Regulation 31 Qualifying conditions for a fee loanI1

England and Wales

(1)

An eligible student (“A”) qualifies for a fee loan in connection with A’s attendance on, or undertaking of (in the case of a distance learning course), a designated course if the following conditions are met—

(a)

A is under the age of 60 on the course start date for the course for which the period of eligibility was established;

(b)

in relation to a distance learning course, the Secretary of State considers that A is undertaking the course in England on the first day of the first course year of the course, subject to paragraphs (2) to (4).

(2)

For the purposes of paragraph (1)(b), A is to be treated as being ordinarily resident in England for any period during which A would have been so resident but for the fact that—

(a)

(b)

A’s spouse or civil partner,

(c)

A’s parent, or

(d)

in the case of a dependent direct relative in the ascending line, A’s child or child’s spouse or civil partner,

is or was temporarily employed in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland as a member of the regular naval, military or air forces of the Crown.

(3)

A student qualifying for support in respect of a distance learning course will no longer qualify for support in respect of that course if the Secretary of State considers that the student is undertaking the course outside of the United Kingdom.

(4)

Paragraphs (1)(b) and (3) do not apply to a person who is treated as being ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom by virtue of paragraph 1(3)(c) of Schedule 2 on the basis of temporary employment falling within paragraph 1(4)(a) of that Schedule.

(5)

A student does not qualify for a fee loan in respect of a course year of a designated course if the course in respect of which the support is applied for delivers fewer than 30 credits of study (or 300 notional learning hours) within a course year, unless the application for support concerns a course year of an ALL-transfer course with a credit value of fewer than 30 credits.

(6)

A student does not qualify for a fee loan in respect of a course year of a designated course—

(a)

if the student is studying the current course as part of an apprenticeship;

(b)

if the course year is a bursary year;

(c)

if the student is eligible to apply for a non-income assessed healthcare bursary;

(d)

if the course year is a Turing mobility provided by an institution in Northern Ireland.

(7)

Paragraph (6)(b) and (c) do not apply to a course which is part of the graduate entry accelerated programme.

(8)

A student may qualify prospectively for a fee loan where—

(a)

a course designation event which results in the student’s course becoming a designated course occurs during a course year,

(b)

a protected category event which results in the student becoming an eligible student occurs during the first course year of a course and on or before the course start date, or

(c)

an in-year qualifying event which results in a student becoming an eligible student occurs—

(i)

where the course is three months or longer in duration, within the first three months of the course year, or

(ii)

where the course is shorter than three months in duration, on or before the last day of the course.

(9)

If a student’s status as an eligible student was established before the age of 60, and the student transfers to another course on or after turning 60, they remain eligible for fee loan support for the duration of their period of eligibility (on which see regulation 13).

Annotations

Commencement

I1: Reg. 31 in force at 1.9.2026, see reg. 1(1)(b)