# The Lifelong Learning (Student Support) (Amendment of Fees and Awards etc.) Regulations 2026, Paragraph 1: Definitions

Extent: E+W

(1) In this Schedule—
(a) “financial year” means the period of twelve months in respect of which the income of a person whose residual income is calculated under the provisions of this Schedule is computed for the purposes of the income tax legislation which applies to it;
(b) “household income” has the meaning given in paragraph 3;
(c) “independent eligible student” has the meaning given in paragraph 2;
(d) “parent” means a natural or adoptive parent and “child”, “mother” and “father” are to be construed accordingly;
(e) “parent student” means an eligible student who is the parent of an eligible student;
(f) “partner”, in relation to an eligible student, means any of the following—
(i) the spouse or civil partner of the eligible student;
(ii) in the case of an eligible student who falls within paragraph 2(1)(a), a person ordinarily living with the eligible student as if the person were the student’s spouse or civil partner;
(g) “partner”, in relation to the parent of an eligible student, means any of the following—
(i) the spouse or civil partner of the parent of the eligible student;
(ii) a person ordinarily living with the parent of the eligible student as if the person were the parent’s spouse or civil partner,
but does not include another parent of the eligible student;
(h) “period of multiple study”, in relation to an eligible student studying two or more courses in the same service year, means the period that—
(i) begins with the start of the course year in which course A begins, and
(ii) ends with the end of the course year in which course B ends,
where “course A” is whichever of the courses begins first and “course B” is whichever of the courses ends last;
(i) “preceding financial year” means the financial year that ends before the 31st July preceding the relevant year;
(j) “prior financial year” means the financial year immediately before the preceding financial year;
(k) “relevant year” means the course year of the course in respect of which the household income falls to be assessed;
(l) “residual income” means—
(i) taxable income after the application of—
(aa) paragraph 4 (in the case of an eligible student),
(bb) paragraph 5 (in the case of an eligible student’s parent),
(cc) paragraph 6 (in the case of an eligible student’s partner), or
(dd) paragraph 7 (in the case of the partner of an eligible student’s parent), and
(ii) income referred to in sub-paragraph (2) received net of income tax;
(m) “taxable income” means, in relation to paragraph 4 in respect of the course year for which an application for support has been made under regulation 16, in relation to paragraph 5 in respect (subject to sub-paragraphs (2) to (5) of paragraph 5) of the prior financial year, and in relation to paragraph 7 in respect (subject to sub-paragraphs (2) to (5) of paragraph 7) of the prior financial year—
(i) the total income on which a person (“A”) is charged to income tax as determined at Step 1 of the calculation in section 23 of the Income Tax Act 2007, together with any payments and other benefits mentioned in section 401(1) of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (ignoring section 401(2) of that Act), received or treated as received by A, to the extent that they are not a component of the total income on which A is charged to income tax;
(ii) A’s total income from all sources as determined for the purposes of the income tax legislation of a member State which applies to A’s income, or
(iii) where the legislation of the United Kingdom and one or more member States, or of more than one member State, applies to the period, A’s total income from all sources as determined for the purposes of the income tax legislation under which the Secretary of State considers that A’s total income for that period is greatest (except as otherwise provided in paragraph 5),
except that no account is taken of income referred to in sub-paragraph (2) that is paid to another party.
(2) The income referred to in this sub-paragraph is any benefits under a pension arrangement pursuant to an order made under section 23 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 which includes provision made by virtue of sections 25B(4) and 25E(3) of that Act, or pension benefits under Part 1 of Schedule 5 to the Civil Partnership Act 2004 which includes provision made by virtue of Parts 6 and 7 of that Schedule.
(3) For the purposes of the definition of “relevant year”, 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.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/858/schedule/7/paragraph/1 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/lifelong-learning-student-support-amendment-of-fees-and-awards-etc-regulations-2026/schedule-7/paragraph-1
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.