P-05-884 Amendment to Education (Student Support) (Wales) Regulations 2018 to include UK institutions with operations overseas
P-05-884 Amendment to Education (Student Support) (Wales) Regulations 2018 to include UK institutions with operations overseas
P-05-884 Amendment
to Education (Student Support) (Wales) Regulations 2018 to include UK
institutions with operations overseas
This
petition was submitted by Alanna Jones having collected 158 signatures online
and 141on paper, a total of 299 signatures.
Text of Petition
We call on the National
Assembly for Wales to urge the Welsh Government to amend the current wording of
the Education (Student Support) (Wales) Regulations 2018 ("the
Regulations"). We call on the National Assembly to make the amendments to
the Regulations to address the current limitation of Regulation 6, Condition 5
which prevents Welsh students accessing student finance to study at UK higher
education institutions where the location of study is at their overseas campus
which we consider could be achieved in one of either two ways, by either:
widening the criteria in
Condition 5 to include courses which are provided by UK higher education
institutions at either their UK or overseas campuses; or
amending Condition 5 to
include courses which are provided by higher education institutions offering
designated courses and to include the University of London Institute in Paris
on the list of institutions offering designated courses, using your discretion
under Regulation 8.
Proposed Amendment:
Option 1
"Condition 5
At least half of the
teaching and supervision which comprise the course is provided in the United
Kingdom or at any campus of a United Kingdom higher education institution
located outside of the United Kingdom".
Option 2
"Condition 5
At least half of the
teaching and supervision which comprise the course is provided in the United
Kingdom. This condition shall apply, unless the course has been deemed to be
treated as a designated course pursuant to Regulation 8(1) or 8(2)."
We call on the National
Assembly for Wales to adopt the proposed amendments so that Welsh students
applying for courses at institutions such as the University of London Institute
in Paris, can be considered as "eligible students" for the purposes
of receiving student support. The University of London Institute in Paris
offers higher education courses in modern languages, where the teaching and
supervision is carried out primarily in Paris. Nonetheless, students are taught
by employees of the University of London and its collaborative partner, Queen
Mary, University of London.
Unless an amendment is
made to the current wording of the Regulations, Welsh students will continue to
suffer an unjust disadvantage when applying for courses at specific UK
institutions. We call on the National Assembly for Wales to make this change as
there is no equivalent limitation across other parts of the UK. If no action is
taken, the Regulations may continue to act as a deterrent for students hoping
to apply for courses at the University of London, Institute in Paris.
Additional
Information
Between September 2018 and
February 2019 we received inconsistent messages relating to the University of
London Institute in Paris' position and both current and prospective students
received contradictory information on their eligibility. The University of
London Institute in Paris took the following steps to address this:
Contacted the Students
Loan Company
Contacted Student Finance
for Wales
Contacted the
'Designation' department of the Welsh Government.
Copies of the relevant
correspondence are available on request.
When the position was
eventually clarified in February, Welsh applicants were informed by the
University of London Institute in Paris of their ineligibility for student
finance for these programmes which caused significant distress, so we call on
the National Assembly for Wales to please consider our concerns as a matter of
priority.
Assembly Constituency and
Region
- Carmarthen East and Dinefwr
- Mid and West Wales
Further
information
Business type: Petition
Reason considered: Senedd Business;
First published: 31/05/2019