Education (Student Support) (Northern Ireland) Order 1998
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 1998/1760 |
| Year | 1998 |
1998 No. 1760 (N.I. 14)
NORTHERN IRELAND
The Education (Student Support) (Northern Ireland) Order 1998
Made 21th July 1998
Laid before Parliament 22th July 1998
Coming into operation in accordance with Article 1(2) and (3)
At the Court at Buckingham Palace, the 21st day of July 1998
Present,
The Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty in Council
Whereas this Order is made only for purposes corresponding to those of sections 22 to 26 and 28 of the1Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998:
Now, therefore, Her Majesty, in exercise of the powers conferred by paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 to the2Northern Ireland Act 1974 (as modified by section 45 of the said Act of 1998) and of all other powers enabling Her in that behalf, is pleased, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, to order, and it is hereby ordered, as follows:—
Title and commencement
1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Education (Student Support) (Northern Ireland) Order 1998.
(2) Subject to paragraph (3), this Order comes into operation on the expiration of 7 days from the day on which it is made.
(3) The following provisions come into operation on such day or days as the Department may by order appoint, namely—
(a)
(a) Article 9;
(b)
(b) the Schedule.
Interpretation
2.—(1) The 3Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 shall apply to Article 1 and the following provisions of this Order as it applies to a Measure of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
(2) In this Order—
“the 1986 Order” means the4Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1986;
“the Further Education Order” means the5Further Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1997;
“fees”, in relation to attendance on a course, means fees in respect of, or otherwise in connection with, attendance on the course, including admission, registration, tuition and graduation fees but excluding—
(a) fees payable to an institution for awarding or accrediting any qualification where the institution does not provide the whole or part of the course and is not a publicly-funded institution;
(b) fees payable for board or lodging;
(c) fees payable for field trips (including any tuition element of such fees);
(d) fees payable for attending any graduation or other ceremony; and
(e) such other fees as may be prescribed;
“further education course” and “higher education course” have the meaning given by regulations under Article 3;
“modifications” includes additions, alterations and omissions;
“publicly-funded institution” means—
(a) the Queen’s University of Belfast, the University of Ulster, a college of education or any institution providing further education as defined in Article 3 of the Further Education Order;
(b) any university or other institution receiving grants, loans or other payments under section 5 or 65 of the6Further and Higher Education Act 1992, or under section 5 of the7Education Act 1994, any institution maintained by a local education authority in exercise of their further and higher education functions, any institution receiving a recurrent grant towards its costs from a further education funding council or any institution receiving a recurrent grant towards its costs under regulations made under section 485 of the8Education Act 1996;
(c) any institution within the higher education sector for the purposes of the9Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992, any college of further education within the meaning of section 36(1) of that Act or any central institution within the meaning of section 135(1) of the10Education (Scotland) Act 1980.
(3) Regulations under Article 3 may provide for courses provided wholly or partly outside the United Kingdom to be further education courses or (as the case may be) higher education courses for the purposes of this Order.
(4) This Order shall be construed as one with the 1986 Order; and accordingly Article 2 of the 1986 Order, in so far as it relates to the interpretation of words or expressions used in that Order and in this Order, shall apply for the purposes of this Order as it applies for the purposes of that Order.
New arrangements for giving financial support to students
3.—(1) Regulations shall make provision authorising or requiring the Department to make grants or loans, for any prescribed purposes, to eligible students in connection with their attending—
(a)
(a) higher education courses; or
(b)
(b) further education courses,
which are designated for the purposes of this Article by or under the regulations.
