Explanatory Note
(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations, which come into force on 1st September 1999, are made under section 22 of the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998. They provide for grants for fees, loans for maintenance and supplementary grants for maintenance for eligible students in connection with their attendance on designated higher education dance or drama courses.
Eligible students are dance students aged 16 or over or drama students aged 18 or over who meet the eligibility criteria found in the Education (Student Support) Regulations 1999, or would meet them if they were attending courses designated for the purposes of those Regulations (regulation 3(1)(a) and (b)). In addition the students must have been selected by the Secretary of State on the basis of merit (regulation 3(1)(c)). The selection will be undertaken on behalf of the Secretary of State by governing bodies of higher education institutions pursuant to a determination under section 23 of the 1998 Act. The total number selected must not exceed 329 (regulation 3(2)).
Designated courses are specified full-time courses of at least one academic year’s duration provided by ten specified privately funded higher education institutions (regulation 4).
Applications for support will be made following the procedure applicable under the Education (Student Support) Regulations 1999 (regulation 5), and a student who is determined to be eligible for support will be eligible for support under those Regulations (regulation 6). The level of support for fees shall be that applicable to publicly funded institutions (regulation 6(2)).
Where an applicant is already eligible for support under the Education (Student Support) Regulations 1999 if he is notified of eligibility under these Regulations they will apply for the purposes of determining the support payable for the academic years specified in the notification (regulation 5(3)).