Regulation 71 Interpretation of this ChapterI1

England and Wales

(1)

In this Chapter—

(a)

“adult dependant”, in relation to an eligible student, subject to sub-paragraph (m), means an adult person who is dependent on the student other than the student's child, the student's partner (including a spouse or civil partner from whom the Secretary of State considers the student is separated) or the student’s former partner;

(b)

“child”, in relation to an eligible student, includes any child of the student’s partner who is dependent on the student and any child for whom the student has parental responsibility who is dependent on the student;

(c)

“dependant”, in relation to an eligible student, means the student’s partner, the student’s dependent child or an adult dependant, who in each case is not an eligible student and does not hold a statutory award;

(d)

“dependants’ income”, in relation to an eligible student, means the aggregate of—

(i)

the residual income of any adult dependants,

(ii)

the residual income of the eligible student’s partner, and

(iii)

the net income of any dependent child or children;

(e)

“dependent” means wholly or mainly financially dependent;

(f)

“dependent child”, in relation to an eligible student, means a child who is dependent on the student;

(g)

“preceding financial year” means the financial year that ends before the 31st July preceding the relevant year;

(h)

“prior financial year” means the financial year immediately before the preceding financial year;

(i)

“relevant year” means the course year of the course in respect of which the eligible student’s dependants’ income falls to be assessed;

(j)

“residual income”—

(i)

in the case of an eligible student’s adult dependant, is determined in accordance with paragraph 5 of Schedule 7 (other than sub-paragraphs (2)(b) and (c), (3)(b) and (c), (9), (10) and (11)), as if references to the parent in paragraph 5 were references to the eligible student’s adult dependant);

(ii)

in the case of an eligible student’s partner, is determined in accordance with paragraph 6 of Schedule 7;

(k)

“partner”, subject to sub-paragraphs (l), (m), (n), (o) and (r), means—

(i)

the spouse or civil partner of an eligible student;

(ii)

in the case of an eligible student who falls within paragraph 2(1)(a) of Schedule 7, a person ordinarily living with the eligible student as if the person were the student’s spouse or civil partner;

(l)

unless otherwise indicated, a person who would otherwise be a partner under sub-paragraph (k) is not to be treated as a partner if—

(i)

in the opinion of the Secretary of State, the person and the eligible student are separated, or

(ii)

the person is ordinarily living outside the United Kingdom and is not dependent on the eligible student;

(m)

for the purposes of the definition of “adult dependant”, a person is treated as a partner if that person would be a partner under sub-paragraph (k) but for the fact that the eligible student with whom that person is ordinarily living does not fall within paragraph 2(1)(a) of Schedule 7;

(n)

for the purposes of the definition of “child”, a person is treated as a partner if that person would be a partner under sub-paragraph (k) but for the fact that the eligible student with whom that person is ordinarily living does not fall within paragraph 2(1)(a) of Schedule 7;

(o)

for the purposes of regulation 76 (qualification for childcare grant)—

(i)

sub-paragraph (l) does not apply, and

(ii)

a person is treated as a partner if that person would be a partner under sub-paragraph (k) but for the fact that the eligible student with whom that person is ordinarily living does not fall within paragraph (2)(1)(a) of Schedule 7;

(p)

subject to sub-paragraph (q), for the purposes of the definitions of “adult dependant” and “dependent child”, the Secretary of State may treat an adult person or child as dependent on an eligible student if the Secretary of State is satisfied that the adult person or child—

(i)

is not dependent on—

(aa)

the eligible student, or

(bb)

the eligible student’s partner, but

(ii)

is dependent on the eligible student and the eligible student's partner together;

(q)

the Secretary of State must not treat an adult person (“A”) as dependent on an eligible student in accordance with sub-paragraph (p), if A is—

(i)

the spouse or civil partner of the eligible student’s partner (including a spouse or civil partner from whom the Secretary of State considers the eligible student’s partner is separated), or

(ii)

the former partner of the eligible student’s partner;

(r)

for the purposes of determining whether a person is the former partner of an eligible student’s partner, “partner” in relation to an eligible student’s partner means—

(i)

the spouse or civil partner of an eligible student’s partner;

(ii)

a person (“A”) ordinarily living with an eligible student’s partner (“B”) as if A were B’s spouse or civil partner.

