Statutory Instruments
1996 No. 615

EDUCATION, ENGLAND AND WALES
The Education (Areas to which Pupils and Students Belong) Regulations 1996

Made
7th March 1996

Laid before Parliament
11th March 1996

Coming into force
1st April 1996

In exercise of the powers conferred upon the Secretary of State by sections 35(4) and 38(5) of the Education Act 1980(1), the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, as respects England, and the Secretary of State for Wales, as respects Wales, hereby make the following Regulations:

Citation and Commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Education (Areas to which Pupils and Students Belong) Regulations 1996 and shall come into force on 1st April 1996.

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations—

“child looked after by a local authority” has the meaning assigned to it by section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989(2);

“education authority” means a local education authority;

“further education student” means a person in respect of whom provision for further education is made;

“hospital” includes a nursing home or other establishment (not being a school) for the care of persons who are sick or disabled (including persons whose sickness or disability makes special educational provision requisite) and, in relation to such an establishment, “patient” includes any sick or disabled person cared for therein;

“parent” includes a person who is not a parent of a person but who has parental responsibility for him;

“parental responsibility” has the meaning assigned to it by section 3 of the Children Act 1989; and

“school pupil” means a person in respect of whom provision for primary or secondary education is made and includes a person for whom such provision is made otherwise than at a school.

(2) References in these Regulations to the place where a person is ordinarily resident are references to the address where that person is habitually and normally resident apart from temporary or occasional absences, except that no school pupil shall be treated as being ordinarily resident in the area of an education authority by reason only of his residing as a boarder at a school which is situated in the area of that authority.

(3) References in these Regulations to the person responsible for a school pupil are to—

(a)the parent with parental responsibility for him,

provided that if the parents of a school pupil with parental responsibility for him live in different education authority areas—

(i)the person responsible for the pupil shall be the parent with parental responsibility for him with whom the pupil is habitually and normally resident,

(ii)if the pupil is habitually and normally resident with more than one parent with parental responsibility for him, the person responsible for the pupil shall be the parent who is ordinarily resident nearest to the school attended by the pupil or to the place at which the pupil receives education otherwise than at school,

(iii)if the pupil is not habitually and normally resident with a parent with parental responsibility for him, the person responsible for the pupil shall be the parent who is ordinarily resident nearest to the school attended by the pupil or to the place at which the pupil receives education otherwise than at school; or

(b)where there is no parent with parental responsibility for him, to the person (not being a local authority) who has care of him when he is not attending school or living in boarding accommodation or in hospital.

General principle

3.  Subject to regulations 4 to 10 below, a person shall be treated as belonging to the area of the education authority in which he is ordinarily resident or, where he has no ordinary residence, the area of the authority in which he is for the time being resident.

School pupils with statements of special educational needs living in boarding accommodation

4.—(1) This regulation shall not apply where regulation 7 below applies.

(2) This regulation shall apply in the case of a school pupil —

(a)for whom a statement of special educational needs is maintained under Part III of the Education Act 1993(3); and

(b)who attends a boarding school or who is provided with boarding accommodation in pursuance of section 50(1) of the Education Act 1944(4); and

(c)who does not spend his holidays with the person responsible for him.

(3) Where the person responsible for such a pupil is ordinarily resident in the area of an education authority the pupil shall be treated as belonging to that area.

(4) Where the person responsible for such a pupil is not ordinarily resident in the area of an education authority, or there is no person responsible for the pupil, the pupil shall be treated as belonging to the area of the education authority which maintains the statement.

School pupils with statements of special educational needs and pupils at special schools

5.—(1) This regulation shall not apply where regulation 4 above, 6 or 7 below applies.

(2) This regulation shall apply in the case of a school pupil —

(a)for whom a statement of special educational needs is maintained under Part III of the Education Act 1993; or

(b)who is registered as a pupil at a special school.

(3) Where the person responsible for such a pupil is ordinarily resident in the area of an education authority the pupil shall be treated as belonging to that area.

(4) Where the person responsible for such a pupil is resident in England or Wales but is not ordinarily resident in the area of an education authority, the pupil shall be treated as belonging to the area of the authority in which the person responsible for such a pupil is for the time being resident.

(5) Where—

(a)the person responsible for such a pupil is not resident in England or Wales, and

(b)there is a person who has care of the pupil who is ordinarily resident in England or Wales,

the pupil shall be treated as belonging to the area of the education authority in England or Wales where such person is ordinarily resident.

(6) Where the person responsible for the pupil is not resident in England and Wales and there is no person who has care of the pupil in England or Wales, the pupil shall be treated as belonging to the area of the education authority making provision for his education.

School pupils resident in hospital

6.—(1) This regulation shall not apply where regulation 7 below applies.

(2) This regulation shall apply in the case of a school pupil who —

(a)is a patient in hospital; and

(b)receives education in a special school established in hospital, or education referred to in section 298(1) of the Education Act 1993 otherwise than at school.

(3) Where the person responsible for such a pupil is ordinarily resident in the area of an education authority the pupil shall be treated as belonging to that area.

(4) Where the person responsible for such a pupil is not ordinarily resident in the area of an education authority, the pupil shall be treated as belonging to the area of the authority in which the person responsible for such a pupil is for the time being resident.

