{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/lifelong-learning-student-support-amendment-of-fees-and-awards-etc-regulations-2026/schedule-7/paragraph-2",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/lifelong-learning-student-support-amendment-of-fees-and-awards-etc-regulations-2026/schedule-7/paragraph-2.json",
  "legislation": "uksi/2026/858",
  "legislation_title": "The Lifelong Learning (Student Support) (Amendment of Fees and Awards etc.) Regulations 2026",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/lifelong-learning-student-support-amendment-of-fees-and-awards-etc-regulations-2026",
  "path": "schedule/7/paragraph/2",
  "kind": "paragraph",
  "number": "2",
  "heading": "Independent eligible student",
  "text": "(1) An “independent eligible student” is an eligible student who falls into one or more of the following categories on the first day of the relevant year—\n(a) they are aged 25 or over;\n(b) they were married or in a civil partnership before the beginning of the relevant year, whether or not the marriage or civil partnership is still subsisting;\n(c) they have no parent living;\n(d) the Secretary of State is satisfied that neither of the student’s parents can be found or that it is not reasonably practicable to get in touch with either of them;\n(e) they have not communicated with either of their parents for the period of one year before the beginning of the relevant year or, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, the student can demonstrate on other grounds that the student is irreconcilably estranged from their parents;\n(f) they have been looked after by a local authority (within the meaning of section 22 of the Children Act 1989 or, as the case may be, section 74 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014) throughout any three-month period ending on or after the date on which the student reached the age of 16 and before the first day of the first course year of the course, provided that the student has not in fact at any time during that three-month period been under the charge or control of the student’s parents;\n(g) their parents are residing outside the United Kingdom, Gibraltar and the EU and the Secretary of State is satisfied that the assessment of the household income by reference to their residual income would place those parents in jeopardy;\n(h) paragraph 5(11) applies, and the parent whom the Secretary of State considered the more appropriate for the purposes of that paragraph has died, irrespective of whether the parent in question had a partner;\n(i) they have the care of a person under the age of 18;\n(j) they have supported themselves out of their earnings for any period or periods ending before the first course year of the course, which periods together aggregate not less than three years.\n(2) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)(j)—\n(a) a student is treated as supporting themselves out of their earnings during any period in which they—\n(i) were participating in arrangements for training for the unemployed under any scheme operated, sponsored or funded by any state authority or agency, whether national, regional or local (“a relevant authority”),\n(ii) were in receipt of benefit payable by any relevant authority in respect of a person who is available for employment but who is unemployed,\n(iii) were available for employment and had complied with any requirement of registration imposed by a relevant authority as a condition of entitlement for participation in arrangements for training or receipt of benefit,\n(iv) held a state studentship bestowed under regulation 4 of the State Awards Regulations 1978 or a comparable award, or\n(v) received any pension, allowance or other benefit paid by any person by reason of a disability to which the student is subject, or by reason of confinement, injury or sickness;\n(b) where the eligible student is studying two or more courses concurrently, the reference to the course is a reference to whichever of those courses has the earliest course start date.\n(3) An eligible student who qualifies as an independent eligible student under sub-paragraph (1)(i) in respect of a course year of a designated course retains that status for the duration of the period of eligibility.",
  "extent": "E+W",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "I",
      "label": "I1",
      "text": "Sch. 7 para. 2 in force at 1.9.2026, see reg. 1(1)(b)"
    },
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f1",
      "text": "Section 22 was amended by paragraph 19 of Schedule 5 to the Local Government Act 2000 (c. 22), section 2(2) of the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000, section 116(2) of the Adoption and Children Act 2002, section 52 of the Children Act 2004, section 99 of the Children and Families Act 2014 (c. 6), by paragraph 6(b) of Schedule 3 to the Children and Young Persons Act 2008 and by S.I. 2016/413."
    },
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f2",
      "text": "S.I. 1978/1096, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations."
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [
    {
      "type": "coming into force",
      "affecting": "uksi/2026/858",
      "affecting_title": "The Lifelong Learning (Student Support) (Amendment of Fees and Awards etc.) Regulations 2026"
    },
    {
      "type": "coming into force",
      "affecting": "uksi/2026/858",
      "affecting_title": "The Lifelong Learning (Student Support) (Amendment of Fees and Awards etc.) Regulations 2026"
    },
    {
      "type": "coming into force",
      "affecting": "uksi/2026/858",
      "affecting_title": "The Lifelong Learning (Student Support) (Amendment of Fees and Awards etc.) Regulations 2026"
    },
    {
      "type": "coming into force",
      "affecting": "uksi/2026/858",
      "affecting_title": "The Lifelong Learning (Student Support) (Amendment of Fees and Awards etc.) Regulations 2026"
    },
    {
      "type": "coming into force",
      "affecting": "uksi/2026/858",
      "affecting_title": "The Lifelong Learning (Student Support) (Amendment of Fees and Awards etc.) Regulations 2026"
    },
    {
      "type": "coming into force",
      "affecting": "uksi/2026/858",
      "affecting_title": "The Lifelong Learning (Student Support) (Amendment of Fees and Awards etc.) Regulations 2026"
    },
    {
      "type": "coming into force",
      "affecting": "uksi/2026/858",
      "affecting_title": "The Lifelong Learning (Student Support) (Amendment of Fees and Awards etc.) Regulations 2026"
    }
  ],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/858/schedule/7/paragraph/2",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-11-12T03:41:28.911901+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}