The Education (Student Support) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009

Independent eligible student

2.—(1) An independent eligible student is an eligible student where—

(a) the student is aged 25 or over on the first day of the relevant year;

(b) the student is married or is in a civil partnership before the beginning of the relevant year, whether or not the marriage or civil partnership is still subsisting;

(c) the student has no parent living;

(d) the Department is satisfied that neither of the student’s parents can be found or that it is not reasonably practicable to get in touch with either of them;

(e) the student has communicated with neither of the student’s parents for the period of one year before the beginning of the relevant year or, in the opinion of the Department, the student can demonstrate on other grounds that the student is irreconcilably estranged from the student’s parents;

(f) the student was looked after by an authority (within the meaning of Articles 25 and 26 of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995(1)) throughout any three-month period ending on or after the date on which the student reached the age of 16 and before the first day of the first academic year of the course (“the relevant period”) provided that the student has not in fact at any time during the relevant period been under the charge or control of the student’s parents;

(g) the student’s parents are residing outside the European Community and the Department is satisfied that either—

(i) the assessment of the household income by reference to their residual income would place those parents in jeopardy; or

(ii) it would not be reasonably practicable for those parents as a result of the calculation of any contribution under paragraph 8 or 9 to send any relevant funds to the United Kingdom;

(h) paragraph 5(9) applies and the parent whom the Department considered the more appropriate for the purposes of that paragraph has died (irrespective of whether the parent in question had a partner);

(i) in the case of a student who began the current course before 1st September 2009, the student is a member of a religious order who resides in a house of that order;

(j) as at the first day of the relevant year, the student has the care of a person under the age of 18; or

(k) the student (“A”) has supported A out of A’s earnings for any period or periods ending before the first academic year of the course which periods together aggregate not less than three years, and for the purposes of this sub-paragraph A is to be treated as supporting A out of A’s earnings during any period in which—

(i) A was participating in arrangements for training for the unemployed under any scheme operated by, sponsored or funded by any state authority or agency, whether national, regional or local (“a relevant authority”);

(ii) A was in receipt of benefit payable by any relevant authority in respect of a person who is available for employment but who is unemployed;

(iii) A was available for employment and had complied with any requirement of registration imposed by a relevant authority as a condition of entitlement for participation in arrangements for training or receipt of benefit;

(iv) A held a state studentship or comparable award; or

(v) A received any pension, allowance or other benefit paid by any person by reason of a disability to which A is subject, or by reason of confinement, injury or sickness.

(2) An eligible student who qualifies as an independent eligible student under sub-paragraph (1)(j) in respect of an academic year of a designated course retains that status for the duration of the period of eligibility.

(1)

S.I. 1995/755 (N.I. 2)