| SECTION 12 STUDENTS General
12.001 Students may have difference types of income which
will be treated in different ways.
Grant Income
Sources of grant income
12.002 The responsibility for granting assistance to
students undertaking courses of further or higher education in Scotland is divided between
The Scottish Office Education Department (SOED) and the education authorities of the
Regional and Islands Councils, depending on the level of course. SOED is generally
responsible for the administration of grants for full-time courses of higher
education at Higher National Certificate, Higher National Diploma and first degree or
comparable levels, plus certain categories of postgraduate courses. Awards for students
attending other full-time, and all part-time, courses are the responsibility of the
education authorities, which have discretionary powers under the Education (Scotland) Act
1980 to offer assistance to individuals ordinarily resident in their areas. In both cases,
the grant is likely to include amounts for various specific purposes, such as personal
maintenance, travelling expenses and books.
Period over which grant should be taken into account
12.003 Information on the period covered by a grant can be
obtained from SOED or the education authority.
a. Where the grant is payable for the period of study, the
amount to be taken into account should be divided equally over the number of weeks in the
period of study.
b. Where the grant is payable for some other period, the
amount to be taken into account should be divided equally over the number of weeks for
which the grant has been paid.
Reg 36(2)
Note Grants which are awarded by SOED under the
Students' Allowances (Scotland) Regulations will include grant payment for the
Christmas and Easter vacations. However, education authority grants may or may not include
payment for those vacations.
Assessed contribution
12.004 SOED or the education authority may decide that the
student's parent or spouse should make a contribution to the grant. Such a contribution
would be assessed on the basis of the income of the parent or spouse and the actual grant
payable will be reduced by the amount of assessed contribution.
Reg 35
Amount of grant income
12.005 The amount of grant income to be taken into account
should be the amount of standard maintenance grant included in the grant. The standard
maintenance grant figure should be obtained from SOED or the education authority each
year. Any other part of the grant should be ignored.
Reg 36(1)
12.006 Any assessed contribution from the resident's
parents or spouse, whether or not it is actually paid (including any paid by Deed of
Covenant), should be added to the grant and taken into account up to the level of the
standard maintenance grant.
Reg 35
Covenant income where there is no grant income
Meaning of covenant income
12.007 Covenant income is the income, net of tax at the
basic rate, payable to the student under a Deed of Covenant by a person whose income is,
or is likely to be, taken
into account in assessing the student's grant or award.
Reg 35
Deed of Covenant
12.008 A Deed of Covenant is an agreement in writing
between a covenantor (donor) and a covenantee (recipient) that a certain sum or sums from
the former's income will be paid to the latter while certain conditions exist. A covenant
enables the covenant enables the covenantee to reclaim in whole or part tax deducted by
the covenantor from his payments; but generally speaking covenants between individuals
attract this benefit only where they were entered into on or before 15 March 1988.
Amount to be taken into account
12.009 The amount of covenant income to be taken into
account is equivalent to the amount of standard maintenance grant which would have been
paid, had a maintenance grant have been payable. Ask SOED to provide details of the
relevant standard maintenance grant.
Reg 37(1)
12.010 Any amount of covenant income above the figure of
the standard maintenance grant should be ignored.
Reg 37(1)
Disregards
12.011 No part of the grant or covenant income should be
disregarded as a charitable or
voluntary payment (para 8.051 et seq).
Reg 38
Student loans
12.012 Student loans are administered by the Student Loans
Company Ltd and are paid out of money made available by the Secretary of State for
Education.
Eligibility for student loans
12.013 Loans are generally available to full-time students
on higher education courses lasting at least one academic year which are below
postgraduate level (with the exception of the Post Graduate Certificate in Education) but
above
1. below postgraduate level (with the exception of
the Post Graduate Certificate in Education) but above
a) GCE Advanced level;
b) Scottish Higher level; or
c) BTEC or ScotVEC national diploma.
Maximum student loans
12.014 The amount for which the student is eligible is
always the maximum according to his circumstances. If the student has taken none, or only
part, of the loan this will be by his own choice. If the student is eligible for a loan
(see 12.013 above) it will be taken into account whether or not the student has taken the
loan.
Reg 39
12.015 The maximum amount of student loan will depend on
1. where the student is studying (London, elsewhere or
living at home)
2. whether the student has reached the final year of the
course
The maximum student loan can be found by asking SOED
or by contacting the Student Loans Company Ltd, 100
Bothwell
Street, Glasgow, G2 7JD.
Calculation of weekly income from student loans
12.016 The weekly amount of loan income should be
calculated by dividing the appropriate maximum loan
1. if the student is in the final academic year of the
course, or if the course is only one year's duration - by the number of weeks between the
start of the academic year (1 January, 1 April or 1 September as appropriate) and the last
day of the course.
2. in any other case - by 52 or 53 depending on the number
of weeks in the academic year (the 12 months from 1 January, 1 April or 1 September) for
which the loan is payable.
Reg 39
Amount to be disregarded
12.017 Up to £10 of the weekly income from a student loan
should be disregarded.
Reg 39
Access funds
12.018 Access funds provided by the Secretary of State for
Scotland are intended for the relief of hardship, where a student might be prevented by
financial considerations from starting or completing a course. The funds are administered
by the educational institutions such as universities and colleges and payments may be made
by lump sum, regular weekly cash payments, or by payment in kind. Payments can be made to
third parties.
Treatment of payments
12.019 Payments made at regular intervals should be treated
as a voluntary payment and be subjected to a £20 disregard.
Reg 40(1)
12.020 Payments paid, or due to be paid, at irregular
intervals should be treated as capital.
Reg 40(2) |
