# The Higher Education (Qualifying Courses and Qualifying Persons) (Wales) Regulations 2026, Note: Explanatory note

Extent: E+W

(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations specify the qualifying courses and qualifying persons for the purposes of section 32 of the Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Act 2022 (“the 2022 Act”).
Section 32 of the 2022 Act requires the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research (“the Commission”) to ensure that tertiary education providers which are registered in a category specified in regulations made by the Welsh Ministers are subject to a fee limit condition. That category of registration is specified in regulation 5 of the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research (Registration and De-registration of Tertiary Education Providers in Wales) Regulations 2024.
A fee limit condition requires such providers to—
(a) have a fee limit statement approved by the Commission under section 47 of the 2022 Act, and
(b) ensure that the fees payable to the provider by a qualifying person undertaking a qualifying course do not exceed the applicable fee limit specified in, or determined in accordance with, the fee limit statement.
The qualifying courses specified by regulation 3 are those courses that are listed in Condition 1 and which are designated by regulations made under section 22 of the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998. Designation under those regulations means that students can apply for student support in respect of undertaking a course. There are exceptions relating to part-time courses and the provision of courses by persons on behalf of a registered provider.
The qualifying persons specified by regulation 4 are those persons who fall within any of the categories in the Schedule on the first day of the relevant academic year. This is subject to five exceptions, which are set out in paragraph (3).
The Welsh Ministers’ Code of Practice on the carrying out of Regulatory Impact Assessments was considered in relation to these Regulations. As a result, it was not considered necessary to carry out a regulatory impact assessment as to the likely costs and benefits of complying with these Regulations.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/wsi/2026/52/note (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/higher-education-qualifying-courses-and-qualifying-persons-wales-regulations-2026/note
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.