- academic authority
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;
- academic year
means the period of twelve months beginning on 1st January, 1st April, 1st July or 1st September, according as the academic year of the course in question begins in the winter, the spring, the summer or the autumn respectively, but if students are required to begin the course during August or September and to continue it through the autumn the academic year of the course shall be considered to begin in the autumn rather than the summer.
- accelerated course
means a course which persons undertaking it are normally required by the institution providing it to attend (whether at premises of the institution or elsewhere) for a period of at least 40 weeks in the final year, being a course of two academic years' duration;
- adult dependant
means, in relation to an eligible student, an adult person dependent on the student not being his child, his spouse (whether ordinarily living with him or not) or a person living with him as his spouse or his former spouse;
- approved childcare provider
means a childcare provider within the meaning of the Tax Credit (New Category of Childcare Provider) Regulations 1999, who has been approved in accordance with those regulations;
- award
means an award under the 1962 Act;
- borrower
means a person to whom a loan has been made;
- child
includes a step-child but, except in paragraph 4, does not include a child who holds a statutory award;
- contribution
means an eligible student’s contribution calculated pursuant to regulation 23 and Schedule 3;
- current financial year
means the financial year which includes the first day of the academic year;
- dependant
means, in relation to an eligible student, his spouse, his dependent child or an adult dependant, who in each case is not an eligible student and does not hold a statutory award;
- dependent
means wholly or mainly financially dependent;
- designated course
means a course designated by regulation 5 or by the Secretary of State under regulation 5;
- designated part-time course
means a course designated by regulation 29 or by the Secretary of State under regulation 29;
- disability related benefit
means long term incapacity benefit or short term incapacity benefit at the higher rate, severe disablement allowance, disability living allowance, industrial injuries benefit and disabled person’s tax credit, all payable under the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992, or the amount of any disability premium and severe disability premium included in the applicable amount in calculating the income support payable under the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987;
- eligible part-time student
means a person whom the Secretary of State has determined is eligible for support in connection with his undertaking a part-time course in accordance with regulation 32, 34, or 35;
- eligible student
means a person whom the Secretary of State has determined is eligible for support in connection with his attendance at a course in accordance with regulation 6, 7, or 35;
- end-on-course
means (a) a course mentioned in paragraph 1 of Schedule 2, which a student begins to attend immediately after ceasing to attend a course mentioned in paragraph 2 or 3 of Schedule 2 (disregarding any intervening vacation) for which the student received or was entitled to receive a transitional award, a loan under the 1998 Regulations, or support under the 1999 or 2000 Regulations;
- European Community
means the territory comprised by the member States of the European Community as constituted from time to time;
- European Economic Area
means the European Community and subject to the conditions laid down in the EEA Agreement the area comprised by the Republic of Iceland, the Kingdom of Norway and the Principality of Liechtenstein;
- financial year
means the period of 12 months for which the income of the eligible part-time student is computed for the purposes of the income tax legislation which applies to it;
- flexible postgraduate course for the initial training of teachers
means a course of initial teacher training, which has been approved by the Teacher Training Agency, the length and pattern of which is determined by the eligible student’s experience and training requirements.
- gross income
means the income of the student’s parent in the preceding financial year or, for the purpose of calculating residual income under paragraph 2(2), in the financial year there mentioned.
- high cost country
means Austria, Belgium, countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Eire, Finland, France (excluding Départements-d'Outre Mer), Germany, Iceland, Indonesia, Israel, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Republic of Korea, Sweden;
- higher cost country
means Denmark, Hong Kong, Japan,...
- higher education course
means a course referred to in Schedule 2 or a postgraduate or other course the standard of which is higher than the standard of a first degree course;
- income
means gross income from all sources;
- loan
means a loan made under 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 Act and regulations made thereunder.
- lone parent
means an eligible student who does not ordinarily live with a spouse or with another person as a spouse, and who has a dependant or dependants within the meaning of regulation 15(12);
- Metropolitan Police District
means the areas referred to in section 76 of the London Government Act 1963 as it had effect prior to the substitution by section 323 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 of subsection (1);
- old award
means an award under section 1(1) of the 1962 Act which is an old award within the meaning of the Education (Mandatory Awards) Regulations 1998 or an award under section 1(6) of that Act which is an old award for the purposes of those regulations as applied to such awards by virtue of section 1(7) of that Act;
- parent
includes a guardian, any other person having parental responsibility for a child and any person having care of a child, and “child” shall be construed accordingly.
- partner
means a woman ordinarily living with a man student as his wife or a man ordinarily living with a woman student as her husband;
- periods of work experience
has the meaning given it in regulation 5(3);
- preceding financial year
means the financial year preceding the academic year in respect of which the resources of the eligible student fall to be assessed and “current financial year” means the financial year which includes the first day of the academic year;
- public funds
means moneys provided by Parliament;
- refugee
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 28th July 1951 as extended by the Protocol thereto which entered into force on 4th October 1967 and any reference to the child of a refugee includes a reference to a step-child;
- registered childcare provider
means a person who provides childcare and is registered within the meaning of section 71 of the Children Act 1989, (registration of child minders and persons providing day care for young children).
- relevant school year
means:
- residual income
means, subject to sub-paragraph (2), the balance of gross income remaining in any year after the deductions specified in paragraph 6 have been made.
- sandwich course
has the meaning given it in regulation 5(2);
- school year
has the meaning given in section 579(1) of the Education Act 1996;
- spouse
includes, in the case of an eligible part-time student aged 25 or over on the first day of the academic year in respect of which his eligibility for a loan is being assessed, a partner.
- statutory award
means any award bestowed, grant paid or other support provided by virtue of the Act or the 1962 Act, or any comparable award, grant or other support in respect of undertaking a course which is paid out of public funds;
- student loan account number
means the account number assigned by the lender to a loan made under the Act, the Education (Student Loans) Act 1990, the Education (Student Loans)(Northern Ireland) Order 1990, the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 or the Education (Student Support)(Northern Ireland) Order 1998;
- support
means financial support by way of grant or loan made by the Secretary of State pursuant to regulations made under section 22 of the Act;
- the 1962 Act
means the Education Act 1962;
- the 1998 Regulations
means the Education (Student Support) Regulations 1998;
- the 1999 Regulations
means the Education (Student Support) Regulations 1999;
- the 2000 Regulations
means the Education (Student Support) Regulations 2000;
- the Act
means the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998;
- the Islands
means the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man;
- transitional award
means an award under section 1(1) of the 1962 Act which is a transitional award within the meaning of the Education (Mandatory Awards) Regulations 1998 or an award under section 1(6) of that Act which is a transitional award for the purposes of those regulations as applied to such awards by virtue of section 1(7) of that Act.