The Education (Student Fees, Awards and Support) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2024

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations, which apply in England only, amend 7 instruments (“the 7 instruments”) relating to financial support for students:

• the Education (Fees and Awards) (England) Regulations 2007 (S.I. 2007/779),

• the Education (Student Support) Regulations 2011 (S.I. 2011/1986) (“the Student Support Regulations”),

• the Further Education Loans Regulations 2012 (S.I. 2012/1818),

• the Education (Postgraduate Master’s Degree Loans) Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/606) (“the Master’s Regulations”),

• the Higher Education (Fee Limit Condition) (England) Regulations 2017 (S.I. 2017/1189),

• the Education (Postgraduate Doctoral Degree Loans and the Education (Student Loans) (Repayment) (Amendment) (No. 2) etc.) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/599) (“the Doctoral Degree Loans Regulations”),

• the Higher Education Short Course Loans Regulations 2022 (S.I. 2022/349).

Regulations 2 to 8 amend the 7 instruments to include the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme in the definition of “person granted leave under one of the Ukraine Schemes”. A definition of “person granted leave under the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme” is also inserted in the 7 instruments.

Regulations 9 to 15 amend the 7 instruments to make changes to the definition of “person granted indefinite leave to remain as a bereaved partner” to take into account recent changes to the immigration rules dealing with such persons.

Regulations 16 and 17 make amendments to regulations 139B and 139C of the Student Support Regulations to clarify how disabled students’ allowance is dealt with when a student changes their mode of study (from full-time to part-time or vice versa) during an academic year to reflect the policy and operational position.

Regulation 18 makes amendments to regulation 3 of the Master’s Regulations to clarify that the eligibility rules regarding postgraduate master’s degree loans prevent a student from receiving a master’s degree loan if they have already received such funding from one of the devolved administrations unless they can demonstrate compelling personal reasons. Regulation 19 makes similar amendments in respect of regulation 3 of the Doctoral Degree Loans Regulations clarifying that if a doctoral degree loan from the Welsh Government has been provided to a student previously, they are not entitled to a loan under the Doctoral Degree Loans Regulations unless they can demonstrate compelling personal reasons.

Regulation 20 and the Schedule to these Regulations amend provisions in the Student Support Regulations dealing with the maximum fee loans that English domiciled students studying on designated courses provided by or on behalf of publicly funded and regulated institutions in Wales are entitled to receive. The Welsh Government has raised the fee limits for courses in Wales from the 2024/25 academic year. The corresponding fee loan limits in the Student Support Regulations are updated accordingly to ensure students can apply for up-front support to meet the full cost of their tuition in 2024/25.

An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sectors is foreseen.