Student Awards Agency Scotland student support regulations and ministerial guidance: FOI release

Information requested

1) Eligibility rules, guidance and terminology

1.1 Current eligibility policies and any post-2019 change logs covering residency/immigration categories and evidence requirements, including ministerial guidance relied upon.

1.2 Any internal guidance/training issued to staff addressing the Equality Act definition of “sex”, associated terminology in communications, and safeguarding/freedom-of-belief requirements.

1.3 Equality impact assessments or legal/risk assessments conducted for the above.

2) Data sharing and information governance

2.1 Current data-sharing agreements/MOUs with the Home Office, HMRC, DWP and the Student Loans Company, including change logs.

2.2 DPIAs and Records of Processing Activities (ROPA) covering those data flows (you may redact security details).

2.3 A high-level field list/schema and the stated lawful bases (UK GDPR/DPA 2018) for each flow.

2.4 Any issue logs or risk assessments concerning accuracy, eligibility verification and prevention of ineligible access to public funds.

3) Fraud, error, recoveries (aggregated)

3.1 Annual totals (or nearest available aggregation) for detected/flagged ineligibility, investigations opened, decisions upheld/overturned on appeal, and amounts recovered or written off. Summaries/extracts are fine if full reports exceed cost.

4) EDI procurement and conditionality

4.1 A list of third-party EDI providers or memberships engaged by SAAS since 2019 (supplier/name, contract or scheme title, start/end dates, total value, brief description).

4.2 Any department-level requirements or model clauses mandating participation in specific EDI schemes/training for grants, contracts or HR policy (where held).

5) Complaints and legal advice (aggregated/meta)

5.1 Annual counts of complaints/queries received about: (a) use of sex-related terminology in SAAS materials; (b) compelled-belief or ideological content in training/communications; (c) eligibility decisions linked to residency/immigration status.

5.2 If legal advice is held on the above topics, and content is withheld under FOISA s36(1), please disclose the title, date, author/owner and a non privileged summary.

6) Post-UKSC decision-making

Response

1) Eligibility rules, guidance and terminology
1.1 Current eligibility policies and any post-2019 change logs covering residency/immigration
categories and evidence requirements, including ministerial guidance relied upon.

SAAS provides financial support to Scottish domiciled students studying courses of Higher Education in the UK by assessing eligibility and distributing public funds in line with regulations. Eligibility in regards to residency/ immigration is contained within the Student Support (Scotland) Regulations 2022. When introduced in 2022, the regulations replaced the following which would have been in force between 2019- 2021 and used by SAAS to determine eligibility in terms of residency/ immigration:

• The Education (Student Loans for Tuition Fees) (Scotland) Regulations 2006
• The Nursing and Midwifery Student Allowances (Scotland) Regulations 2007
• The Students’ Allowances (Scotland) Regulations 2007
• The Education (Student Loans) (Scotland) Regulations 2007

The following published policy notes which accompanied changes to regulations during 2019-2025 sets out the Government rationale for why a change was introduced.

• The Education (Fees and Student Support) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (EU Exit) (Scotland) Regulations 2019 Policy Note
• The Education (Fees and Student Support) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 Policy Note
• The Education (Fees and Student Support) (EU Exit) (Scotland) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 Policy Note
• Student Support (Scotland) Regulations 2022 Policy Note 
• The Education (Fees and Student Support) (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2022 Policy Note
• The Education (Fees and Student Support) (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2023 Policy Note
• The Education (Fees and Student Support) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2024 Policy Note
• The Education (Fees and Student Support) (Miscellaneous Amendment and Revocation) (Scotland) Regulations 2025 Policy Note

1.2 Any internal guidance/training issued to staff addressing the Equality Act definition of “sex”, associated terminology in communications, and safeguarding/freedom-of-belief requirements.

Annex 1 provides a copy of SAAS operational guidance for staff when engaging with students who wish to change their name and/ or gender on record and the associated operational procedures.

1.3 Equality impact assessments or legal/risk assessments conducted for the above.

Equality Impact Assessments relating to changes in regulations are published by the Scottish Government. The Policy Notes linked above will confirm which impact assessments were carried out in regards to residency/ immigration. Copies of those impact assessments are publicly available at Legislation.gov.uk by typing in the regulations noted above (including the amending regulations) and selecting the ‘more resources’ option. A legal explanatory note also accompanies each regulation which is also publicly available to view at Legislation.gov.uk

SAAS do not have an EQIA or legal/risk assessment for the operational guidance provided at 1.2. Therefore, this is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Student Awards Agency Scotland does not have the information you have requested.

2) Data sharing and information governance

2.1 Current data-sharing agreements/MOUs with the Home Office, HMRC, DWP and the Student Loans Company, including change logs.

Please find attached the data-sharing agreement with the Student Loans Company (SLC) (Annex 2). This has been partially redacted under Section 38(1)(b) - Third party personal data.

The MOUs with HMRC cannot be provided under Section 35(1)(a) - Substantial prejudice to prevention or detection of crime.

Please note that SAAS does not have any current data-sharing agreements/MOUs with the Home Office or DWP. If there were any requirement to share data with those areas of the UK Government on an ad hoc basis, it would be done so under the Data Protection Act 2018.

