The Higher Education (Qualifying Courses, Qualifying Persons and Supplementary Provision) (Wales) Regulations 2015

Made: 7 July 2015

Laid before the National Assembly for Wales: 9 July 2015

Coming into force: 31 July 2015

The Welsh Ministers in exercise of the powers conferred on them by sections 5(2)(b), 5(5)(b), 55(2) and 58(3) of the Higher Education (Wales) Act 2015[^f00001] make the following Regulations.

Title, commencement and application

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• (1) The title of these Regulations is the Higher Education (Qualifying Courses, Qualifying Persons and Supplementary Provision) (Wales) Regulations 2015 and they come into force on 31 July 2015.

• (2) These Regulations apply in relation to Wales.

Interpretation

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• (1) In these Regulations—

• “the 1998 Act” (“Deddf 1998”) means the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998;

• “the 2004 Act” (“Deddf 2004”) means the Higher Education Act 2004[^f00002];

• “the 2015 Act” (“Deddf 2015”) means the Higher Education (Wales) Act 2015;

• “the 2015 Regulations” (“Rheoliadau 2015”) means the Education (Student Support) (Wales) Regulations 2015[^f00003];

• “the 2017 Regulations” (“Rheoliadau 2017”) means the Education (Student Support) (Wales) Regulations 2017;

• “the 2018 Regulations” (“Rheoliadau 2018”) means the Education (Student Support) (Wales) Regulations 2018;

• “course for the initial training of teachers” (“cwrs ar gyfer hyfforddiant cychwynnol athrawon”) includes such a course leading to a first degree;

• “course of higher education” (“cwrs addysg uwch”) means a course falling within paragraph 1 of Schedule 6 to the Education Reform Act 1988[^f00004];

• “end-on course” (“cwrs penben”) has the meaning given in regulation 2(1) of the 2015 Regulations or regulation 2(1) of the 2017 Regulations;

• “equivalent or lower qualification” (“cymhwyster cyfwerth neu is”) means a qualification determined by the Welsh Ministers in accordance with paragraph (2) to be an equivalent or lower qualification;

• “preceding course” (“cwrs blaenorol”) means a course mentioned in paragraph 2 or 3 of Schedule 2 to the 2015 Regulations , a course mentioned in paragraph 2 or 3 of Schedule 2 to the 2017 Regulations or a course for a foundation degree or a course for the initial training of teachers which (disregarding any intervening vacation) a person ceases to attend immediately before beginning to attend an end-on course;

• “publicly-funded” (“yn cael ei gyllido’n gyhoeddus”) means maintained or assisted by recurrent grants out of public funds;

• “qualified teacher” (“athro cymwysedig neu athrawes gymwysedig”) has the meaning given in section 132(1) of the Education Act 2002[^f00005]; and

• “single course” (“cwrs sengl”) means a course to which—regulation 5(6) of the 2015 Regulations applies and which falls within the description of a course in that regulation;regulation 5(6) of the 2017 Regulations applies and which falls within the description of a course in that regulation; orregulation 6(4) of the 2018 Regulations applies and which falls within the description of a course in regulation 6(3) of the 2018 Regulations.

• (2) The Welsh Ministers may determine that a qualification is an equivalent or lower qualification if—

• (a) the person holds a higher education qualification from an institution in the United Kingdom; and

• (b) the qualification referred to in sub-paragraph (a) is of an academic level which is equivalent to or higher than a qualification to which the current course leads.

Prescribed description of a qualifying course

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• (1) Subject to paragraph (2), a qualifying course in relation to a 2004 Act plan for the purposes of the transitional period is:

• (a) a course of higher education;

• (b) designated for the purposes of section 22 of the 1998 Act on the first day of an academic year which begins on or after 1 September 2012; and

• (c) provided by an institution in Wales.

• (2) A course is not a qualifying course if at the time the qualifying person received an offer of a place on that course the institution providing it was not publicly-funded.