(2)

In this Chapter “net income” in relation to a dependant means the dependant’s income from all sources, for the relevant year for the purposes of regulation 75(3)(b) and for the prior financial year for the purposes of regulations 78 to 80, reduced by the amount of income tax and social security contributions payable in respect of it but disregarding—

(a)

any pension, allowance, or other benefit paid by reason of a disability or incapacity to which the dependant is subject;

(b)

child benefit payable under Part IX of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992^f1;

(c)

any financial support payable to the dependant by a local authority in accordance with regulations made under sections 2, 3 or 4 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002^f2;

(d)

any guardian's allowance to which the dependant is entitled under section 77 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992^f3;

(e)

any payment made to a dependant, in respect of a child who is being looked after by a local authority and is placed with the dependant as the child’s foster parent, in pursuance of section 22C of the Children Act 1989^f4 or, as the case may be, section 81 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014^f5;

(f)

any payments made to the dependant under Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989^f6 in respect of a person who is not the dependant's child or any assistance given by a local authority pursuant to section 24 of that Act or section 104 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014^f7 in so far as that section applies to category 5 and 6 young persons within the meaning of that Act;

(g)

any child tax credit to which the dependant is entitled under Part 1 of the Tax Credits Act 2002^f8;

(h)

a higher education bursary paid to the dependant under section 23C(5A) of the Children Act 1989^f9;

(i)

in the case of a dependant who is entitled to an award of universal credit—

(i)

any amount that is included in the calculation of the award, under regulation 27(1) of the Universal Credit Regulations 2013^f10, in respect of the fact that the dependant has limited capability for work and work-related activity;

(ii)

any amount or additional amount that is included in the calculation of the award under regulation 24 of those Regulations^f11 (the child element).

(3)

For the purposes of paragraph (2), where the dependant is a dependent child and payments are made to the eligible student towards the child’s maintenance, those payments are to be treated as the child’s income.

(4)

For the purposes of the definition of “relevant year” in paragraph (1)(i), where an eligible student is studying two or more courses in the same service year the household income falls to be assessed in respect of the course year of whichever of those courses has the earliest course start date.

(5)

In this Chapter “financial year”, in relation to a person whose income is calculated under this Chapter, means the period of twelve months in respect of which their income is computed for the purposes of the income tax legislation which applies to it.

Annotations

Commencement

I1: Reg. 71 in force at 1.9.2026, see reg. 1(1)(b)

Footnotes

f1: Part IX was amended by Schedule 16 to the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 (c. 33), by section 72 of the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000 (c. 19), by sections 55 and 56 of the Tax Credits Act 2002 (c. 21), by paragraphs 47 and 48 of Schedule 24 to the Civil Partnership Act 2004, by section 1 of, and paragraphs 9 to 14 of Schedule 1 to, the Child Benefit Act 2005 (c. 6), and by S.I. 2003/392, 2013/1465, 2016/413 and 2019/1458.
f2: 2002 c. 38. Section 2 was amended by S.I. 2016/413 (W. 131) and 2019/772 (W. 146). Section 3 was amended by S.I. 2016/413 (W. 131). Section 4 was amended paragraph 105 of Schedule 5 to the Health and Social Care Act 2012 (c. 7), by paragraph 63 of Schedule 4 and paragraph 4 of Schedule 9 to the Health and Care Act 2022 (c. 31), and by S.I. 2010/1158.
f3: Section 77 was amended by Schedule 6 to the Tax Credits Act 2002, by paragraph 34 of Schedule 24 to the Civil Partnership Act 2004, by paragraph 4 of Schedule 1 to the Child Benefit Act 2005, and by S.I. 2019/1458.
f4: 1989 c. 41. Section 22C was substituted by section 8(1) of the Children and Young Persons Act 2008 (c. 23). There are amendments but none is relevant.
f5: 2014 anaw 4. Section 81 was amended by section 21(3) of the Health and Social Care (Wales) Act 2025 (2025 asc 1) and by S.I. 2017/1025 (W. 263).
f6: There are amendments to Schedule 1 that are not relevant to these Regulations.
f7: Section 104 was amended by paragraph 27(a) of Schedule 1 and paragraph 221(a) of Schedule 4 to the Health and Care Act 2022.
f8: Part 1 was repealed with savings by Part 1 of Schedule 14 to the Welfare Reform Act 2012; see article 3 of S.I. 2019/167 (C. 6).
f9: Section 23C was inserted by section 2 (4) of the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 (c. 35), and paragraph (5A) was inserted by section 21 (2) of the Children and Young Persons Act 2008.
f10: Regulation 27 (1) was substituted by S.I. 2017/204.
f11: Regulation 24 was amended by section 14(5)(a) of the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 (c. 7) and by S.I. 2014/288, 2021/786 and 2022/177.