SFE Assessing Eligibility Guidance 2013/14 - Practitioners - Student ...

2013/14 HE Student Finance
Assessing Eligibility Guidance
potentially be eligible for support. However, this category of student
may only qualify for tuition fee support.
130. The relevant family members of EC nationals are set out in the table
below:
EC national who falls within Article
7(1)(c) of Directive 2004/38 (not
self-sufficient)
EC national who falls within Article
7(1)(b) of Directive 2004/38 is selfsufficient
His spouse or civil partner and direct
descendants of his or of his spouse or
civil partner who are under the age of 21
or dependants of his or his spouse/civil
partner
His spouse or civil partner, direct
descendants of his or his spouse or civil
partner who are under the age of 21 or
dependants of his or his spouse or civil
partner or dependent direct relatives of
his or his spouse or civil partner in the
ascending line
131. The table above refers to „self-sufficient‟ (although this is not a term
used in the Regulations). The Regulations refer to article 7(1)(b) of
Directive 2004/38. This provides that a person has a right to reside in
a host Member State if :
• the person has sufficient resources for himself/herself and
family members not to become a burden on the social
assistance system of the host Member State during their period
of residence and [has] comprehensive sickness insurance cover
in the host Member State.
132. In other words, it is not appropriate to say that someone does not
have sufficient resources if their resources are higher than the level
at which social security benefits or the social security pension is
paid. A means test is not necessary to establish self-sufficiency, and
SFE must remain flexible in their assessment.
133. Students who become EC nationals within three months of the start
of the academic year, because their State joins the EU, may be
eligible for fee support for that academic year. They may also be
eligible for fee support for any subsequent year (regulations 2 and
16).
134. Under Paragraph 9(3) of Part 2 of Schedule 1 where a state accedes
to the EC after the first day of the first academic year of the course
and a person is a national of that state, the requirement that he is an
EC National on the first day of the first academic year of the course
or a family member of such a person would be treated as being
satisfied. Where a person is claiming under paragraph 9, on the
basis that he is the family member of an EC national and the state of
which his relative/spouse/civil partner is a national accedes to the EC
after the first day of the first academic year of the course, the
relative/spouse/civil/partner is treated as having been an EC national
on the first day of the first academic year of the course.
135. Students who fall within Paragraph 9 of Part 2 of Schedule 1 will not
be required to have settled status in the UK or to be ordinarily
resident in England on the first day of the first academic year of the
course but as with EEA migrant workers, they should have been
resident in the EEA and Switzerland for the three years preceding
that day. The SFE European Team in Darlington will carry out the
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