The Education (Student Support) Regulations 1998

Interpretation

2.—(1) In the Regulations, except where the context otherwise requires—

• “academic year”, in relation to a course, means the period of twelve months beginning on 1st January, 1st April, 1st July or 1st September, according as the academic year of the course in question begins in the winter, the spring, the summer or the autumn respectively;

• “accelerated course” means a course which persons undertaking it are normally required by the institution providing it to attend (whether at premises of the institution or elsewhere) for a period of at least 40 weeks in the final year, being a course of two academic years' duration;

• “the Act” means the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998;

• “borrower” means a person to whom money has been lent under the Act;

• “certificate of eligibility” means a certificate issued to a student under regulation 5(7);

• “designated course” means a course designated by regulation 4(1) or by the Secretary of State under regulation 4(4);

• “disability related benefit” means long term incapacity benefit or short term incapacity benefit at the higher rate, severe disablement allowance, disability living allowance, industrial injuries benefit and disability working allowance, all payable under the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992(1), or the amount of any disability premium and severe disability premium included in the applicable amount in calculating the income support payable under the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987(2);

• “EEA Agreement” means the Agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2nd May 1992(3) as adjusted by the Protocol signed at Brussels on 17th March 1993(4);

• “EEA migrant worker” has the meaning assigned to it in paragraph (5);

• “eligible” means eligible for the purposes of the Act as provided in regulation 3;

• “European Community” means the territory comprised by the member States of the European Community as constituted from time to time;

• “European Economic Area” means the European Community and subject to the conditions laid down in the EEA Agreement the area comprised by the Republic of Iceland, the Kingdom of Norway and the Principality of Liechtenstein;

• “the Islands” means the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man;

• “loan” means a loan towards a student’s maintenance under the Act, including the interest accrued on the loan and any penalties and charges made in connection with it;

• “periods of work experience” means periods of industrial, professional or commercial experience associated with full-time study at an institution but at a place outside the institution;

• “quarter”, in relation to an academic year, means one of the periods in that year from 1st January to 31st March, 1st April to 30th June, 1st July to 31st August, or 1st September to 31st December;

• “refugee” means a person who is recognised by Her Majesty’s government as a refugee within the meaning of the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees done at Geneva on 28th July 1951(5) as extended by the Protocol thereto which entered into force on 4th October 1967(6) and any reference to the child of a refugee includes a reference to a step-child;

• “responsible person” means a consular officer, minister of religion, medical or legal practitioner, established civil servant, teacher or police officer;

• “sandwich course” means a course consisting of alternate periods of full-time study in an institution and periods of work experience so organised that, taking the course as a whole, the student attends the periods of full-time study for an average of not less than 19 weeks in each year; and for the purposes of calculating his attendance the course shall be treated as beginning with the first period of full-time study and ending with the last such period; and

• “student loan account number” means the account number assigned by the lender to a loan made under the Act, the Education (Student Loans) Act 1990(7), the Education (Student Loans) (Northern Ireland) Order 1990(8), the Education (Scotland) Act 1980(9) or the Education (Student Support) (Northern Ireland) Order 1998(10).

(2) For the purposes of these Regulations a person who is ordinarily resident in England and Wales as a result of having moved from Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for the purpose of attending his present course or a previous designated course which (disregarding any intervening vacation) he was attending immediately before commencing his present course shall be considered to be ordinarily resident in the place from which he moved.

(3) For the purposes of these Regulations a person shall be treated as ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom and Islands or in the European Economic Area if he would have been so resident but for the fact that he, his spouse or his parent, guardian or any other person having parental responsibility for him, or any person having care of him when he is a child is, or was temporarily employed outside the United Kingdom and Islands, or as the case may be, outside the European Economic Area and paragraph 7(c) of Schedule 1 shall not apply in the case of such a person.

(4) For the purposes of the Regulations an area which—

(a) was previously not part of the European Community or the European Economic Area, but

(b) at any time before or after these Regulations come into force has become part of one or other or both of those areas

shall be considered to have always been part of the European Economic Area.

(5) In these Regulations a reference to an EEA migrant worker is a reference to a person who is a national of a member State of the European Economic Area who has taken up an activity as an employed person in the United Kingdom—

(a) under Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1612/68 on freedom of movement of workers within the Community(11) as extended by the EEA Agreement; or

(b) in circumstances where as a national of the United Kingdom he has an enforceable Community right to be treated no less favourably than a national of another member State in relation to matters which are the subject of the above mentioned Council Regulation.

(1)

1992 c. 4, amended by the Social Security (Incapacity for Work) Act 1994 (c. 18), sections 1 to 3, 5 to 6, 8 to 11 and Schedules 1 and 2.

(2)

S.I. 1987/1967 (see Parts III and IV of Schedule 2); the relevant amending regulations are S.I. 1988/663, 1988/2022, 1989/1678, 1991/1559, 1991/2742, 1993/1150, 1993/2119, 1994/2139, 1994/3061, 1995/482, 1995/515, 1997/543.

(3)

Cmnd. 2073.

(4)

Cmnd. 2183.

(5)

Cmnd. 9171.

(6)

Cmnd. 3906 (Out of print; photocopies are available, free of charge, from the Student Support Division, Department for Education and Employment, Mowden Hall, Staindrop Road, Darlington DL3 9BG or the Student Awards Agency for Scotland, Gyleview House, 3 Redheughs Rigg, South Gyle, Edinburgh EH12 9HH).

(7)

1990 c. 6, amended by the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 (c. 13), Schedule 8, paragraph 67; by the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992 (c. 37), Schedule 9, paragraphs 12(2) and (3); by the Education Act 1994 (c. 30), Schedule 2, paragraph 9; by the Education (Student Loans) Act 1996 (c. 9), section 1(1) and the Schedule; by the Education Act 1996 (c. 56), Schedule 37, paragraph 98 and Schedule 38, and by the Education (Student Loans) Act 1998 (c. 1), sections 1 to 3.

(8)

S.I. 1990/1506 (N.I. 11).

(9)

1980 c. 44; amended by the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998 (c. 30), section 29.

(10)

S.I. 1998/1760 (N.I. 14).

(11)

OJ No. L257, 19.10.68, p.2 (OJ/SE 1968 (II), p.457).