The Department may make it a condition of entitlement to payment of the part-time fee loan or any instalment of the part-time fee loan that the eligible part-time student must provide the Department with the student’s United Kingdom national insurance number.

Where the Department has imposed a condition under paragraph (1), the Department must not make any payment of the part-time fee loan or any instalment of the part-time fee loan to the eligible part-time student before the Department is satisfied that the student has complied with that condition.

Despite paragraph (2), the Department may make a payment of part-time fee loan to an eligible part-time student if the Department is satisfied that owing to exceptional circumstances it would be appropriate to make such a payment without the eligible part-time student having complied with the condition imposed under paragraph (1).