Explanatory note

These Regulations supersede and substantially re-enact the Students' Allowances (Scotland) Regulations 1971 (as amended) and enable the Secretary of State to pay allowances to persons attending courses of education who fulfil certain requirements as to eligibility. They also prescribe the conditions subject to which an allowance is paid. The principal differences in substance from the amended 1971 Regulations are described below.

Persons attending a course of study or undertaking postgraduate research outside Scotland may be deemed to be ordinarily resident in Scotland (regulation 2(4)(a)(ii)).

Certain persons who are denied awards by local educational authorities in England and Wales because they are classified as “no area students” may be eligible for allowances if their courses are in Scotland (regulation 2(4)(b)).

Persons who have been married for at least 3 years before the relevant date relating to the beginning of their courses are classified as independent students (regulation 2(6)(ii)).

Persons who have no parent living on the relevant date relating to the beginning of their courses are classified as independent students (regulation 2(6)(iv)).

Periods in the Youth Training Scheme count towards classification as independent students (regulation 2(6)(a)).

For persons who gain eligibility for an award by virtue of their parents' employment in the United Kingdom, that employment may be anywhere in the United Kingdom (regulation 5(b)).

Nationals of member states of the European Community who gain eligibility for an award by virtue of employment in the British Islands must have been ordinarily resident in Scotland on the qualifying day, but their employment may have been anywhere in the United Kingdom (regulation 5(c)).

Refugees and asylees do not have to be ordinarily resident in Scotland on the qualifying day before their courses begin in order to qualify for an allowance (regulation 5(d)).

Provision is made to permit the payment of tuition and other fees to nationals of the European Community who undertake courses of education in Scotland and who do not otherwise satisfy the residence requirements for an award (regulation 5(e)).

Persons who have been in receipt of an allowance for another course in the year before a new course begins do not have to satisfy further conditions as to residence (regulation 5(f)).