The Education (Student Support) (Postgraduate Master's Degrees) (Wales) Regulations 2019

Regulation 4(1)

SCHEDULE 1 E+W Interpretation

Meaning of academic year E+W

1.—(1) An “academic year”, in respect of a course, is determined as follows—

(a) identify the period in Column 2 of Table 1 within which the academic year actually begins;

(b) the academic year is the period of 12 months beginning on the date specified in the entry in Column 1 of the Table corresponding to the period set out in Column 2.

(2) Any reference in these Regulations to an “academic year” is a reference to a year determined in accordance with sub-paragraph (1).

Table 1

Column 1Start date of academic year for the purposes of these Regulations	Column 2Period within which academic year begins
1 September	On or after 1 August but before 1 January
1 January	On or after 1 January but before 1 April
1 April	On or after 1 April but before 1 July
1 July	On or after 1 July but before 1 August

Commencement Information

I1 Sch. 1 para. 1 in force at 27.5.2019, see reg. 1(2)

Educational institutions E+W

2.—(1) In these Regulations—

(a) “Welsh funded institution” means an institution maintained or assisted by recurrent grants out of funds provided by the Welsh Ministers;

(b) “Scottish funded institution” means an institution maintained or assisted by recurrent grants out of funds provided by the Scottish Ministers;

(c) “Northern Irish funded institution” means an institution maintained or assisted by recurrent grants out of funds provided by the Northern Ireland Executive;

(d) “English regulated institution” means a registered English institution subject to a fee limit condition under section 10 of the Higher Education and Research Act 2017 M1 ;

(e) “registered English institution” means an institution registered by the Office for Students M2 in the register;

(f) “English plan provider” means a registered English institution which has an access and participation plan approved by the Office for Students under section 29 of the Higher Education and Research Act 2017 and which remains in force.

(2) In this paragraph, any reference to the register is a reference to the register established and maintained by the Office for Students under section 3 of the Higher Education and Research Act 2017.

Commencement Information

I2 Sch. 1 para. 2 in force at 27.5.2019, see reg. 1(2)

Marginal Citations

M1 2017 c. 29.

M2 The Office for Students is a body corporate established under section 1 of the Higher Education and Research Act 2017.

Interpretation of other key terms E+W

3.—(1) In these Regulations—

“academic authority” (“awdurdod academaidd”) means, in relation to an institution, the governing body or other body having the functions of a governing body and includes a person acting with the authority of that body;

[F1 “the 2020 Citizens’ Rights Regulations” (“Rheoliadau Hawliau Dinasyddion 2020”) means the Citizens’ Rights (Application Deadline and Temporary Protection) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020;]

“close relative” (“perthynas agos”) (in relation to a person (“P”)) means—

(a)

P's spouse or civil partner;

(b)

a person ordinarily living with P as if the person were P's spouse or civil partner;

(c)

P's parent, where P is under the age of 25;

(d)

P's child, where P is dependent on that child;

[F2 "coronavirus” (“coronafeirws”) means severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2);]

“course” (“cwrs”) means, unless the context otherwise requires, a taught programme of study, a programme of research, or a combination of both, and which may include one or more periods of work experience, and which leads, on successful completion, to the award of a postgraduate master's degree;

“current academic year” (“blwyddyn academaidd gyfredol”) means the academic year of the designated course in which the student applies for support;

“distance learning course” (“cwrs dysgu o bell”) means a course in relation to which a student undertaking the course is not required to be in attendance by the institution providing the course, other than to satisfy any requirement imposed by the institution to attend any institution—

(a)

for the purpose of registration, enrolment or any examination, or

(b)

on a weekend or during any vacation;

“eligible prisoner” (“carcharor cymwys”) means a prisoner—

(a)

who begins a designated course on or after 1 August 2019,

(b)

who has been authorised by the prison Governor or Director or other appropriate authority to study the designated course, and

(c)

whose earliest release date is within 4 years of the first day of the first academic year of the designated course;

“equivalent or higher qualification” (“cymhwyster cyfatebol neu uwch”) means a qualification determined in accordance with paragraph (2) to be an equivalent or higher qualification;

“EU national” (“gwladolyn UE”) means a national of a member State of the EU;

“fees” (“ffioedd”) has the meaning given in section 57(1) of the Higher Education (Wales) Act 2015 M3 ;

F3 ...

