Students Awards Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998

Part III Amount of Awards

Payments by boards

12.—(1) Subject to regulations 11, 15, 16, 17, 19 and 20 and paragraph 4 of Schedule 3, the board shall in respect of each year pay in pursuance of an old award—

(a) in respect of fees, an amount equal to the aggregate of any fees payable in respect of the student as are described in Schedule 5;

(b) where the award is a full award, in respect of maintenance—

(i) a sum calculated in accordance with regulation 13; and

(ii) the aggregate of the amounts specified in paragraph (3).

(2) Subject to regulations 11, 15, 16, 17, 19 and 20 and paragraph 4 of Schedule 3, the board shall in respect of the first year of the course pay in pursuance of a transitional award—

(a) in respect of fees, a sum equal to the aggregate of any such fees payable in respect of the student as are described in paragraphs (a)(ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (x) and (xii), (b) and (c) of Schedule 5, and of any such fees as are payable in respect of a course for the initial training of teachers as described in the definition of “course of initial teacher training” in regulation 3(1);

(b) where the award is a fees only award, a sum calculated in accordance with regulation 13 in respect of the aggregate of any such fees payable in respect of the student as are described in Schedule 5 other than the fees mentioned in sub-paragraph (a);

(c) where the award is a full award—

(i) a sum calculated in accordance with regulation 13, which shall be apportioned so that such sum as is required to meet the requirements for maintenance set out in Part I to IV of Schedule 6 in respect of maintenance, and any balance remaining shall be paid in respect of the aggregate of any such fees payable in respect of the student as are described in Schedule 5 other than the fees mentioned in sub-paragraph (a); and

(ii) in respect of maintenance the aggregate of the amounts specified in paragraph (3).

(3) The amounts referred to in paragraph (1)(b)(ii) and (2)(c)(ii) are such amounts—

(a) in respect of non-medical personal helper as the board considers appropriate not exceeding £10,000;

(b) in respect of major items of specialist equipment as the board considers appropriate not exceeding £3,955, or in the case of an old award where payments in respect of such equipment have been made in pursuance of the award in previous years, not exceeding that sum less the amount of such payments;

(c) in respect of expenditure incurred within or outside the United Kingdom for the purposes referred to in paragraph 7(1) of Schedule 6 as the board considers appropriate; and

(d) in respect of any other expenditure including expenditure incurred for the purposes specified in paragraphs (a) and (b) which exceed the maxima specified therein as the board considers appropriate not exceeding £1,315;

if the board is satisfied in each case that the student by reason of a disability to which he is subject is obliged to incur additional expenditure in respect of his attendance at the course.

(4) The aggregate of any sums paid in respect of maintenance shall be called the “maintenance grant”, and so much of the maintenance grant as appears to the board to be appropriate shall be treated as being in respect of the Easter and Christmas vacations.

(5) Subject to regulations 17, 19 and 20 and paragraph 4 of Schedule 3, a board may, in respect of a student who resides in an institution other than a university, pay the amount charged by the institution for his board and lodging.

(6) Where the current academic year of a students course began in the winter or the spring of 1998 then, notwithstanding anything in these Regulations, payments in pursuance of an award to that student in respect of the year beginning on 1st January 1998 or, as the case may be, 1st April 1998 shall be the aggregate of—

(a) two-thirds or, as the case may be, one third of the payments in pursuance of that award which would have fallen to be made in respect of that year under the Regulations referred to in regulation 2 had they not been revoked; and

(b) one-third or, as the case may be, two-thirds of the payments which would have fallen to be made in respect of the year beginning on 1st September 1998 under these Regulations had the academic year of that course begun in the autumn of 1998.