Prescribed description of a qualifying person

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• (1) A qualifying person who is prescribed for the purposes of section 5(5) of the 2015 Act is a person who satisfies either of the conditions in paragraph (1A) and does not fall within any of the exceptions in paragraph (1B).

• (a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (c) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (d) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (1A) The conditions are—

Condition 1

A person falls within either paragraph 2A or 8A of the Schedule—

• (a) on the day on which the first term of the first academic year actually begins, where the academic year is the first academic year of the person’s course, or

• (b) otherwise, on the first day of an academic year.

Condition 2

A person falls within a prescribed category on the first day of an academic year.

• (1B) The exceptions are—

• (a) a person who is not eligible for support under the 2015 Regulations by reason of regulation 4(3)(c), (d), (e) or (f) of those Regulations;

• (b) a person who is not eligible for support under the 2017 Regulations by reason of regulation 4(3)(c), (d), (e) or (f) of those Regulations;

• (c) a person who is not eligible for support under the 2018 Regulations because they are a person to whom Exception 3, paragraph (a), Exception 4, Exception 5 or Exception 6 in regulation 10(1) of those Regulations applies;

• (d) a person mentioned in paragraphs (2), (3), (3A) or (8).

• (2) Subject to the exceptions in paragraphs (4), (5) (6) and (7), a person is not a qualifying person if—

• (a) the person holds a higher education qualification; and

• (b) the qualifying course leads to a qualification which is an equivalent or lower qualification.

• (3) A person is not a qualifying person if—

• (a) the person ceases a course (“the first course”) which is not a qualifying course;

• (b) disregarding any intervening vacation, the person immediately attends another course which is a qualifying course; and

• (c) the first course was not a qualifying course by reason of regulation 3(2).

• (3A) A person is not a qualifying person in connection with a course which begins on or after 1 January 2028 if the only prescribed category into which the person falls is paragraph 8A, 9B or 9BA.

• (4) Paragraph (2) does not apply where—

• (a) the qualifying course is a course for the initial training of teachers;

• (b) the duration of the course does not exceed two years (the duration of a part-time course being expressed as its full-time equivalent); and

• (c) the qualifying person is not a qualified teacher.

• (5) Paragraph (2) does not apply in respect of any part of a single course where—

• (a) the single course leads to an honours degree being conferred on the qualifying person from an institution in the United Kingdom before the final degree or equivalent qualification; and

• (b) the only honours degree held by the qualifying person was received as part of that single course.

• (6) Paragraph (2) does not apply where the qualifying course is a foundation degree.

• (7) Paragraph (2) does not apply where the qualifying course leads to qualification as a social worker, medical doctor, dentist, veterinary surgeon or architect.

• (8) Where an event occurs in the course of an academic year and as a result a person falls within a prescribed category in the course of an academic year, that person is not a qualifying person in respect of the academic year in which the relevant event occurred or any previous academic year.

• (9) In this regulation, “prescribed category” means one of the categories described—

• (a) in paragraph 2, 2A, 3, 4, 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 5, 6A, 7A, 8A, 9A, 9B, 9BA, 9C, 9D, 9E, 10A, 11A or 12A of the Schedule; or

• (b) in paragraph 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12 of the Schedule where paragraph (10) applies.

• (10) This paragraph applies where—

• (a) in connection with a qualifying course beginning before 1 August 2021, a person (“A”) was a qualifying person by virtue of falling within one of the categories of person described in paragraph 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12 of the Schedule in relation to an academic year beginning before 1 August 2021; and

• (b) A is undertaking an academic year of that qualifying course or of a qualifying course to which A transfers from that course in accordance with regulations made under section 22 of the 1998 Act.

Supplementary provision

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• (1) The words “provided in Wales” in section 5(2)(b) of the 2015 Act have effect so as to include the preparation, in Wales, of the materials necessary to deliver a particular qualifying course, regardless of whether students are required to attend the institution providing the course.