“healthcare bursary” (“bwrsari gofal iechyd”) means a bursary or award of similar description under section 63(6) of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968 M4 or Article 44 of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972 M5 ;

“information” (“gwybodaeth”) includes documents;

“KESS 2 Scheme” (“Cynllun KESS 2”) means the Knowledge Economy Skills Scholarships 2 Scheme which is funded, in part, by the European Social Fund M6 ;

“member of the armed forces” (“aelod o'r lluoedd arfog”) means a member of the regular naval, military or air forces of the Crown;

“periods of work experience” (“cyfnodau o brofiad gwaith”) means—

(a)

periods of industrial, professional or commercial experience associated with the designated course at an institution, but at a place outside that institution;

(b)

periods during which a student is employed and residing in a country whose language is one that the student is studying for that student's designated course (provided that the period of residence in that country is a requirement of that student's course and the study of one or more modern languages accounts for not less than one half of the total time spent studying on the course);

[F1 “person with protected rights” (“person sydd â hawliau gwarchodedig”) means—F4

(1)

(a)

a person within the personal scope of the citizens’ rights provisions who—

(i)

has leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom granted by virtue of residence scheme immigration rules,

(ii)

is an Irish citizen who, pursuant to section 3ZA of the Immigration Act 1971, does not require leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom,

(iii)

F5 ...

(iv)

is an applicant for the purposes of regulation 4 of the 2020 Citizens’ Rights Regulations where the relevant period has not expired, or

(v)

[F6 otherwise has rights deemed to apply by virtue of any citizens’ rights deeming provisions, or]

(b)

a family member of a relevant person of Northern Ireland for the purposes of residence scheme immigration rules, where that family member has leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom granted by virtue of residence scheme immigration rules;

(2)

[F7 In sub-paragraph (1)(a)(v) “citizens’ rights deeming provisions” means—

(a)

Article 18(2) and (3) (issuance of residence documents) of the EU withdrawal agreement,

(b)

Article 17(2) and (3) (issuance of residence documents) of the EEA EFTA separation agreement (as defined in section 39(1) of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020), or

(c)

Article 16(2) and (3) (issuance of residence documents) of the Swiss citizens’ rights agreement.]]

F8 ...

“prisoner” (“carcharor') means a person who is serving a sentence of imprisonment in the United Kingdom including a person who is detained in a young offender institution (and “prison” is to be construed accordingly);

“public funds” (“cronfeydd cyhoeddus”) means moneys provided by Parliament including funds provided by the Welsh Ministers;

[F9 “relevant day” (“diwrnod perthnasol”) means—

(a)

the first day of the first academic year of the designated course (“the AY1 start date”); or

(b)

if the relevant status or period for which a person is allowed to stay in the United Kingdom expires on or after AY1 start date, the first day of the academic year which begins immediately after the academic year during which the status or period expires.]

[F1 “relevant period” (“cyfnod perthnasol”) has the meaning given by regulation 4 of the 2020 Citizens’ Rights Regulations;]

[F1 “relevant person of Northern Ireland” (“person perthnasol o Ogledd Iwerddon”) has the meaning given by residence scheme immigration rules;]

[F1 “residence scheme immigration rules” (“rheolau mewnfudo’r cynllun preswylio”) has the meaning given by section 17(1) of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020;]

“statutory award” (“dyfarndal statudol”) means any award bestowed, grant paid, or other support provided, by virtue of the 1998 Act or the Education Act 1962 M7 , or any comparable award, grant, or other support, in respect of undertaking a course which is paid out of public funds;

“student loans legislation” (“y ddeddfwriaeth ar fenthyciadau i fyfyrwyr”) means the Education (Student Loans) Act 1990 M8 , the Education (Student Loans) (Northern Ireland) Order 1990 M9 , the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 M10 and regulations made under those Acts or that Order, the Education (Student Support) (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 M11 and regulations made under that Order or the 1998 Act and regulations made under the 1998 Act;

[F1 “Swiss citizens’ rights agreement” (“cytundeb ar hawliau dinasyddion Swisaidd”) has the meaning given by section 39(1) of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020.]