(7) In the case of a course at the University of Buckingham beginning in the winter, spring or summer of 1998 then, notwithstanding anything in these Regulations, payments in pursuance of an award in respect of the year beginning on 1st January, 1st April or 1st July (as the case may be) shall be the aggregate of—

(a) three-quarters, one-half or one-quarter (as the case may be) of the payments which would have fallen to be made in respect of that year under the Regulations referred to in regulation 2 had they not been revoked; and

(b) one-quarter, one-half or three-quarters (as the case may be) of the payments which would have fallen to be made in respect of the year beginning on 1st September 1998 under these Regulations had the academic year of the course begun in the autumn of 1998.

Calculation of maintenance grant

13.—(1) The sum mentioned in regulation 12(1)(b), (2)(b) or (c) shall be the amount by which the students resources fall short of his requirements and for the purpose of ascertaining that amount—

(a) the requirements of the student shall be taken to be the aggregate of—

(i) where the award is an old award and a full award, the amounts set out in Parts I to IV of Schedule 6 as are applicable in his case; or

(ii) where the award is a transitional award and a fees only award, the amounts set out in Part V of Schedule 6 as are applicable in his case; or

(iii) where the award is a transitional award and a full award, the amounts set out in Parts I to V of Schedule 6 as are applicable in his case; and

(b) the resources of the student shall be taken to be the aggregate of his income for the year calculated in accordance with Part I of Schedule 7 and any contribution applicable in his case by virtue of Part II or III of that Schedule.

(2) This regulation and Schedules 6 and 7 shall have effect—

(a) in the case of such a student as is mentioned in Schedule 8, subject to the provisions thereof;

(b) where regulation 15 applies, subject as therein provided.

(3) In the case of a transitional award, where any such fees as are described in paragraph (a), (vii), (viii), (ix) and (xi) of Schedule 5 are payable, the students resources shall be reduced by the amount they exceed £500, such reduction not to exceed £500.

Assessment of requirements and resources

14.  The requirements and resources of a student shall be assessed by the board, and for the purpose of the exercise of its functions under this regulation, the board shall require the student to provide from time to time such information as it considers necessary as to the resources of any person whose means are relevant to the assessment of his requirements and resources.

Sandwich courses

15.—(1) This regulation shall apply where the course is a sandwich course unless the course is a course of initial teacher training.

(2) For the purpose of calculating payments under regulation 12 in respect of a sandwich year, that regulation and Schedules 6 and 7 shall have effect subject to the provisions of Schedule 9; but no payments in respect of maintenance shall be made in respect of a year in which there are no periods of full-time study.

Courses of teacher training

16.—(1) This regulation shall apply—

(a) where the course is a part-time course of teacher training described in paragraph (b) or (c) of the definition of “course of initial teacher training” in regulation 3(1); or

(b) where it is a partly full-time and partly part-time course described in paragraph (c) of the said definition.

(2) Where the course is described in paragraph (b) of the definition of “course of initial teacher training” in regulation 3(1), the payment in respect of maintenance under regulation 12(1)(b) or (2)(c) shall be a grant equal to three-quarters of the sum otherwise payable.

(3) Subject to paragraphs (4) and (5) where the course is described in paragraph (c) of the definition of the “course of initial teacher training” in regulation 3(1), the payment under regulation 12(1)(b) or (2)(c) shall be—

(a) in a year in which the students periods of attendance are all periods of full-time attendance or in which his aggregate period of full-time attendance is 30 weeks or more, the maintenance grant;

(b) in a year in which the students periods of attendance are all periods of part-time attendance, in the case of an old award, the sum of £325, and in the case of a transitional award, no payment;

(c) in any other year, a sum equal to the aggregate of—

(i) the proportion of the maintenance grant which the student’s aggregate period of full-time attendance in the year, expressed in weeks, bears to 30; and

(ii) in the case of an old award the proportion of £325 which the difference between the said aggregate period and 30 weeks bears to 30.

(4) In relation to a student employed full-time as a teacher, in the case of an old award, paragraph (3) shall have effect, except that in such a year as is mentioned in sub-paragraph (a) thereof, as if it provided that the payment under regulation 12 should be £90 and in the case of a transitional award, no payment.