(2) Regulations under this Article may, in particular, make provision—
(a)
(a) for determining whether a person is an eligible student in relation to any grant or loan available under this Article;
(b)
(b) prescribing, in relation to any such grant or loan and an academic year, the maximum amount available to any person for any prescribed purpose for that year;
(c)
(c) where the amount of any such grant or loan may vary to any extent according to a person’s circumstances, for determining, or enabling the determination of, the amount required or authorised to be paid to him;
(d)
(d) prescribing categories of attendance on higher education courses or further education courses which are to qualify for any purposes of the regulations;
(e)
(e) for any grant under this Article to be made available on such terms and conditions as may be prescribed by, or determined by the Department under, the regulations, including terms and conditions requiring repayments to be made in circumstances so prescribed or determined;
(f)
(f) requiring the making of payments in respect of any such grant to be suspended or terminated in any such circumstances;
(g)
(g) prescribing requirements or other provisions, whether as to repayment or otherwise, which are for the time being to apply in relation to loans under this Article (including requirements or other provisions taking effect during the currency of such loans so as to add to, or otherwise modify, those for the time being applying in relation to the loans);
(h)
(h) authorising grants in respect of fees payable in connection with attendance on courses to be paid directly to institutions charging the fees;
(i)
(i) requiring prescribed amounts payable to eligible students under loans under this Article to be paid directly to institutions which have previously made loans of any prescribed description to those persons;
(j)
(j) modifying any statutory provision (whenever passed or made) so as to provide for the treatment, in connection with any calculation with respect to the income (however defined) of persons to whom grants or loans are made under this Article, of amounts due from or payable to such persons under such grants or loans;
(k)
(k) for appeals with respect to matters arising under the regulations (including provision for determining, or enabling the determination of, the procedure to be followed in connection with appeals).
(3) The provision which may be made by virtue of paragraph (2)(g) in relation to loans under this Article includes provision—
(a)
(a) for such loans to bear compound interest at such rates, and calculated in such manner, as may be prescribed from time to time;
(b)
(b) for such loans to be repaid in such manner, at such times, and to such person or body as may be prescribed from time to time;
(c)
(c) for the payment, in respect of amounts overpaid by borrowers, of interest at such rate, and calculated in such manner, as may be determined by the Department from time to time;
(d)
(d) for a borrower not to be liable to make any repayment in respect of such a loan—
(i) during such period as may be prescribed from time to time; or
(ii) in such circumstances as may be so prescribed,
including provision for the cancellation of any further such liability of the borrower in any such circumstances;
(e)
(e) with respect to sums which a borrower receives, or is entitled to receive, under such a loan after the commencement of his bankruptcy or the date of the sequestration of his estate.
(4) In relation to loans under this Article—
(a)
(a) the rates prescribed by regulations made in pursuance of paragraph (3)(a)—
(i) shall be no higher than those which the Department is satisfied are required to maintain the value in real terms of the outstanding amounts of such loans; and
(ii) shall at no time exceed the specified rate for low interest loans; and
(b)
(b) such regulations may make provision, for the purpose of calculating the interest to be borne by such loans, for repayments by borrowers to be treated as having been made or received on such date or dates as may be prescribed by the regulations.
(5) Regulations under this Article may also make such provision as the Department considers necessary or expedient in connection with the recovery of amounts due from borrowers under loans under this Article, including provision for—
(a)
(a) imposing on employers or (as the case may be) such other persons or bodies as may be prescribed, requirements with respect to—
(i) the making of deductions in respect of amounts so due (or, in any prescribed circumstances, amounts assessed in accordance with the regulations to be so due) from emoluments payable to borrowers;
(ii) the collection by other means of such amounts;
(iii) the transmission of amounts so deducted or collected to the Department in accordance with directions given by it;
(b)
(b) imposing on employers, or such other persons or bodies as may be prescribed, requirements with respect to the keeping and production of records for such purposes as may be prescribed;
(c)
(c) imposing on borrowers requirements with respect to—
(i) the provision of such information; and
(ii) the keeping and production of such documents and records, relating to their income as may be prescribed;
(d)
(d) requiring the payment, by persons or bodies to whom requirements imposed in pursuance of any of sub-paragraphs (a) to (c) apply, of—
(i) penalties in cases of...
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