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

2013/14 HE Student Finance
Assessing Eligibility Guidance
1 st September 2004); while a student who started his course on or
after 1 st September 2006 may be eligible for a tuition fee loan, loan
for living costs, long courses loan (or the extra weeks element of
loan for living costs), disabled students' allowance, grants for
dependants, grant for travel and either the maintenance grant or the
special support grant. There are exceptions to these principles.
146. A student will not qualify for fee support in an academic year which is
a bursary year (defined in regulation 2(1)), an ERASMUS year
(defined in regulation 2(1)) or when the student is on a flexible
postgraduate ITT course (defined in regulation 2(1) which lasts less
than six weeks). Also students are not eligible for grants for living
costs for any academic year which is a bursary year (as defined in
regulation 2(1)).
147. Current system students who commenced their current course on or
after 1st September 2009 will generally not be eligible for fee support
for a further course if that course is equivalent or lower in level than
their previous course (taken in the UK or overseas). Current system
students who started their current course before 1st September 2009
will generally not be eligible for fee support for a further course if they
already have an Honours degree from a UK institution.
148. Where a student is ruled out of tuition fee support due to their
previous study (see paragraphs 159-163) or because they already
have an Honours degree from a UK institution (for those who started
their current course prior to 1 September 2009) or they already hold
an equivalent or higher level qualification from a UK or overseas
institution (for those who started their current course on or after 1 st
September 2009), they will not qualify for some grants. This affects
the Maintenance Grant (regulation 56(3)), Special Support Grant
(regulation 60(3) and the Higher Education Grant (regulation 66(3)).
149. The loan for living costs is available to eligible students who do not
already have a UK Honours Degree for those who started their
current course before 1 st September 2009 or do not hold an
equivalent or higher level qualification from an institution in the UK or
elsewhere for those who started their current course on or after 1 st
September 2009. Where a student has already achieved an
Honours Degree or an equivalent or higher level qualification, they
will not qualify for the loan for living costs unless one of the
exceptions listed in regulation 69(2) (current system students) or
70(3) (old system student) applies.
150. All students will continue to have access to supplementary grants
(e.g. Disabled Students’ Allowances, Childcare Grant) provided that
they meet the other eligibility criteria applicable.
ELQs and previous study changes from academic year 2009/10
151. It is the intention that funding should be focussed on those students
studying in higher education for the first time and that, by and large,
students should only be funded for one undergraduate degree to
honours level. The Student Support Regulations state that a person
who studies for a qualification which is deemed to be equivalent to or
lower than a qualification they already hold are not entitled to
financial support i.e. tuition fee loans or maintenance grants/loans.
This rule applies whether their previous qualification was:
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