(5) In relation to a student attending a course provided at the University of Oxford or the University of Cambridge, sub-paragraphs (a) and (c) of paragraph (3) shall have effect as if any reference therein to—

(a) a period of 30 weeks were a reference to 25 weeks; and

(b) the proportion which a period expressed in weeks bears to 30 were a reference to the proportion which that period bears to 25.

(6) For the purposes of this regulation a day shall be reckoned as a seventh of a week, and “attendance” means attendance for the purposes of study or teaching practice.

Assisted students

17.—(1) Notwithstanding anything in the preceding provisions of these Regulations, no payment under regulation 12 shall be made to a person in respect of any year in respect of which he receives such payments as are mentioned in paragraph (2) amounting to not less than the aggregate of—

(a) such fees payable by him as are described in Schedule 5 and if they are payable to an institution which is maintained or assisted by recurrent grants out of public funds, which do not exceed the maxima referred to therein; and

(b) his requirements for maintenance ascertained in accordance with—

(i) Part I of Schedule 6;

(ii) paragraphs 5 and 6 of Part II of that Schedule; and

(iii) Parts III and IV of that Schedule; and

(c) the amounts specified in regulation 12(3),

irrespective of whether any maintenance grant would in fact be payable in his case by virtue of any other provision in these Regulations.

(2) The payments referred to in paragraph (1) are the aggregate payments received by the person—

(a) in pursuance of any award, bursary or other payment made to him in respect of the course (other than an award made under these Regulations or previous awards regulations, or out of access funds held by the institution at which he attends his course); and

(b) if he is in gainful employment, by way of remuneration (reduced by income tax and social security contributions) paid in respect of any period for which he has leave of absence from that employment or is relieved of his normal duties in the course of that employment for the purpose of attending the course,

except that, if the person’s course is a part-time course of teacher training described in paragraph (c) in the definition of “course of initial teacher training” in regulation 3(1) and some or all of his periods of attendance are periods of part-time attendance, any payments by way of remuneration shall be disregarded.

(3) Where a person receives such payments as are mentioned in paragraph (2) in a currency other than sterling the value of a payment shall be—

(a) if the person purchases sterling with the payment the amount of sterling the person receives for it, otherwise

(b) the value of the sterling which the payment would purchase using the rate for the month in which it is received as published by the Office for National Statistics in ‘Financial Statistics’.

Method of payment

18.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the board shall make any payment due under these Regulations in such installments (if any) and at such times as it considers appropriate; and in the exercise of its functions under this regulation the board may make provisional payments pending the final calculation of the award.

(2) Subject to paragraphs (3) and (4) the board shall pay such fees as are described in Schedule 5 promptly when a valid request for payment in respect thereof has been received.

(3) Fees described in paragraph (a)(i), (iv), v(i), (vii), (viii), (ix) and (xi) and (c) of Schedule 5 shall be paid during the period of 10 weeks which begins after the expiry of 3 months from the beginning of the year.

(4) Payment of fees described in paragraphs (a)(ii), (iii), (v), (x) and (xii) and (b) of Schedule 5 shall be made in the number of installments, if any, mentioned therein after the first dates on which the student is required to attend his course after 1st January, 1st April, 1st July and 1st September respectively, beginning with a payment after the first date on which he is required to attend after the beginning of the year of the course, and continuing with payments after the next such first dates on which he is required to attend, until all the installments which are payable for the year have been paid.

(5) All payments shall be made to the student, except—

(a) payment of the fees described in Schedule 5 may be made to the academic authority; and

(b) where amounts specified in regulation 12(3) are payable to him on his written instruction payment in respect of his maintenance grant may be made to a third party.

(6) Without prejudice to regulation 20 or the recovery of an overpayment by way of a deduction from a subsequent payment, any overpayment or underpayment made in pursuance of this regulation shall be adjusted by payment between the student or, as the case may be, the academic authority and the board.