• (2) The words “provided in Wales” in section 17(1) of the 2015 Act have effect so as to include the preparation, in Wales, of the materials necessary to provide education, regardless of whether students are required to attend an institution to receive that education.

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SCHEDULE

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• (1) For the purposes of this Schedule—

• “the 2020 Citizens’ Rights Regulations” (“Rheoliadau Hawliau Dinasyddion 2020”) means the Citizens’ Rights (Application Deadline and Temporary Protection) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020;

• “academic year” (“blwyddyn academaidd”) means the period of twelve months beginning on 1 January, 1 April, 1 July or 1 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 1 January and before 1 April, on or after 1 April and before 1 July, on or after 1 July and before 1 August or on or after 1 August and on or before 31 December, respectively;

• “Directive 2004/38” (“Cyfarwyddeb 2004/38”) means Directive 2004/38/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the rights of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely in the territory of the Member States[^f00009];

• “EEA frontier self-employed person” (“person hunangyflogedig ffin yr AEE”) means an EEA national who—is a self-employed person in the United Kingdom; andresides in Switzerland or the territory of an EEA State ... and returns to the national’s residence in Switzerland or that EEA State daily or at least once a week;

• “EEA frontier worker” (“gweithiwr ffin yr AEE”) means an EEA national who—is a worker in the United Kingdom; andresides in Switzerland or the territory of an EEA State ... and returns to the national’s residence in Switzerland or that EEA State daily or at least once a week;

• “EEA migrant worker” (“gweithiwr mudol o’r AEE”) means an EEA national who is a worker, other than an EEA frontier worker, in the United Kingdom;

• “EEA national” (“gwladolyn o’r AEE”) means a national of an EEA State ...;

• “EEA self-employed person” (“person hunangyflogedig o’r AEE”) means an EEA national who is a self-employed person, other than an EEA frontier self-employed person, in the United Kingdom;

• “EEA EFTA separation agreement” (“cytundeb gwahanu EFTA yr AEE”) has the meaning given by section 39(1) of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020;

• “employed person” (“person cyflogedig”) means an employed person within the meaning of Annex 1 to the Swiss Agreement;

• “employment” (“cyflogaeth”) means full-time or part-time employment;

• “EU national” (“gwladolyn o’r UE”) means a national of a Member State of the European Union;

• “European Economic Area” (“Ardal Economaidd Ewropeaidd”) means the area comprised by the EEA States;

• “European Union” (“yr Undeb Ewropeaidd”) means the territory comprised by the Member States of the European Union as constituted from time to time;

• “family member” (“aelod o deulu”) means—in relation to an EEA frontier worker, an EEA migrant worker, an EEA frontier self-employed person , an EEA self-employed person, a relevant person of Northern Ireland who is treated as an EEA migrant worker or an EEA self-employed person by virtue of paragraph 6A(3) —that person’s spouse or civil partner;direct descendants of the person or of the person’s spouse or civil partner who are—under the age of 21; ordependants of the person or the person’s spouse or civil partner; ordependent direct relatives in the ascending line of the person or the person’s spouse or civil partner;in relation to a Swiss employed person, a Swiss frontier employed person, a Swiss frontier self-employed person or a Swiss self-employed person—the person’s spouse or civil partner; orthe person’s child or the child of the person’s spouse or civil partner;in relation to an EU national who falls within Article 7(1)(c) of Directive 2004/38 or, for the purposes of paragraph 9A, in relation to a relevant person of Northern Ireland who would fall within Article 7(1)(c) of Directive 2004/38 if that person were an EU national or solely an EU national —the national’s spouse or civil partner; ordirect descendants of the national or the national’s spouse or civil partner who are—under the age of 21; ordependants of the national or the national’s spouse or civil partner;in relation to an EU national who falls within Article 7(1)(b) of Directive 2004/38 or, for the purposes of paragraph 9A, in relation to a relevant person of Northern Ireland who would fall within Article 7(1)(b) of Directive 2004/38 if that person were an EU national or solely an EU national —the national’s spouse or civil partner;direct descendants of the national or the national’s spouse or civil partner who are—under the age of 21; ordependants of the national or the national’s spouse or civil partner; ordependent direct relatives in the national’s ascending line or of the national’s spouse or civil partner;in relation to a United Kingdom national, for the purposes of paragraphs 9, 9B, 9E and for the purposes of paragraphs 9C and 9D in relation to persons settled in the United Kingdom —the national’s spouse or civil partner; ordirect descendants of the national or the national’s spouse or civil partner who are—under the age of 21; ordependants of the national or the national’s spouse or civil partner;

