The Education (Student Support) (Wales) Regulations 2018

CHAPTER 4 SPECIAL SUPPORT PAYMENT

Special support payment

50.—(1) Where an eligible student who qualifies for a base grant or, as the case may be, a maintenance grant, meets one of the qualifying conditions in regulation 51—

(a) all of the base grant payable to the eligible student, and

(b) an amount of maintenance grant payable to the student up to the maximum specified in regulation 52,

is to be treated as a special support payment.

(2) A special support payment is a payment which is intended to meet—

(a) the cost of books and equipment;

(b) travel expenses;

(c) childcare costs,

in connection with an eligible student undertaking a designated course.

Special support payment: qualifying conditions

51.  An eligible student qualifies for a special support payment in respect of an academic year of the present course if the eligible student satisfies one of the following conditions—

Condition A

The eligible student, for the purposes of assessing entitlement to income support, falls within a prescribed category of person for the purposes of section 124(1)(e)(1) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992.

Condition B

The eligible student, for the purposes of assessing entitlement to housing benefit, is treated as being liable to make payments in respect of a dwelling prescribed by regulations made under section 130(2) of that Act(2).

Condition C

The eligible student, for the purposes of assessing entitlement to universal credit, is liable or is treated as being liable under regulation 25(3) of the Universal Credit Regulations 2013(3) to make payments in respect of accommodation the student occupies as his or her home.

Maximum amount of maintenance grant treated as special support payment

52.  In Table 6, Column 2 sets out the maximum amount of maintenance grant payable as special support payment in respect of the academic year set out in the corresponding entry in Column 1.

Table 6

Column 1 Academic year	Column 2 Maximum amount of maintenance grant payable as part of a special support payment
Beginning on or after 1 September 2018	£4,161 for a full-time course £5,000 multiplied by the intensity of study for a part-time course

(1)

1992 c 4. There are amendments to section 124 which are not relevant to these Regulations and the section is repealed by the Welfare Reform Act 2012 (c. 3), section 147 and Schedule 14 Part 1 subject to savings specified in SI 2013/358 article 9. Categories under section 124(1)(e) are prescribed by regulations. The relevant regulation is regulation 4ZA of the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987 (S.I. 1987/1967). Regulation 4ZA was inserted by S.I. 1996/206 and amended by S.I. 1997/2197, S.I. 2000/1981, S.I. 2001/3070, S.I. 2008/1826, S.I. 2009/2655, S.I. 2009/3152 and S.I. 2013/2536.

(2)

There are amendments to section 130 which are not relevant to these Regulations and the section is repealed by the Welfare Reform Act 2012 (c. 3), section 147 and Schedule 14 Part 1 subject to savings specified in SI 2013/358 article 9. The relevant regulation is regulation 56 of the Housing Benefit Regulations 2006 S.I. 2006/213 as amended by S.I. 2008/1042, S.I. 2008/1082, S.I. 2012/757, S.I. 2013/630, S.I. 2013/2070 and SI 2017/901.

(3)

S.I. 2013/376