Reduced Entitlement to Payments

19.—(1) In respect of any period during which the student repeats any part of his course, the board shall not be required to make any repayments under regulation 12 but may pay in pursuance of the award such amounts (if any) as it considers appropriate, being amounts not exceeding the amount of any payments that would, apart from this regulation, be payable to that student in respect of that period.

(2) Paragraph (3) shall apply in the case of a student who—

(a) has previously attended a course of higher education being—

(i) in the case of a specified course, a course of up to two academic years' duration; or

(ii) in the case of a course other than a specified course, a course of two academic years' duration; or

(b) has previously successfully completed a part-time course corresponding to such a course as is mentioned in sub-paragraph (a)

(“the previous course”) and who holds an award made in respect of a course of initial teacher training or a course listed in paragraph 1 or 5 of Schedule 2, being a course of more than one years' duration (“the current course”).

(3) A board shall only be required to make payments under regulation 12 in pursuance of an award in respect of the current course where—

(a) that course is not more than two years' duration, in respect of the final year of the student’s course;

(b) that course is of a greater number of years' duration, in respect of that number less two of the final years of the student’s course,

but, in respect of any other year of the student’s current course it may make such payments as it considers appropriate, not exceeding those payments which would, apart from this regulation have been payable under regulation 12.

(4) In paragraphs (2) and (3) any reference—

(a) to the duration of a course is a reference to the period ordinarily required for its completion by a student who is not excused part of the course on account of his having attended a previous course, in the case of a sandwich course ignoring any periods of experience;

(b) to the final year or years of a student’s course is in the case of a student so excused part of the course, a reference thereto after taking account of the consequential reduction in the duration of his course;

(c) to a person’s having attended a course shall be construed as provided in regulation 9(1).

(5) Where a board makes an award to a person during a year because he has become—

(a) a European student as a result of the accession of the State of which he is a national to the European Community; or

(b) a refugee, or the spouse or child of a refugee, as a result of the recognition of him, or his spouse or parent, as a refugee,

it shall deduct from the sums and grant payable in respect of that year in pursuance of the award under regulation 12 the amounts referred to in paragraph (6).

(6) The amounts to be deducted under paragraph (5) are—

(a) from the sum payable in respect of fees under regulation 12 the amount of any instalment payable before the date on which the student became a European student or the refugee was recognised as a refugee; and

(b) from the sum or grant payable in respect of maintenance under regulation 12 the proportion of that sum or grant which relates to the period before the date referred to in sub-paragraph (a).

(7) Where an award had been transferred by the board under paragraph 1(1)(a) or (b) of Schedule 3 and—

(a) the requisite recommendation or consent to the transfer is given after the expiry of four months after the end of the first year of the course in respect of which the award was originally made (“the previous course”); and

(b) the board is not satisfied, after consulting the academic authority or authorities concerned, that the fact that the requisite recommendation or consent was given after the expiry of the period specified in sub-paragraph (a) was due only to the need to apply through a clearing admission system; and

(c) the board is satisfied, after consulting the academic authority or authorities concerned, that the period which the student in question will ordinarily require for the completion of the course which he now attends (“the current course”) will expire later than the period which he would have required for the completion of the previous course,

then the board shall not make payments otherwise due under regulation 12 in respect of the current course in respect of the period mentioned in paragraph (8).

(8) The period referred to in paragraph (7) is the period which begins on the first day on which the student attends the new course and which ends after the number of weeks mentioned in paragraph (9).

(9) The number of weeks referred to in paragraph (8) is the difference between the number of weeks which the student in question will ordinarily require for the completion of the current course and the number of weeks which he would have required to complete the previous course.

(10) Where an award has been transferred under paragraph 1(1)(c) or (d) of Schedule 3 so as to be held in respect of a student’s attendance at a course for the degree of Bachelor of Education (“the current course”) if the period which the student in question would ordinarily require for the completion of the current course, when aggregated with the period for which the student has already pursued a course in respect of which the award was held (“the overall period of study”), exceeds—

(a) five years where the current course is for the honours degree of Bachelor of Education; or

(b) four years where the current course is for that degree not being an honours degree,

(“the prescribed period of study”) then the board shall not make payments otherwise due under regulation 12 in respect of the current course in respect of the period mentioned in paragraph (11).