• “immigration rules” (“rheolau mewnfudo”) means the rules laid before Parliament by the Secretary of State under section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971;

• “the Islands” (“yr Ynysoedd”) means the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man;

• “overseas territories” (“tiriogaethau tramor”) means Anguilla; ... Bermuda; British Antarctic Territory; British Indian Ocean Territory; ... Cayman Islands; Falkland Islands; Faroe Islands; French Polynesia; French Southern and Antarctic Territories; Gibraltar; Mayotte; Greenland; Montserrat; the Caribbean part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius and Sint Maarten); Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands; South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; St-Barthélemy; St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha; St Pierre et Miquelon; the Territory of New Caledonia and Dependencies; Turks and Caicos Islands ; Virgin Islands; and Wallis and Futuna;

• ...

• “person granted leave to enter or remain as a protected person” (“person y rhoddwyd caniatâd iddo ddod i mewn neu aros fel person a ddiogelir”) means a person who has—extant leave to enter or remain on the grounds of humanitarian protection under paragraph 339C of the immigration rules;extant leave to remain as a stateless person under the immigration rules;extant leave to remain in the United Kingdom under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 and in accordance with the immigration rules; or extant leave to remain under paragraphs 352J, 352K, 352L or 352T of the immigration rules (Calais leave and “leave in line” granted by virtue of being a dependent child of a person granted Calais leave); ... ...............

• “person granted leave to enter or remain as a protected partner” (“person y rhoddwyd caniatâd iddo ddod i mewn neu aros fel partner a ddiogelir”) means a person with extant leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom as either a victim of domestic violence or domestic abuse or as a bereaved partner granted in any of the following cases— in the case of a person granted leave to remain before 31 January 2024, under any of the following provisions of the immigration rules— paragraphs 289B and 289D (victims of domestic violence);paragraphs D-DVILR.1.1. and D-DVILR.1.2. of Appendix FM (victims of domestic abuse);paragraphs 40 and 41 of Appendix Armed Forces (victims of domestic violence who are partners of members of armed forces);paragraph 288, as a person in relation to whom the requirements in paragraph 287(b) of the immigration rules are met (bereaved spouses or civil partners);paragraphs D-BPILR.1.1. and D-BPILR.1.2. of Appendix FM (bereaved partners);paragraphs 36 and 37 of Appendix Armed Forces (bereaved partners); orparagraph 295N, as a person in relation to whom the requirements in paragraph 295M of the immigration rules are met (bereaved unmarried or same sex partners); in the case of a person granted leave to enter or remain on or after 31 January 2024, under either of the following provisions of the immigration rules— paragraph VDA 9.1 of the Appendix Victim of Domestic Abuse, orparagraph BP 11.1 of Appendix Bereaved Partner. in the case of a person granted leave to enter or remain on or after 5 October 2023 as a bereaved partner, under paragraph AF (GHK) 14.1 of Appendix Gurkha and Hong Kong military unit veteran discharged before 1 July 1997 of the immigration rules; in the case of a person granted leave to enter or remain before 5 October 2023, outside the immigration rules, on the basis that the person was a bereaved partner of a Gurkha discharged before 1 July 1997;