Office of Public Sector Information

PART 1 GENERAL

Title, commencement, application and interpretation

1.  The title of these Regulations is the Assembly Learning Grants (European Institutions) (Wales) Regulations 2008 and they come into force on 1 February 2008.

2.  These Regulations apply in relation to Wales.

3.—(1) In these Regulations—

“1998 Act” (“Deddf 1998”) means the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998;

“2007 Regulations” (“Rheoliadau 2007”) means the Assembly Learning Grants (European Institutions) (Wales) Regulations 2007(3);

“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;

“current course” (“cwrs cyfredol”) means the designated course in respect of which a person is applying for support or to be recognised as an eligible student;

“eligible student” (“myfyriwr cymwys”) has the meaning given by regulation 10;

“European Community” (“Cymuned Ewropeaidd”) means the territory comprised by the Member States of the European Community as constituted from time to time;

“European institution” (“sefydliad Ewropeaidd”) means—

“grants for living and other costs” (“grantiau at gostau bywa chostau eraill”) means the grants payable under regulations 20 or 22;

“person with leave to enter or remain” (“person sydd â chaniatâd i ddod i mewn neu i aros”) means a person—

“qualifying course” (“cwrs cymwys”) means a course—

“refugee” (“ffoadur”) 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 28 July 1951(5) as extended by the Protocol thereto which entered into force on 4 October 1967(6);

“relevant date” (“dyddiad perthnasol”) means 1 February 2008;

“statutory award” (“dyfarniad statudol”) means any award bestowed, grant paid or other support provided by virtue of the 1998 Act or the Education Act 1962(7), 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, the Education (Student Loans) (Northern Ireland) Order 1990, the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 and regulations made thereunder, the Education (Student Support) (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 and regulations made thereunder or the 1998 Act and regulations made thereunder;

“supplementary grants” (“grantiau atodol”) means the grants payable under Chapter 4 of Part 4.

Amendment of the Assembly Learning Grants (European Institutions) (Wales) Regulations 2007

4.  The 2007 Regulations are amended in accordance with Schedule 1.

Revocation and saving provisions

5.  Subject to regulations 6 and 7, the Assembly Learning Grants (European Institutions) (Wales) Regulations 2007 are revoked.

6.  Regulations 6 and 7 of the 2007 Regulations continue to apply.

7.  The 2007 Regulations are to continue to apply in relation to Wales in respect of an academic year beginning on or after 1 September 2007 but before 1 September 2008 and in respect of an academic year beginning on or after 1 September 2005 but before 1 September 2006 so far as the 2006 Regulations relate to an academic year beginning in that period.

8.  These Regulations apply in relation to the provision of support to students in relation to an academic year which begins on or after 1 September 2008 whether anything done under these Regulations is done before, on or after 1 September 2008.

PART 2 APPLYING FOR SUPPORT AND ELIGIBILITY

Applications

9.—(1) Unless a person seeking support under these Regulations is already an eligible student by virtue of regulation 10(10), he or she must submit an application to be considered as an eligible student and an application for support in such form as the Welsh Ministers may require to the relevant European institution by the application deadline.

(2) Where a person seeking support under these Regulations is already an eligible student by virtue of regulation 10(10), he or she must notify the Welsh Ministers in writing by the application deadline that he or she wishes to apply for support under these Regulations.

(3) The application deadline in relation to an academic year beginning on or after 1 September 2008 is—

(a) 28 February 2008, in the case of the Bologna Center;

(b) 28 February 2008, in the case of the College of Europe; and

(c) 28 February 2008, in the case of the European University Institute.

(4) The Welsh Ministers may extend the application deadline if they consider that the circumstances of the case warrant it.

Eligible students

10.—(1) An eligible student qualifies for financial support in connection with his or her attendance on a designated course subject to and in accordance with these Regulations.

(2) Subject to paragraphs (4) and (8), a person is an eligible student in connection with a designated course at the College of Europe or the European University Institute if—

(a) the academic authority of the European institution providing the designated course notifies the Welsh Ministers in writing that the person has a reasonable chance of being offered a place on that course by the academic authority; and

(b) the Welsh Ministers determine in connection with an application for support under these Regulations that he or she falls within one of the categories in Part 2 of Schedule 2.

(3) Subject to paragraphs (4) and (8), a person is an eligible student in connection with a designated course at the Bologna Center if—

(a) the academic authority of the Bologna Center nominates him or her for support under these Regulations by writing to the Welsh Ministers; and

(b) the Welsh Ministers determine in connection with an application for support under these Regulations that he or she falls within one of the categories in Part 2 of Schedule 2.

(4) A person is not an eligible student if—

(a) subject to paragraph (5), he or she has attended a qualifying course;

(b) he or she is in breach of an obligation to repay any loan;

(c) he or she has reached the age of 18 and not ratified any agreement for a loan made with him or her when he or she was under the age of 18; or

(d) he or she has, in the opinion of the Welsh Ministers, shown himself or herself by his or her conduct to be unfitted to receive support.

(5) Paragraph (4)(a) does not apply where the person has attended a qualifying course but the Welsh Ministers have determined that having regard to the particular circumstances of that person’s case it is appropriate to pay him or her support in connection with the current course.

(6) For the purposes of paragraph (4)(b) and (c), “loan” means a loan made under the student loans legislation.

(7) In a case where the agreement for a loan is subject to the law of Scotland, paragraph (4)(c) only applies if the agreement was made—

(a) before 25 September 1991; and

(b) with the concurrence of the borrower’s curator or at a time when he or she had no curator.

