In this Part—

• “adult dependent” means, in relation to a student, an adult person dependent on the student not being his child, his spouse or a person living with him as his spouse or his former spouse, subject however to sub-paragraphs (2) and (3);

• “child”, in relation to a student, includes a person whether under or over compulsory school age, an illegitimate child, a person adopted in pursuance of adoption proceedings, a step-child and any child whose guardian or custodian the student is and who is dependent on him;

• “dependent” means, in relation to a student, his dependent child, his spouse or an adult dependent, subject however to sub-paragraphs (2) and (3);

• “income” means income for the year from all sources (reduced by income tax and social security contributions) but disregarding child benefit, any attendance allowance under sections 64 to 67 or disability living allowance under sections 71 to 76 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992, or any mobility supplement or constant attendance allowance provided for in an order made under section 12(i) of the Social Security (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 197722 and in the case of a student’s spouse, less—
  1. (a)

     where the spouse holds an award in respect of a course of teacher training specified in paragraph (c) in the definition of “course of initial teacher training” in regulation 3(i), being a part-time course or a course which is partly full-time and partly part-time, the payments in respect of maintenance made to the spouse in pursuance of regulation 12(1)(b) or so much of those payments as relates to the part-time part of the course;

  2. (b)

     where the spouse or the student makes any payment which was previously made by the student in pursuance of an obligation incurred before the first year of his course—

     1. (i)

        if, in the opinion of the board, the obligation had been reasonably so incurred, an amount equal to the payment in question;

     2. (ii)

        if, in its opinion, only a lesser obligation could have been reasonably so incurred, such correspondingly lesser amount (if any) as appears to it appropriate; and

  3. (c)
     any allowance payable to the spouse by an adoption agency in accordance with the Adoption (Northern Ireland) Order 198723;
  4. (d)
     where a child in the care of the Department of Health and Social Services or a Health and Social Services Board is boarded out with the spouse, any payment made to the spouse in pursuance of section 114(1) of the Children and Young Persons Act (Northern Ireland) 196824; and
  5. (e)

     any guardian’s allowance to which the spouse is entitled under section 77 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992;

• “relevant award” means a statutory award in respect of a person’s attendance at a full-time course of higher education or a comparable course outside Northern Ireland;

• “spouse”, except in the definition of adult dependent, shall not include a student’s spouse if they have ceased ordinarily to live together whether or not an order for their separation has been made by any court.