- 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 of the calendar year in which the academic year of the course in question begins according to whether that academic year begins on or after 1st January and before 1st April, on or after 1st April and before 1st July, on or after 1st July and before 1st August or on or after 1st August and on or before 31st December, respectively;
- 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 other than his child, his partner or his former partner (including a spouse or civil partner who is not ordinarily living with the student);
- approved childcare provider
means a childcare provider within the meaning of the Tax Credit (New Category of Child Care Provider) Regulations 1999 who has been approved in accordance with those Regulations;
- borrower
means a person to whom a loan has been made;
- contribution
means an eligible student’s contribution calculated pursuant to regulation 29 and Schedule 5;
- current financial year
means the financial year which includes the first day of the academic year in respect of which a person is being assessed for assistance;
- dependant
means, in relation to an eligible student, his partner, 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 35 or by the Secretary of State under regulation 35;
- designated postgraduate course
means a course designated by regulation 47 or by the Secretary of State under regulation 47;
- eligible part-time student
has the meaning given in regulation 34;
- eligible postgraduate student
has the meaning given in regulation 46;
- eligible student
has the meaning given in regulation 4;
- end-on course
means— (a) a course mentioned in paragraph 1 of Schedule 3 which, disregarding any intervening vacation, a student begins to attend immediately after ceasing to attend a course mentioned in paragraph 2 or 3 of Schedule 3 for which the student received or was entitled to receive a transitional award, a loan under the 1998 Regulations or support under the 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 or 2004 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 the area comprised by the Republic of Iceland, the Kingdom of Norway and the Principality of Liechtenstein;
- existing student
means an eligible student who is not a new eligible student;
- financial year
means the period of twelve 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 ITT course
means a postgraduate course of initial teacher training, the length and pattern of which is determined by reference to the eligible student’s experience and training requirements and which has been approved by the Teacher Training Agency;
- former Metropolitan Police District
means— (a) Greater London, excluding the city of London, the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple;
- healthcare bursary
means a bursary or award of similar description under section 63 of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968 or Article 44 of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972;
- higher education course
means a course referred to in Schedule 3 or a postgraduate or other course the standard of which is higher than the standard of a first degree course;
- household income
has the meaning given in paragraph 3;
- income
means gross income from all sources excluding any tax credits awarded pursuant to any claims under section 3 of the Tax Credits Act 2002;
- independent eligible student
has the meaning given in paragraph 2;
- Islands
means the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man;
- loan
means a loan made under the student loans legislation.
- lone parent
means an eligible student who does not have a partner and who has a dependent child or dependent children;
- maintained school
means a community, foundation or voluntary school, a community or foundation special school or a maintained nursery school;
- Member State
means a Member State of the European Union;
- net income
has the meaning given in paragraph (2);
- new eligible student
means an eligible student who begins a designated course on or after 1st September 2004;
- parent
means a natural or adoptive parent and “child”, “mother” and “father” shall be construed accordingly;
- parent student
means an eligible student who is the parent of an eligible student;
- partner
means any of the following—
- periods of work experience
means— (a) periods of industrial, professional or commercial experience associated with full-time study at an institution but at a place outside that institution;
- preceding financial year
means the financial year immediately preceding the relevant year;
- public funds
means moneys provided by Parliament;
- publicly-funded
means maintained or assisted by recurrent grants out of public funds and related expressions are to be interpreted accordingly;
- qualified teacher
has the meaning given in section 132(1) of the Education Act 2002;
- 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 acts as a child minder or provides day care and is registered within the meaning of section 79F of the Children Act 1989 (grant or refusal of registration of child minders and persons providing day care for young children).
- relevant household
means all those eligible students in respect of whom a contribution is calculated with reference to the same income under both paragraphs 5 and 7.
- relevant income
has the meaning given in paragraph (9);
- relevant period
means a period in respect of which the Secretary of State pays an instalment or would have paid an instalment if the eligible student had not withdrawn from, abandoned, been expelled from or been absent from his course.
- relevant quarter
means—
- relevant year
means the academic year in respect of which the household income falls to be assessed;
- Research Council
means any of the following research councils— (a) Arts and Humanities Research Council, (b) Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, (c) Economic and Social Research Council, (d) Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, (e) Medical Research Council, (f) Natural Environment Research Council, (g) Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council;
- residual income
means taxable income after the application of paragraph 4 (in the case of an eligible student), paragraph 5 (in the case of an eligible student’s parent), paragraph 6 (in the case of an eligible student’s partner) or paragraph 7 (in the case of the partner of a new eligible student’s parent);
- sandwich course
has the meaning given in paragraph (6);
- Scottish healthcare allowance
means any allowance under sections 73(f) and 74(1) of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 granted in respect of a person attending a course leading to a qualification in a healthcare profession other than as a medical doctor or dentist;
- 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 student loans legislation;
- student loans legislation
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 Act and regulations made thereunder;
- 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;
- Switzerland Agreement
means the Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Swiss Confederation, of the other, on the Free Movement of Persons signed at Luxembourg on 21st June 1999 and which came into force on 1st June 2002;
- taxable income
means, in relation to paragraph 4, in respect of the academic year for which an application has been made under regulation 8 and, in relation to paragraph 5, in respect (subject to sub-paragraphs (3), (4) and (5) of paragraph 5) of the preceding financial year, a person’s taxable income from all sources computed as for the purposes of—
- 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 2001 Regulations
means the Education (Student Support) Regulations 2001;
- the 2002 Regulations
means the Education (Student Support) Regulations 2002;
- the 2003 Regulations
means the Education (Student Support) (No. 2) Regulations 2002 as amended only by the Education (Student Support) (No. 2) Regulations 2002 (Amendment) Regulations 2003 and the Education (Student Fees and Support) (Switzerland) Regulations 2003;
- the 2004 Regulations
means the 2003 Regulations as amended by the Education (Student Support) (No. 2) Regulations 2002 (Amendment) Regulations 2004, the Education (Student Support) (No. 2) Regulations 2002 (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2004, the Education (Student Support) (No. 2) Regulations 2002 (Amendment) (No. 3) Regulations 2004, the Education (Student Support) (No. 2) Regulations 2002 (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2004 and the Education (Student Support) (No. 2) Regulations 2002 (Amendment) Regulations 2005;
- the Act
means the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998;
- transitional award
means an award made under the Education (Mandatory Awards) Regulations 1998 other than an old award.
- unpaid service
means—