Citation and commencement

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Further Education Loans (Amendment) Regulations 2016 and come into force on 1st April 2016.

Amendment of the Further Education Loans Regulations 2012

2.The Further Education Loans Regulations 2012( 2 ) (the “2012 Regulations”) are amended in accordance with regulations 3 to 9.

Eligible students

3. In regulation 3 (eligible students) of the 2012 Regulations, for paragraph 3(a) substitute—

“ (aa) has reached the age of 24 on the first day of A’s designated further education course, where that day is before 1st August 2016;

(a) has reached the age of 19 on the first day of A’s designated further education course, where that day is on or after 1st August 2016. ”

Period of eligibility

4. For regulation 5(3) (period of eligibility) of the 2012 Regulations, substitute—

“ (3) Subject to the following paragraphs the maximum periods of eligibility are determined by the type of further education course and are as follows—

(a) two years for AS Levels;

(b) two years for A Levels;

(c) two years for an Access to HE Diploma; and

(d) three years for any other type of course. ”

Students becoming eligible other than prior to the beginning of a designated further education course

5. —(1) In regulation 7 (students becoming eligible other than prior to the beginning of a designated further education course) of the 2012 Regulations, omit paragraph (a).

(2) After regulation 7 insert—

“ Student becoming eligible where a course is designated after the student starts the course

7A. —(1) A student may only qualify for a loan for a course that is designated after that student starts the course if the course is designated in the academic year in which that student starts the course.

(2) For the purposes of this regulation an “academic year” means the twelve month period starting on 1st August and ending on 31st July. ”

Requirement to enter into a contract for a fee loan

6. For regulation 13 (requirement to enter into a contract for a fee loan) of the 2012 Regulations, substitute—

“ 13. —(1) To receive a fee loan a student must enter into a contract with the Secretary of State.

(2) Where the Secretary of State requires a contract to be signed by a student, an electronic signature in such form as the Secretary of State may specify satisfies such a requirement. ”

Standard entitlement of eligible students

7. For regulation 15 (standard entitlement of eligible students) of the 2012 Regulations, substitute—

“ 15. —(1) The standard entitlement of an eligible student for all designated further education courses is a maximum of four loans, but paragraphs (4) to (7) apply where the course in question is an AS Level, A Level or an Access to HE Diploma.

(2) A student taking more than one designated further education course at any one time may qualify for a loan for each course.

(3) In addition to the standard entitlement, if the Secretary of State determines that the eligible student is repeating a further education course because of compelling personal reasons, an eligible student can qualify for further fee loans in respect of any period or periods of repeat study.

(4) An eligible student who wishes to fund one or more AS Levels or A Levels from their standard entitlement may use only one loan to do so.

(5) The maximum number of AS Levels and A levels which can be funded under paragraph (4) is eight, no more than four of which may be AS levels.

(6) A student may fund a combination of A levels and AS levels under paragraph (4), provided that the number of subjects covered by that combination of courses does not exceed four.

(7) An eligible student may use only one loan from their standard entitlement to fund an Access to HE Diploma. ”

Amount of the fee loan

8. —(1)Regulation 16 (amount of the fee loan) of the 2012 Regulations, is amended as follows.

(2) In paragraph (2) for “on or after 1st August 2015” substitute “in the period beginning on 1st August 2015 and ending on 31st July 2016”.

(3) After paragraph (2) insert—

“ (3) The amount of a fee loan in respect of a further education course beginning in the period beginning on 1st August 2016 and ending on 31st July 2017 must not exceed the lesser of—

(a) the maximum loan amount available in connection with that further education course as contained in the document published by the Skills Funding Agency on 17th February 2016 entitled “Maximum Loan Amounts for Advanced Learner Loans designated qualifications 2016 to 2017, Version 1”, or

(b) the amount which the institution is charging the eligible student for the further education course. ”

Payment of fee loans

9. In regulation 22 (payment of fee loans) of the 2012 Regulations, insert after paragraph (4)—

“ (5) The Secretary of State may refuse to pay a fee loan to a student in connection with a designated further education course if that student is in receipt of public funds for part or all of the fees for that course. ”