2.2 DPIAs and Records of Processing Activities (ROPA) covering those data flows (you may redact security details).

Please find attached the DPIA for the agreement with SLC (Annex 3). This is partially redacted under Section 38(1)(b) - Third party personal data, Section 30(b)(ii) - Substantial inhibition to free and frank exchange of views and Section 30(b)(i) - Substantial inhibition to free and frank provision of advice.

The DPIA with HMRC cannot be provided under Section 35(1)(a) - Substantial prejudice to prevention or detection of crime.

We keep our Records of Processing Activities in our corporate information asset register (IAR). For the purposes of Lawfulness of Processing, it is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest, or in the exercise of an official authority. For our purpose of processing, it is for the Administration of public or government services.

2.3 A high-level field list/schema and the stated lawful bases (UK GDPR/DPA 2018) for each flow.

This information is already provided within the documents attached to this response.

2.4 Any issue logs or risk assessments concerning accuracy, eligibility verification and prevention of ineligible access to public funds.

Please note: Under FOI legislation SAAS is not required to produce new data in relation to FOI requests.

Whilst our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) does not hold the data for the categories requested.

Therefore, this is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Student Awards Agency Scotland does not have the information you have requested.

However, information regarding the evidence that students need to provide in order to apply for funding can be found online at Undergrad Funding - SAAS - Higher Education - Student Loan - Bursary

3) Fraud, error, recoveries (aggregated)

3.1 Annual totals (or nearest available aggregation) for detected/flagged ineligibility, investigations opened, decisions upheld/overturned on appeal, and amounts recovered or written off. Summaries/extracts are fine if full reports exceed cost.

The amount of Fraud referrals from 01/01/19 to date is 876 and the amount of investigations opened during the same period is 578.

Please note: Under FOI legislation SAAS is not required to produce new data in relation to FOI requests.

Whilst our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) does not hold the data for decisions upheld/overturned on appeal, and amounts recovered or written off in the format you have requested.

Therefore, this is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Student Awards Agency Scotland does not have the information you have requested.

However details of our Counter Fraud Strategy can be found online at Classes of Information and within our Annual Reports also found online at Corporate Publications - SAAS

4) EDI procurement and conditionality

4.1 A list of third-party EDI providers or memberships engaged by SAAS since 2019 (supplier/name, contract or scheme title, start/end dates, total value, brief description).

Whilst SAAS have sourced various speakers (internal / third sector) to raise awareness on topics such as mental health, menopause and neurodiversity, none were EDI providers.

4.2 Any department-level requirements or model clauses mandating participation in specific EDI schemes/training for grants, contracts or HR policy (where held).

As SAAS is an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government and its employees are Scottish Government civil servants, they are required to complete Scottish Government ‘Inclusive Culture’ e-learning annually. It helps staff discover the core themes around creating an inclusive culture along with actions that can be taken. By the end of the course, individuals will be able to:

• highlight the Government’s commitment to creating an inclusive culture
• define the terms Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
• consider where they believe the organisation is on its journey towards an inclusive culture
• explore the types of bias, micro-behaviours and barriers that can impact colleagues
• take action to be part of the change

5) Complaints and legal advice (aggregated/meta)

5.1 Annual counts of complaints/queries received about: (a) use of sex-related terminology in SAAS materials; (b) compelled-belief or ideological content in training/communications; (c) eligibility decisions linked to residency/immigration status.

5.1(a) use of sex related terminology in SAAS materials – 2 complaints received about there not being a non-binary option when applying

5.1(b) compelled belief or ideological content in training/communications - 0

5.1(c) eligibility decisions linked to residency/immigration status - 401 appeals, 69 MSP enquiries and 7 enquiries received in regards to residency

5.2 If legal advice is held on the above topics, and content is withheld under FOISA s36(1), please disclose the title, date, author/owner and a non-privileged summary.

Please note: Under FOI legislation SAAS is not required to produce new data in relation to FOI requests

Whilst our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) does not hold the data for the categories requested.

Therefore, this is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Student Awards Agency Scotland does not have the information you have requested.

6) Post-UKSC decision-making

If SAAS concluded no changes were required after FWS (No. 2), please provide the recorded legal/operational rationale and any decision papers evidencing that assessment. As noted at our response to 4.2 SAAS is an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government and its employees are Scottish Government civil servants. SAAS are also located within Saughton House, Edinburgh which is a Scottish Government building. As such, policies in these matters are handled by Scottish Government.

On 6 May 2025 SAAS published an internal staff update via our intranet regarding the recent Supreme Court ruling. Staff were advised that Scottish Government officials were working to ensure consistent, inclusive and comprehensive guidance is in place for stakeholders and our own staff , whilst also signposting any staff that were impacted with details of the appropriate wellbeing services to contact.

The Scottish Government have subsequently published a note for public bodies regarding the UK Supreme Court ruling on the meaning of sex in the Equality Act 2010 on the Scottish Government's website:

www.gov.scot/publications/uk-supreme-court-ruling-on-meaning-of-sex-in-equality-act-update. This provides an update on the steps the Scottish Government is taking following the judgement.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202500480810 - Information released - Annex

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