(8) The number of eligible students must not exceed—

(a) 1, in the case of the Bologna Center;

(b) 2, in the case of the College of Europe; and

(c) 1, in the case of the European University Institute.

(9) An eligible student in respect of whom the first academic year of the course begins on or after 1 September 2000 shall not, at any one time, qualify for support for more than one designated course.

(10) Despite paragraphs (2) to (4) and subject to paragraphs (8), (11) and (12), a person is an eligible student in connection with a designated course at a European institution if—

(a) he or she qualified as an eligible student in connection with—

(i) an earlier academic year of the current course; or

(ii) a designated course that he or she attended at the same European institution and from which his or her status as an eligible student was transferred to the current course; and

(b) his or her status as an eligible student has not terminated.

(11) Where—

(a) the Welsh Ministers determined that, by virtue of being a refugee or the spouse, civil partner, child or step-child of a refugee, a person (“A”) was an eligible student in connection with an application for support for an earlier year of the current course or in connection with an application for support for a designated course at the same European institution from which his or her status as an eligible student has been transferred to the current course; and

(b) the refugee status of A or of his or her spouse, civil partner, parent or step-parent, as the case may be, is due to expire before the first day of the academic year in respect of which A is applying for support and, as at the day before that academic year begins, no further leave to remain has been granted and no appeal is pending (within the meaning of section 104 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002),

A’s status as an eligible student terminates on the day before the first day of the academic year in respect of which he or she is applying for support.

(12) Where—

(a) the Welsh Ministers determined that, by virtue of being a person with leave to enter or remain or the spouse, civil partner, child or step-child of such a person, a person (“A”) was an eligible student in connection with an application for support for an earlier year of the current course or in connection with an application for support for a designated course at the same European institution from which his or her status as an eligible student has been transferred to the current course; and

(b) the period for which the person with leave to enter or remain is allowed to stay in the United Kingdom is due to expire before the first day of the academic year in respect of which A is applying for support and, as at the day before that academic year begins, no further leave to remain has been granted and no appeal is pending (within the meaning of section 104 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002),

A’s status as an eligible student terminates on the day before the first day of the academic year in respect of which he or she is applying for support.

(13) Paragraphs (11) and (12) do not apply where the student began the course in connection with which the Welsh Ministers determined that he or she was an eligible student before 1 September 2007.

(14) The Welsh Ministers may take such steps and make such inquiries as they consider necessary to determine whether a person is an eligible student.

(15) The Welsh Ministers must inform a person who has been notified to them under paragraph (2)(a) or nominated under paragraph (3)(a) whether he or she qualifies as an eligible student.

(16) A person who has received notification from the Welsh Ministers under paragraph (15) that he or she is an eligible student in connection with a course at the College of Europe or the European University Institute and a person who is an eligible student at the College of Europe or the European University Institute by virtue of paragraph (10) must, by the deadline for receipt of financial information, provide the Welsh Ministers with any information or documentation that they request in order to determine the amount of support payable under these Regulations in respect of the academic year.

(17) The deadline for receipt of financial information in relation to an academic year beginning on or after 1 September 2008, is 28 February 2008 or, in the case of grants payable under regulations 20(7) and 22 (6), 28 February 2009.

(18) The Welsh Ministers must notify an eligible student of the amount of support payable in respect the academic year, if any.

Designated courses

11.  A course is designated for the purposes of section 22(1) of the 1998 Act and regulation 10 if it is—

(a) a postgraduate or comparable course;

(b) a full-time course;

(c) of at least one academic year’s duration; and

(d) provided by a European institution.

Period of eligibility

12.—(1) Subject to the following paragraphs and regulation 10, a student’s status as an eligible student in connection with a designated course will terminate at the end of the academic year in which the relevant European institution would ordinarily expect the student to complete the course (“period of eligibility”).

(2) The student’s period of eligibility terminates when the student—

(a) withdraws from his or her designated course in circumstances in which the Welsh Ministers will not transfer his or her status as an eligible student in accordance with regulation 13; or

(b) abandons or is expelled from his or her designated course.

(3) The Welsh Ministers may terminate the student’s period of eligibility if they are satisfied that the conduct of the student has shown that he or she is unfitted to receive support.

(4) Where the student’s period of eligibility will terminate before the end of the academic year in which the student will actually complete the course, the Welsh Ministers may, at any time, extend or renew the period of eligibility for such period as they determine.

(5) If the Welsh Ministers are satisfied that an eligible student has failed to comply with any requirement to provide information under these Regulations or has provided information which is inaccurate in a material particular, the Welsh Ministers may do one or more of the following—

(a) terminate the student’s period of eligibility;

(b) determine that the student no longer qualifies for any particular type of support or particular amount of support;

(c) treat any support already paid to the student as an overpayment which may be recovered in accordance with regulation 39.

Transfer of eligibility

13.—(1) Where an eligible student transfers to another designated course at the same European institution, the Welsh Ministers must transfer the student’s status as an eligible student where—

(a) they receive a request from the eligible student to do so;

(b) they are satisfied that the eligible student has begun to attend that other course on the recommendation of the academic authority; and

(c) the student’s status as an eligible student has not terminated.

(2) An eligible student who transfers under paragraph (1) is to receive in connection with the academic year of the course to which he or she transfers the remainder of the support assessed by the Welsh Ministers in respect of the academic year of the course from which he or she transfers.

(3) An eligible student who transfers under paragraph (1) after the Welsh Ministers have assessed support in connection with the academic year of the course from which the student is transferring but before the student completes that year may not, in connection with the academic year of the course to which he or she transfers, apply for another grant of a kind that he or she has already applied for under these Regulations in connection with the academic year of the course from which he or she is transferring.