“support” (“cymorth”), except where otherwise indicated, means financial support by way of grant or loan made by the Welsh Ministers under—

(a)

these Regulations, or

(b)

any other regulations made under section 22 of the 1998 Act.

(2) The Welsh Ministers may determine that a qualification is an equivalent or higher qualification if—

(a) an eligible student holds a higher qualification from any institution whether or not in the United Kingdom, and

(b) the qualification referred to in paragraph (a) is a postgraduate master's degree from an institution in the United Kingdom or is of an academic level which, in the opinion of the Welsh Ministers, is equivalent to or higher than a qualification to which the designated course leads.

[F10 (3) For the purposes of these Regulations, a person is within the personal scope of the citizens’ rights provisions if that person falls within—

(a) Article 10 (personal scope) of the EU withdrawal agreement,

(b) Article 9 (personal scope) of the EEA EFTA separation agreement (as defined in section 39(1) of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020), or

(c) Article 10 (personal scope) of the Swiss citizens’ rights agreement.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in Sch. 1 para. 3(1) inserted (25.4.2021) by The Education (Student Finance) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Wales) (EU Exit) Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/481), regs. 1(2), 182(a) (with reg. 2)

F2 Words in Sch. 1 para. 3(1) inserted (1.9.2020) by The Education (Student Support) (Postgraduate Masters Degrees) (Wales) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/918), regs. 1(2), 2(3)

F3 Words in Sch. 1 para. 3(1) omitted (6.5.2022) by virtue of The Education (Postgraduate Student Support) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Wales) Regulations 2022 (S.I. 2022/403), regs. 1(2), 18(a) (with reg. 2)

F4 Words in Sch. 1 para. 3(1) renumbered (31.12.2021) by The Education (Student Fees, Awards and Support) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/1365), regs. 1(2), 51(a)

F5 Words in Sch. 1 para. 3(1) omitted (6.5.2022) by virtue of The Education (Postgraduate Student Support) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Wales) Regulations 2022 (S.I. 2022/403), regs. 1(2), 18(b) (with reg. 2)

F6 Words in Sch. 1 para. 3(1) inserted (31.12.2021) by The Education (Student Fees, Awards and Support) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/1365), regs. 1(2), 51(b)

F7 Words in Sch. 1 para. 3(1) inserted (31.12.2021) by The Education (Student Fees, Awards and Support) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/1365), regs. 1(2), 51(c)

F8 Words in Sch. 1 para. 3(1) omitted (8.5.2024) by virtue of The Education (Student Support) (Postgraduate Master’s Degrees) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (S.I. 2024/501), regs. 1(2), 13 (with reg. 1(3))

F9 Words in Sch. 1 para. 3(1) inserted (4.1.2024) by The Education (Student Finance) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No. 3) (Wales) Regulations 2023 (S.I. 2023/1349), regs. 1(2), 75 (with reg. 2)

F10 Sch. 1 para. 3(3) inserted (25.4.2021) by The Education (Student Finance) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Wales) (EU Exit) Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/481), regs. 1(2), 182(b) (with reg. 2)

Commencement Information

I3 Sch. 1 para. 3 in force at 27.5.2019, see reg. 1(2)

Marginal Citations

M3 2015 anaw 1.

M4 1968 c. 46.

M5 S.I. 1972/1265 (N.I. 14).

M6 The European Social Fund is established under Article 162 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

M7 1962 c. 12 (now repealed).

M8 Repealed by the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998 (c. 30), Schedule 4, with savings see the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998 (Commencement No. 2 and Transitional Provisions) Order 1998 (S.I. 1998/2004) (C. 46).

M9 S.I. 1990/1506 (N.I. 11), amended by S.I. 1996/274 (N.I. 1), Schedule 5 Part 2, S.I. 1996/1918 (N.I. 15), Article 3 and the Schedule and S.I. 1998/258 (N.I. 1), Articles 3 to 6 and revoked, with savings, by SR (N.I.) 1998 No. 306.

M10 1980 c. 44.

M11 S.I. 1998/1760 (N.I. 14) to which there have been amendments not relevant to these Regulations.