The Education (Student Support) (Wales) Regulations 2012 (revoked) / Rheoliadau Addysg (Cymorth i Fyfyrwyr) (Cymru) 2012

Explanatory note

Reproduced verbatim from the instrument as published on legislation.gov.uk (Crown Copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0). The note is prepared by the responsible government department and is not part of the instrument itself.

These Regulations provide for financial support for students who are ordinarily resident in Wales taking designated higher education courses in respect of academic years beginning on or after 1 September 2013. They consolidate, with some changes, the Assembly Learning Grants and Loans (Higher Education) (Wales) (No.2) Regulations 2011 (“the 2011 (No. 2) Regulations”).

These Regulations revoke the 2011 (No. 2) Regulations subject to the provisions of regulation 3 explained below. The 2011 (No. 2) Regulations will continue to apply to the provision of support to students in relation to the academic year which begins on or after 1 September 2012 but before 1 September 2013. Regulation 3 sets out the extent of the revocation. Changes of substance made in these Regulations are highlighted below.

To qualify for financial support a student must be an “eligible student”. Broadly, a person is an eligible full-time student if that person falls within one of the categories listed in Part 2 of Schedule 1 and also satisfies the eligibility provisions in Part 2 of the Regulations (separate eligibility provisions apply to students undertaking distance learning, part-time and postgraduate courses and Parts 11 to 13 of the Regulations refer).

The Regulations apply to students ordinarily resident in Wales wherever they study on a designated course in the United Kingdom. For the purposes of these Regulations a person who is ordinarily resident in Wales, England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man as a result of having moved from one of those areas for the purpose of undertaking a designated course is considered ordinarily resident in the place from which that person moved (Schedule 1, paragraph 1(3)). An eligible student must also satisfy any requirements elsewhere in the Regulations; in particular the specific requirements applicable to each type of financial support.

Support is only available under the Regulations in respect of “designated” courses within the meaning of regulations 5, 78, 95, 121 and Schedule 2.

The distinction between old system eligible students and new system eligible students (introduced by the Assembly Learning Grants and Loans (Higher Education) (Wales) Regulations 2006) in relation to financial support to students for full-time courses is retained (regulation 2(1)).

Old system eligible students are eligible students attending courses that started before 1 September 2006, gap-year students starting courses before 1 September 2007 and certain other categories of student. The following grants and loans are available to old system eligible students subject to the conditions prescribed in the relevant regulations-

Grant for fees (regulations 16 to 18);

Fee contribution loan (regulation 22);

Grant for disabled students' living costs (regulation 29);

Grants for dependants (regulations 30 to 35);

Grant for travel (regulations 37 to 39);

Higher education grant (regulation 40); and

Loans for living costs (Part 6).

A new system eligible student is an eligible student who started their course on or after 1 September 2006 and is continuing on that course after 31 August 2013, or starts their present course on or after 1 September 2013, and is not an old system eligible student. The following grants and loans are available to new system eligible students subject to the conditions prescribed in the relevant regulations—

Fee grant (regulation 19);

New fee grant (regulation 20);

Fee loan (regulations 23 and 24);

New fee loan (regulation 25);

New private institution fee loan (regulation 26);