The Rate Relief (Education, Training and Leaving Care) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007

PART 1 Introductory

Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Rate Relief (Education, Training and Leaving Care) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007 and shall come into operation on 1st April 2007.

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations—

“the 1977 Order” means the Rates (Northern Ireland) Order 1977;

“the 1995 Order” means the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995(1);

“academic year” means the period of twelve months beginning on 1st January, 1st April, 1st July or 1st September of the calendar year in which the academic year of the course in question begins according to whether that academic year begins on or after 1st January and before 1st April, on or after 1st April and before 1st July, on or after 1st July and before 1st August or on or after 1st August and on or before 31st December, respectively;

“approved course of training” shall be construed in accordance with regulation 8;

“course for the initial training of teachers” includes such a course leading to a first degree unless otherwise indicated but excludes an employment-based teacher training scheme;

“designated course” shall be construed in accordance with regulation 7;

“institution” in relation to a designated course means an educational institution and in relation to an approved course of training means a training institution approved by the Department of Employment and Learning for the purposes of these Regulations;

“periods of work experience” means—

(a)

periods of industrial, professional or commercial experience associated with full-time study at an institution but at a place outside that institution; or

(b)

periods during which a person is employed and residing in a country whose language is one that he is studying for his course (provided that the period of residence in that country is a requirement of his course and the study of one or more modern languages accounts for not less than one half of the total time spent studying on the course);

“postgraduate course” means a course for entry to which a first degree (or equivalent qualification) or higher is normally required;

“publicly funded” means maintained or assisted by recurrent grants out of public funds and related expressions are to be interpreted accordingly;

“quarter” in relation to an academic year means the first three months, and any subsequent period of three months, of that year;

“rate relief” means rate relief under Article 30B of the 1977 Order as read with these Regulations;

“relevant institution of higher education in the Republic of Ireland” means an institution listed in Schedule 2.

(2) In relation to a designated course or an approved course of training provided by an institution which does not have academic years, any reference to such a year shall (except for the purposes of paragraph (3)), be treated as a reference to a calendar year beginning on the day on which the course begins.

(3) In relation to any designated course or approved course of training which begins part way through an academic year of the institution providing it, the course shall be treated as beginning on the first day of that academic year.

(4) A person shall, for the purposes of these Regulations, be treated as undertaking a designated course or a course of approved training from the date the course begins or is treated under these Regulations as beginning.

(5) A course is provided by an institution if it provides the teaching or training and supervision which comprise the course, whether or not the institution has entered into an agreement with the student or trainee to provide the course.

Gap Year Student

3.—(1) This paragraph applies where—

(a) a person had on or before 1st August in any year received an offer, whether conditional on obtaining specified qualifications or not, of a place on a designated course; and

(b) the academic year of the course begins on or after 1st September in the same year but before 1st September in the next following year.

(2) This paragraph applies where—

(a) a person had received an offer (“the first offer”) of a place on a designated course which begins on or before 1st September in the same year (“the current year”);

(b) he was unable to take up the offer because a particular qualification or grade was not awarded to him;

(c) he appealed against the decision not to award him the qualification or grade;

(d) the appeal was allowed after the last date on which he could have taken up the offer;

(e) as a result, he was offered a place on that or a similar designated course; and

(f) the first academic year of the course referred to in sub-paragraph (e) begins on or after 1st September in the current year but before 1st September in the next year.

(3) Where paragraph (1) applies a person shall be treated as a gap year student from the date he received the offer until—

(a) where he takes up the offer, the first day of the academic year in which the course in question begins; or

(b) in any other case, the date he indicates that he does not intend to take up the offer or if he gives no such indication the first day of the academic year for the course to which the offer relates,

as the case may be.

(4) Where paragraph (2) applies a person shall be treated as a gap year student from the date he received the first offer until—

(a) where he takes up that offer or any other offer referred to in that paragraph, the first day of the academic year in which the course in question begins; or

(b) in any other case, the date he indicates that he does not intend to take up that offer or any other offer referred to in that paragraph or, if he gives no such indication, the first day of the academic year for the course to which the first offer relates,

as the case may be.

(5) Where a person has—

(a) completed at least one academic year of any designated course but not the entire course;

(b) without withdrawing from or abandoning the course and with the agreement of the institution providing it has, for any purpose (including private study, work experience, training, voluntary work, recreation or travel) absented himself from the course for not more than one academic year; and

(c) at the end of his period of absence resumes undertaking the course,

he shall be treated as a gap year student for the period of his absence.

Transfer Student

4.—(1) This paragraph applies where—

(a) a person is undertaking a designated course;

(b) at or before the end of the academic year for that course he withdraws from that course without completing it; and

(c) not later than the beginning of the next academic year he begins to undertake another designated course, whether provided by the same institution or not.

(2) Where paragraph (1) applies a person shall be treated as a transfer student from the date of his withdrawal from the course until he begins to undertake another designated course.

Sandwich Course

5.—(1) For the purposes of these Regulations, a course is a “sandwich course” if—

(a) it is not a course for the initial training of teachers;

(b) it consists of alternate periods of full-time study in an institution and periods of work experience; and

(c) taking the course as a whole, the person undertaking that course is required by the institution to attend (whether at the premises of the institution or elsewhere) for full-time study for an average of not less than 18 weeks in each academic year and in each such week that person is required to attend he is expected to undertake periods of study or tuition amounting to at least 21 hours on average.

(2) A person is to be regarded as undertaking a sandwich course from the beginning of the first period of full-time study until the end of the last such period.

(3) For the purposes of paragraph (1), where periods of full-time study and work experience alternate within any week of the course, the days of full-time study are aggregated with each other and with any weeks of full-time study in determining the number of weeks of full-time study in each year.

(1)

S.I. 1995/755 (N.I. 2)