APPENDIX: EDUCATION (STUDENT SUPPORT)
(NO. 2) REGULATIONS 2008 (SI 2008/1582) AND STUDENT FEES (QUALIFYING
COURSES AND PERSONS) (ENGLAND) (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS 2008 (SI
2008/1640)
Further information from the Department for Innovation,
Universities and Skills
1. We agree that the student support regulations
are reasonably complex. This is because they are designed to cater
for the wide-ranging needs and circumstances of approximately
1.4 million full and part-time students.
2. Student support assessments are made by individual
Local Authorities. However, they make those assessments using
a common IT system built, maintained and managed by the Student
Loans Company [SLC]. This "single system" contains a
rules engine which interprets the Regulations for each application.
The rules engine is amended annually to reflect the policy changes
in the current set of Regulations. There is no evidence that the
complexity of the Regulations leads to inconsistencies.
3. It is possible for Local Authorities to make
parts of the assessment off line, and enter the final product
into the single system; but the process at the Local Authorities
is managed by experienced Awards officers. We consult with Awards
Officers about the proposed changes to the Regulations both individually
and through the Local Authority Regional Consultative Group.
4. Some small parts of the regulations are managed
by discretions (for example in establishing whether a student
has compelling personal reasons for repeating a year and is therefore
eligible for an additional year of student support). In these
cases, it would be possible for different Local Authorities to
reach a different conclusion: that is the nature of discretion.
Discretions are generally set within a policy principle, and it
is only the detail that can vary. Discretions are included in
the Regulations only where it is not possible to define an issue,
or where to define every variation would lead to an unreasonably
long list of options, which even then may not be exhaustive. There
is an annual audit process in place to ensure that Local Authorities
process applications in line with the Regulations.
5. From the academic year 2009, new entrants
to Higher Education will apply for their support directly to the
Student Loans Company; and by 2011/12, the Student Loans Company
will have taken over the assessments for all continuing students.
This should reduce the risk of discretions being applied unevenly.
6. There is no evidence that the complexity of
the Regulations has led to problems or inconsistencies in the
assessments. We are, of course, always keen to explore approaches
to simplify the drafting of the Regulations and will continue
to do so in future years. Our annual drafting process looks at
simplification wherever possible, in line with HMG policy on better
regulation.
Consultations
7. The Department consults with a variety of
stakeholders, including local authorities, student representatives,
higher education institutions, professional bodies and devolved
administrations. Comments tend to be helpful in looking for ways
of improving clarity. In comments received this year, elements
of the Regulations which have been simplified, for example Schedule
4, paragraph 10, have been welcomed. Others remarked that there
had been minimal change so that led to little change in processing
of student applications. One stakeholder commented that establishing
the level of a qualification gained overseas was likely to be
complex. We are actively working on a process to use the UKNARIC
[National Academic Recognition Information Centre]
database in difficult cases for the 2009/10 AY [academic year].
Guidance
8. The Department and the SLC issue two types
of guidance to Local Authorities and Higher Education Institutions:
- A Student Support Information Note (SSIN) to
alert them to any changes in the system. There is generally a
single SSIN to cover each set of Regulations, with subsequent
advice issued if there are amending Regulations or if a single
issue is significant enough to merit its own note;
- Local Authority guidance chapters which set out
comprehensive guidance on all of the policy issues covered by
the Regulations. The chapters include, for example, one on eligibility,
one on financial assessments, and another on Disabled Students
Allowances. They include worked examples for both standard and
non-standard cases.
These documents are available on the Department's
website at: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/studentsupport/administrators/index.shtml
July 2008
| 
