Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998

26 Imposition of conditions as to fees at further or higher education institutions

(1) The power of the Secretary of State to impose conditions under section 7(1) of the 1992 Act in relation to grants paid to—

(a) the Further Education Funding Council for England, or

(b) the Further Education Funding Council for Wales,

shall include power to impose a condition requiring the Council to whom he is making any such grant to impose a condition under subsection (2) below in relation to any grants, loans or other payments made by the Council under section 5 of that Act to the governing body of a relevant institution.

(2) A condition under this subsection shall require the governing body of any such institution to secure that, in respect of the relevant academic year, no fees are payable to the institution by any specified class of persons in respect of any specified matters in connection with their attending courses of any specified description.

(3) The power of the Secretary of State to impose conditions under section 68(1) of the 1992 Act or section 7(1) of the 1994 Act in relation to grants paid to one of the following bodies, namely—

(a) the Higher Education Funding Council for England,

(b) the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, or

(c) the Teacher Training Agency,

as the case may be, shall include power to impose a condition requiring the body to whom he is making any such grant to impose a condition under subsection (4) below in relation to any grants, loans or other payments made by that body under section 65 of the 1992 Act, or (as the case may be) section 5 of the 1994 Act, to the governing body of a relevant institution.

(4) A condition under this subsection shall require the governing body of any such institution to secure that, in respect of the relevant academic year, the fees payable to the institution by any prescribed class of persons in connection with their attending courses of any prescribed description are equal to the prescribed amount.

(5) In subsection (4) “the prescribed amount”, in relation to any such class of persons attending courses of any such description, means such amount as may be prescribed for the time being by virtue of section 22(2)(b) as the maximum amount of any grant available for the relevant academic year in respect of fees payable by such persons in connection with their attending such courses.

(6) A condition under subsection (2) or (4) shall impose, in the event of a failure by the governing body to comply with the requirement specified in that subsection, such further financial requirements on that body as may be specified, which may include requirements relating to the repayment, with or without interest, of the whole or part of any sums received by them in respect of the grant, loan or other payment in question.

(7) No condition under subsection (2) or (4) shall apply in relation to any fees which are payable, in accordance with regulations under section 1 of the [1983 c. 40.] Education (Fees and Awards) Act 1983 (fees at universities and further education establishments), by students other than those falling within any class of persons prescribed by such regulations for the purposes of subsection (1) or (2) of that section (persons connected with the United Kingdom, etc.).

(8) The Secretary of State shall not exercise the power to prescribe descriptions of courses under subsection (4) in such a way as to discriminate—

(a) in relation to courses of initial teacher training, between different courses on the basis of the subjects in which such training is given, or

(b) in relation to other courses, between different courses at the same or a comparable level on the basis of the areas of study or research to which they relate.

(9) In this section—

• “the 1992 Act” means the [1992 c. 13.] Further and Higher Education Act 1992;

• “the 1994 Act” means the [1994 c. 30.] Education Act 1994;

• “course”, where it appears in subsection (4) or (5), does not include any part-time or postgraduate course other than a course of initial teacher training;

• “the relevant academic year”, in relation to a course, means the academic year applicable to the course which begins at the same time as, or during, the period in respect of which the grants, loans or other payments to which the relevant condition under subsection (2) or (4) relates are made;

• “relevant institution” means a specified institution or an institution of a specified class; and

• “specified” means specified by the Secretary of State in a condition imposed by him under subsection (1) or (3), as the case may be.

(10) Where—

(a) a condition is imposed under subsection (2) or (4) in connection with any grants, loans or other payments made to the governing body of a relevant institution, and

(b) those payments are to any extent so made in respect of persons attending a course which is provided in whole or part by any other institution,

then, for the purposes of this section, fees payable by such persons to the other institution shall be regarded as fees payable by them to the relevant institution.

(11) Nothing in the 1992 Act or the 1994 Act, so far as it imposes any prohibition or other requirement in relation to the imposition of conditions by the Secretary of State or by any of the Councils mentioned in subsection (1) or (3) or the Teacher Training Agency shall apply to—

(a) any condition under subsection (1) or (3) imposed by the Secretary of State; or

(b) any condition under subsection (2) or (4) imposed by any of those Councils or that Agency.