4.—(1) A qualifying course which is prescribed for the purposes of Article 4 of the Order is a course of higher education which, subject to paragraph (3), is a course which is designated for the purposes of Article 3 of the Education (Student Support) (Northern Ireland) Order 1998(1) on the first day of an academic year which begins during the grant period and is provided by an institution in Northern Ireland.
(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1) the reference to an institution in Northern Ireland means an institution whose activities are carried out in Northern Ireland.
(3) A course is not a qualifying course if at the time the qualifying person received an offer of a place on that course the institution providing it was not publicly-funded.
S.I. 1998/1760 (N.I. 14) as amended by the Learning and Skills Act 2000 (c.21), section 147(3)(a) and (b) and the Higher Education (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 (S.I. 2005/1116 (N.I. 5))