Financial Support
Our fee policy aims to make learning accessible to all. Course fees cover tuition costs, examination costs and, in some cases, additional costs specific to the course1.
Full fee for students aged 19+
Students aged 19 and above as at the 31st August 2011 (and resident in the United Kingdom or European Economic Area for the past three years 2 ) pay the full fee at the time of booking, with the exception of the policies stated under fee remission.
Fee for students aged 16-18
For courses leading to a recognised qualification the only fee is for materials and the students must purchase their own text books. Please telephone us if you would like to apply.
Literacy and Numeracy
No tuition fees apply on qualification courses if you enrol on a Skills for Life course in either Literacy with IT or Adult Numeracy.
Reduced fee for students aged 19+
If you are in receipt of:
• Jobseekers allowance
• ESA
• WRAG
AND
the course may help you progress into employment you may be able to pay a reduced fee.
Reduced fees may be available for adult students whose course enables them to reach a FIRST full level two or three qualification.
There is a £50 commitment fee which covers assessments, exams and materials and is charged at the time of booking.
In order to claim reduced fees you will need to provide documentary evidence of your entitlement at the time of booking the course. For example, an award notice, letter of entitlement to benefit or within 2 months of booking.
Access
For Access courses there is a £150 fee to cover Awarding Body fees together with an administration fee.
ILEX courses
For those students studying for the ILEX qualification and eligible for fee remission, a commitment fee of £125 will be payable at the time of booking the course. This fee is non-refundable for students who do not complete the first term or who fail to attend. However, for those students whose attendance is satisfactory and who intend to complete, this sum will be held until November when the amount of £115 will be returned to the student to pay most of the ILEX student membership fee with the remaining sum used to cover the cost of administration.
Apprenticeship courses
Students undertaking courses as part of an apprenticeship must be registered with the apprenticeship department in advance of the course starting. If students then leave the apprenticeship scheme prior to completion of their FULL apprenticeship programme they may be required to pay any costs of the courses they have completed, excluding tuition fees.
Employers of apprentices who are aged over 19 at the start of the course are required to match the funding from the SFA and to pay 50% towards the costs including a £150 administration fee. This will be invoiced at booking. Three termly instalments will be considered, upon request, where appropriate.
Instalment Payments
Where the course fee exceeds £350, an arrangement may be made (upon request) for the course fee to be paid in two instalments. A deposit of 50% will be required at the time of booking with full payment due by the mid point of the course or the 1st February (whichever is the earlier). Three instalments will be considered, upon request, where appropriate.
Service Agreement for all courses
Our Commitment to you
While it is our intention to provide the number of taught weeks indicated in this brochure, a lesser number of weeks may be delivered in the event of staff sickness or due to unforeseen circumstances such as inclement weather. In these situations, we undertake to deliver a minimum of 90% of lessons. Occasionally lessons may need to be rescheduled on an alternative night. We make every effort to notify students of staff absence as soon as we are aware. Where the course falls on a bank holiday or an open evening the class will usually be made up on an alternative night or at the end of the course.
Cancellation policy
We will offer a full refund where notification of cancellation is received within two weeks of the course commencing. For short or intensive courses notification must be received prior to the start of the course.
The Commitment that we ask of you
In the event of your own sickness, holiday or other absence, that you notify us as soon as possible. For holidays, students will also usually notify their tutor in advance. Not only does this help the tutor to plan the lesson, but also we are required to record your attendance in order to claim the balance of funding (from the SFA) to enable us to provide the course. For these reasons, we will telephone you if we have an unexplained absence of three weeks or more or low attendance, and reserve the right to withdraw you from the course without a refund.
Please ensure your contact details remain up to date so we can contact you.
1Except for the ILEX course, where the student will incur examination and membership fees, which are payable directly to ILEX as it is a professional qualification.
2Students who have not been resident in the UK or EEA for the past three years should telephone the Adult Education office to ascertain the fee for the course.