29.—(1) This regulation applies to an old system student who is a gap year student who has not studied on a previous course.
(2) A gap year student does not qualify for fee support in respect of a designated course if—
(a)the student has an honours degree from an institution in the United Kingdom and the exemption in regulation 14(1), (2) or (5) does not apply; or
(b)he has an honours degree from an institution in the Republic of Ireland for which he received financial support under previous regulations and the exemption in regulation 14(1), (2) or (5) does not apply; or
(c)the designated course is an old flexible postgraduate course for the initial training of teachers.
(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (2)(a) and (b) an old system student qualifies for fee support in respect of a course leading to a degree in social work at an educational institution in Northern Ireland.
(4) A gap year student does not qualify for a grant for fees in respect of an academic year of a designated course that is a bursary year or an Erasmus year.
(5) When assessing an application for support in respect of an academic year of a designated course, the Department must determine the “standard entitlement”.
(6) The standard entitlement is calculated as follows—
where
OD is the number of academic years that make up the ordinary duration of the course.
(7) When assessing an application for support in respect of an academic year of a designated course, the Department must allocate a grant for fees from the standard entitlement first to the final standard academic year of the course and then to each preceding standard academic year in turn until the standard entitlement is exhausted or a grant for fees has been allocated to each standard academic year of the course.
(8) A gap year student qualifies for a grant for fees in respect of a standard academic year of the designated course if the Department allocates a grant for fees to that year when assessing the application for support for that year.
(9) The amount of the grant for fees in respect of an academic year is determined in accordance with regulation 32 or 33 and may be nil.
Commencement Information
I1Reg. 29 in operation at 12.3.2009 with application in accordance with reg. 1(4)