(11) The period referred to in paragraph (10) is the period beginning on the first day on which the student attends the current course and continues for the number of weeks mentioned in paragraph (12).

(12) The number of weeks referred to in paragraph (11) is the number of weeks by which the overall period of study exceeds the prescribed period of study.

(13) In determining the period ordinarily required to complete a course for the purposes of paragraph (7), (9) or (10) there shall be included vacations, and any period until the end of the final year of the course, but there shall be ignored—

(a) in each case, periods of experience which are part of a sandwich course; and

(b) in the case of the previous course any period during which the student would now be required by the academic authority to repeat part of the course, if the board would not make any payments for maintenance in respect of that period under paragraph (1).

(14) For the purposes of paragraphs (7) and (10) a payment is due in respect of the period mentioned in paragraphs (8) and (11) respectively if it is—

(a) any instalment or other payment on account of fees becoming payable under regulation 12 during that period; or

(b) a sum or grant payable, or the proportion of a sum or grant payable, in respect of maintenance under regulation 12 which relates to that period.

Withholding and reduction of payments

20.—(1) Without prejudice to paragraphs 2(1)(c) and 4(2) of Schedule 3 in the case of any student who is for the time being in default of any requirement to provide such information as is described in regulation 14, the board may withhold, in part, any payment due to him in respect of maintenance and calculated or determined in accordance with regulation 13, 15 or 16.

(2) No payment shall be made in respect of fees if—

(a) before the date on which the fees become payable the student ceases to attend the course; and

(b) the academic authority has determined or agreed that he will not commence attending again during the year in respect of which the fees are payable, or at all.

(3) In respect of any period—

(a) after the termination of an award;

(b) during which a student is excluded by the academic authority from attendance at the course; or

(c) during which a student is absent without leave from his course,

any payment in respect of maintenance otherwise due in pursuance of the award shall be reduced by the sum mentioned in paragraph (4).

(4) In respect of any other period being—

(a) a period during which a student is absent from his course (other than a period of not more than 60 days due to illness); or

(b) where an award held in respect of one course is transferred in pursuance of paragraph 1(1) of Schedule 3 so as to be held in respect of another course, a period during which the student is not required to attend either course (other than the period of a single vacation); or

(c) a period during which the student is detained in pursuance of an order made by any court,

the board may reduce any payment in respect of maintenance otherwise due in pursuance of the award by such amount, not exceeding the sum mentioned in paragraph (4), as having regard to all relevant circumstances it considers appropriate.

(5) The sum referred to in paragraphs (3) and (4) is the aggregate of—

(a) the maintenance grant payable for the year under regulation 12(1) or (2) multiplied by the number of days for which the period in question lasted divided by the number of days in respect of which the grant is payable for the year; and

(b) such portion of the maintenance grant payable under regulation 12(3) as the board considers appropriate.

(6) In determining the number of days for which the period in question lasted under paragraph (5) the board shall disregard the first 60 days of any period of absence due to illness.

Saving provision

21.  In relation to a person who commenced attendance at an institution of higher education in the Republic of Ireland providing a full time course comparable to one listed in paragraphs 1, 2, 3 or 4 of Schedule 2 before 10th July 1996 or could have commenced such attendance before that date but for choosing to defer such attendance, the following provisions of the Students Awards Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996(1) shall continue to apply as if those Regulations had not been revoked—

(a) the definition of “institution” in regulation 3(1);

(b) sub-paragraph (i) of paragraph (a) in Schedule 6.

(1)

S.R. 1996 No. 190 was revoked and replaced by S.R. 1996 No. 298; regulation 21 was saved by S.R. 1997 No. 361