9.—(1) A person (the “applicant”) must apply for support in connection with each academic year of a designated course by completing and submitting to the National Assembly an application in such form and accompanied by such documentation as the National Assembly may require.
(2) The National Assembly may take such steps and make such inquiries as it considers necessary to determine whether the applicant is an eligible student, whether the applicant qualifies for support and the amount of support payable, if any.
(3) The National Assembly must notify the applicant of whether or not the applicant qualifies for support and, if the applicant does qualify, the amount of support payable in respect of the academic year, if any.
10.—(1) The general rule is that the application must reach the National Assembly within a period of nine months beginning with the first day of the academic year in respect of which it is submitted.
(2) The general rule in paragraph (1) does not apply where—
(a)the course becomes a designated course after the first day of the academic year in respect of which the applicant is applying for support, in which case the application must reach the National Assembly within a period of nine months beginning with the day on which the course was designated;
(b)the applicant, the applicant’s spouse, the applicant’s civil partner or the applicant’s parent is recognised as a refugee or has been granted leave to enter or remain as mentioned in paragraph 3 of Schedule 1 after the first day of the academic year in respect of which the applicant is applying for support, in which case the application must reach the National Assembly within a period of nine months beginning with the day of recognition or the day leave was granted, respectively;
(c)the applicant is not a person mentioned in paragraph 7 or paragraph 8 of Schedule 1 on the first day of the academic year in respect of which the applicant is applying for support but as a result of the accession of the state of which the applicant is a national to the European Community the applicant becomes such a person, in which case the application must reach the National Assembly within a period of nine months beginning with the day of the accession;
(d)the applicant is making a separate application for a loan for living costs under regulation 31 or an additional amount of loan under regulation 43(3), in which case the application must reach the National Assembly not later than one month before the end of the academic year in respect of which the applicant is applying for support;
(e)the applicant is applying to borrow an additional amount of loan under regulation 43(1), in which case the application must reach the National Assembly not later than one month before the end of the academic year to which the application relates or within a period of one month beginning with the day on which the applicant receives notice of the increased maximum amount, whichever is the later;
(f)the applicant is applying for a grant under regulation 19, in which case the application must reach the National Assembly as soon as is reasonably practicable;
(g)the National Assembly considers that having regard to the circumstances of the particular case the time limit should be relaxed, in which case the application must reach the National Assembly not later than such date as it specifies.
11. Schedule 3 applies to the provision of information.