduate student began the part-time postgraduate 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.

F13(3ZAA)

A postgraduate course is designated for the purposes of section 22 of the 1998 Act and regulation 159 if it is a Northern Irish designated postgraduate course, a Scottish designated postgraduate course or a Welsh designated postgraduate course.

F14(3AA)

A course is not a designated postgraduate course if its designation has been revoked or is suspended under paragraph (5).

(3A)

F15A postgraduate pre-registration course is not a designated postgraduate course.

(4)

For the purposes of section 22 of the 1998 Act and regulation 159, the Secretary of State may designate courses of higher education which are not designated under paragraph (1) F16or (3ZAA).

F17(5)

The Secretary of State may revoke or suspend the designation of a course which is designated under F18this regulation.

Annotations

Textual amendments

F1: Reg. 161(1)(c) substituted (with application in accordance with reg. 1(2)(5) of the amending S.I.) by The Education (Student Fees, Awards and Support etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/142), regs. 1(1), 31(2)
F2: Words in reg. 161(1)(c)(i) omitted (19.5.2026) by virtue of The Education (Student Support) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 (S.I. 2026/459), regs. 1(2), 8(a)
F3: Words in reg. 161(1)(c)(v) inserted (19.5.2026) by The Education (Student Support) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 (S.I. 2026/459), regs. 1(2), 8(b)
F4: Word in reg. 161(1)(c)(v) omitted (19.5.2026) by virtue of The Education (Student Support) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 (S.I. 2026/459), regs. 1(2), 8(c)
F5: Reg. 161(1)(c)(vii)(viii) inserted (19.5.2026) by The Education (Student Support) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 (S.I. 2026/459), regs. 1(2), 8(d)
F6: Reg. 161(2)(aa) inserted (7.11.2014) by The Education (Student Support) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/2765), regs. 1(2), 20(b)
F7: Words in reg. 161(2)(b) substituted (with application in accordance with reg. 1(2)(b) of the amending S.I.) by The Education (Student Support and European University Institute) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/1728), regs. 1(2)(a), 20(b)(i)
F8: Word in reg. 161(2)(b) omitted (with application in accordance with reg. 1(2)(b) of the amending S.I.) by virtue of The Education (Student Support and European University Institute) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/1728), regs. 1(2)(a), 20(b)(ii)
F9: Words in reg. 161(2)(c) inserted (with application in accordance with reg. 1(2)(b) of the amending S.I.) by The Education (Student Support and European University Institute) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/1728), regs. 1(2)(a), 20(b)(iii)
F10: Word in reg. 161(2)(c) substituted for full stop (with application in accordance with reg. 1(2)(b) of the amending S.I.) by The Education (Student Support and European University Institute) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/1728), regs. 1(2)(a), 20(b)(iv)
F11: Reg. 161(2)(d) inserted (with application in accordance with reg. 1(2)(b) of the amending S.I.) by The Education (Student Support and European University Institute) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/1728), regs. 1(2)(a), 20(b)(v)
F12: Words in reg. 161(2)(d) inserted (with application in accordance with reg. 1(2)(5) of the amending S.I.) by The Education (Student Fees, Awards and Support etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/142), regs. 1(1), 31(3)
F13: Reg. 161(3ZAA) inserted (with application in accordance with reg. 1(2)(a) of the amending S.I.) by The Education (Student Fees, Awards and Support etc.) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/48), regs. 1(1), 4(1)(i)(i)
F14: Reg. 161(3AA) inserted (with application in accordance with reg. 1(2)(5) of the amending S.I.) by The Education (Student Fees, Awards and Support etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/142), regs. 1(1), 31(4)
F15: Reg. 161(3A) inserted (with application in accordance with reg. 1(2)(b)(3) of the amending S.I.) by The Education (Student Support) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/443), regs. 1(2)(a), 13
F16: Words in reg. 161(4) inserted (with application in accordance with reg. 1(2)(a) of the amending S.I.) by The Education (Student Fees, Awards and Support etc.) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/48), regs. 1(1), 4(1)(i)(ii)
F17: Reg. 161(5) inserted (15.1.2014) by The Education (Fees and Student Support) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/3106), regs. 1(2), 9
F18: Words in reg. 161(5) substituted (with application in accordance with reg. 1(2)(5) of the amending S.I.) by The Education (Student Fees, Awards and Support etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/142), regs. 1(1), 31(5)

Marginal citations

M1: 1992 c.13; section 65(3A) was inserted by the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998 (c.30), section 27.