(5) Where the person responsible for such a pupil is neither ordinarily nor for the time being resident in the area of an education authority, or there is no person responsible for the pupil, the pupil shall be treated as belonging to the area of the education authority in which the hospital is situated.

Children looked after by a local authority

7.—(1) This regulation shall apply to the exclusion of any other regulation which would otherwise apply to such a person.

(2) This regulation shall apply in the case of a child who is looked after by a local authority—

(a)for whom a statement of special educational needs is maintained under Part III of the Education Act 1993, or

(b)who is registered as a pupil at a special school, or

(c)who is a patient in hospital, and receives education either in a special school established in a hospital or education referred to in section 298(1) of the Education Act 1993 otherwise than at school, or

(d)who is a further education student.

(3) Such a person shall be treated as belonging to the education authority area which coincides with or includes the area of the local authority which looks after him.

Further education students becoming ordinarily resident for educational purposes

8.—(1) This regulation shall apply in the case of a further education student attending a course of further education (his“current course” ) who moved to become ordinarily resident in the area of an education authority for the purpose of attending either his current course or such a previous course as is mentioned in paragraph (3) below.

(2) (a) where immediately before so moving such a student was ordinarily resident in the area of another education authority he shall be treated as belonging to the area of that other authority for so long as he attends his current course; and
(b)where immediately before so moving such a student was not ordinarily resident in the area of another education authority, he shall be treated as belonging to the area of the education authority in which he attends his current course.

(3) The reference in paragraph (1) above and in regulation 9(1) below to a previous course is a reference to a course of further education or higher education which, disregarding an intervening vacation, the student was attending immediately before commencing his current course.

Further education students who change ordinary residence while attending courses

9.—(1) This regulation shall apply in the case of a student whose ordinary residence changes while he is attending a course of further education (his “current course”) or such a previous course as is mentioned in regulation 8(3) above.

(2) Where the student was treated as belonging to the area of an education authority immediately before his change of ordinary residence he shall continue to be treated as belonging to that area for so long as he attends his current course.

Further education students in receipt of awards

10.—(1) This regulation shall apply to the exclusion of any preceding regulation which would otherwise apply to such a student.

(2) This regulation shall apply in the case of a further education student attending a course of further education in respect of which he is granted an award by an education authority otherwise than pursuant to section 1 of the Education Act 1962(5).

(3) The student shall be treated as belonging to the area of the authority by whom the award was granted so long as he attends the course in question.

Revocation of regulations and transitional provisions

11.—(1) The Education (Areas to which Pupils and Students Belong) Regulations 1989(6) (in this regulation referred to as “the 1989 Regulations”) and the Education (Areas to which Pupils and Students Belong) (Amendment) Regulations 1990(7) are hereby revoked.

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) above the 1989 Regulations shall continue to apply in relation to any claim for payment made —

(a)before 1st April 1995, under section 51(1) of the Education (No 2) Act 1986(8) as originally enacted; or

(b)on or after 1st April 1995, under regulation 5 of the Education (Inter-authority Recoupment) Regulations 1994(9).

Robin Squire
Parliamentary under Secretary of State,
Department for Education and Employment
26th February 1996

William Hague
Secretary of State for Wales
7th March 1996

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the regulations)
The regulations specify the circumstances in which school pupils and further education students are to be treated as belonging to the area of a particular local education authority for the purposes, principally, of section 51 of the Education (No 2) Act 1986 (recoupment). In addition by virtue of paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 to the Education Act 1962 a person who, if he were a further education student, would under these Regulations be treated as belonging to the area of an authority, will be treated as belonging to the area of that authority for the purposes of determining responsibility for providing awards under the Education Act 1962.
These Regulations revoke the Education (Areas to which Pupils and Students Belong) Regulations 1989 and the Education (Areas to which Pupils and Students Belong) (Amendment) Regulations 1990 and re-enact the provisions with modifications. Apart from drafting amendments the main changes are:—
(a)the special provisions for part-time further education students are not re-enacted;
(b)a new definition of the person responsible for a school pupil is introduced (regulation 2(3);
(c)the special provisions for boarding school pupils only apply to school pupils for whom a statement of special educational needs is maintained (regulation 4);
(d)new provision is made for the case where the parents of a school pupil with a statement of special educational needs or at a special school are out of the country but the pupil is in the care of someone (regulation 5(5)(b));
(e)new provisions are made for a child who is looked after by a local authority (regulation 7);
(f)the special provisions for further education students educated in hospitals and for school pupils and further education students in refugee camps are not re-enacted.


(1)
1980 c. 20.

(2)
1989 c. 41.

(3)
1993 c. 35.

(4)
1944 c. 31; section 50(1) was amended by Part I of Schedule 2 to the Education Act 1946 (c. 50), Part I of Schedule 1 to the Education (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1948 (c. 40), paagraph 3 of Schedule 3 to the Education Act 1981 (c. 60), section 100(2) of, and Part II of Schedule 13 to, the Education Reform Act 1988 (c. 40), and paragraph 12 of Schedule 19 to the Education Act 1993.

(5)
1962 c. 12; section 1 was substituted by section 19 of, and Schedule 5 to, the Education Act 1980, and was amended by section 4 of the Education (Grants and Awards) Act 1984 (c. 11).

(6)
S.I. 1989/2037.

(7)
S.I. 1990/361.

(8)
1986 c. 61.

(9)
S.I. 1994/3251.