FOI - Migrant workers and Independent Students info.

I would like documents in an electronic format relating to:

- The definitions of marginal/ancillary work undertaken by migrant workers,
and the type of work they could do in order to qualify for support in
accordance with Schedule 1 of The Education (Student Support) Regulations
2011. The request is for any internal memos on this matter, NOT a copy of
the regulations which I have already accessed but seem to be contradicted
in discussions with Student Finance England.

- Any internal documentation for the assessment of students for Independent
status in accordance with Paragraph 2(1)(k) of The Education (Student
Support) Regulations 2011, specifically any relevant thresholds that
are documented. My interpretation of the regulations is that a student must
only be able to demonstrate they have been self supporting, and not have to
earn over a certain threshold that is claimed by members of staff at
Student Finance England. Any documents detailing a threshold agreed
internally would be appreciated.”

Response

I can confirm that there are no internal memos held on the definitions of
marginal/ancillary work undertaken by migrant workers or the type of work
they could do in order to qualify for support in accordance with Schedule 1
of The Education (Student Support) Regulations 2011. Each application for
student support by a migrant worker is assessed on its own individual
merits, taking into account all relevant information provided by an
applicant. In order to provide some advice and assistance, I would direct
you to paragraphs 93 and 115 of the Assessing Eligibility Guidance 2012/13
which is publicly available on our corporate website:

http://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/media/176035/sfe_assessing_eligibility_guidance_12-13__v1.0_final_07-12-11.pdf

In relation to the second part of your request relating to the assessment
of students for independent status, the information you have requested is
considered exempt from disclosure under section 21 of the FOIA, as it is
reasonably accessible to you by other means. The only document currently
available for assessment under paragraph 2(1)(k) of The Education (Student
Support) Regulations 2011 is the Assessing Financial Entitlement 2012/13
Guidance Chapter, which is available on our corporate website. Please
refer 179 to 188 of the Guidance Chapter which can be found at the
following link:

http://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/media/178871/assessing_financial_entitlement_12-_13_final.pdf

This document confirms that the Regulations do not stipulate how much a
student must have earned before being classed as self-supporting.

As you have indicated that members of staff at Student Finance England have
claimed that a certain threshold must be earned before someone qualifies
for independent status, I wish to provide some clarification on this issue.
I can confirm that there is a documented benchmark threshold for
independent students of £7,500 for academic year 2011/12. The internal
document containing this figure does not fall under the scope of your
freedom of information request as your request relates to The Education
(Student Support) Regulations 2011, which relate to academic year 2012/13.
This figure is for guidance only, and is defined as follows:

“A reasonable level of income to be classed as self supporting is
£7500 – where income is less than this request a breakdown of income
and outgoings from student to demonstrate how they were self
supporting”

Accordingly, if a student earns less than the benchmark figure, they could
still demonstrate that they supported themselves and we would ask for
further information or evidence to support that. It may be that the advice
provided by the contact centre was not fully explained, in that the figure
is for guidance only, and that it is down to the student to demonstrate and
provide details on how they have supported themselves, with each case being
reviewed on its own merits.