F1PART 2ELIGIBILITY
Eligible students4.
(1)
An eligible student qualifies for support in connection with a designated course subject to and in accordance with these Regulations.
(2)
Subject to paragraph (3), a person is an eligible student in connection with a designated course if the Department has determined in connection with that course that the person falls within one of the categories set out in Part 2 of Schedule 1.
(3)
A person is not an eligible student if—
(a)
an old award has been made to him in respect of his attendance on the course;
(b)
he is eligible for a loan in relation to an academic year of the course under the Education (Student Loans) (Northern Ireland) Order 1990 or the Education (Student Loans) Act 1990;
(c)
there has been made to him or paid to him in connection with the course—
(i)
(ii)
(d)
he is in breach of any obligation to repay any loan;
(e)
he has reached the age of 18 and has not ratified any agreement for a loan made with him when he was under the age of 18;
(f)
he has, in the opinion of the Department, shown himself by his conduct to be unfitted to receive support; or
(g)
he is, on or after 1st September 2005, commencing a course for a degree in social work at an educational institution in Northern Ireland as a Regional Social Work Degree Trainee under arrangements made by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety under Article 44 of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972.
(4)
For the purposes of paragraphs (3)(d) and (3)(e), “loan” means a loan made under the student loans legislation.
(5)
In a case where the agreement for a loan is subject to the law of Scotland, paragraph (3)(e) only applies if the agreement was made—
(a)
before 25th September 1991; and
(b)
with the concurrence of the borrower’s curator or at a time when he had no curator.
(6)
An eligible student in respect of whom the first academic year of the specified designated course begins on or after 1st September 2000 may not, at any one time, qualify for support for—
(a)
more than one designated course;
(b)
a designated course and a designated part-time course;
(c)
a designated course and a designated postgraduate course.
(7)
Despite paragraphs (2) and (3), a person is an eligible student for the purposes of these Regulations if he satisfies the conditions in paragraph (8), (9) or (10).
(8)
The conditions are—
(a)
the person qualified as an eligible student in connection with an earlier academic year of the current course pursuant to regulations made by the Department under Article 3 of the Order; and
(b)
the person’s status as an eligible student has not terminated.
(9)
The conditions are—
(a)
the current course is an end-on course (other than one of the kind referred to in paragraph (c) of the definition of “end-on course” in regulation 2) that the person begins on or after 1st September 2006;
(b)
the person qualified as an eligible student in connection with the course in relation to which the current course is an end-on course; and
(c)
the period of eligibility in respect of the course referred to in sub-paragraph (b) only ceased on the grounds that the student had completed the course.
(10)
The conditions are—
(a)
the Department has previously determined that the person is—
(i)
an eligible part-time student in connection with a designated part-time course; or
(ii)
an eligible student in connection with a designated course other than the current course;
(b)
the person’s status as an eligible part-time student or as an eligible student in connection with the course referred to in sub-paragraph (a) has been converted or transferred from that course to the current course as a result of one or more conversions or transfers in accordance with regulations made by the Department under Article 3 of the Order; and
(c)
the person’s status as an eligible student has not terminated.