Student Learning Agreement

It is important, before you enrol on one of our courses, that you have a clear understanding of what you can expect from us - and what your responsibilities are.

This is to make sure there are no misunderstandings between us.

Section 1: What we will do for you

We will:

1. Establish a learning outcome with you for your course - this will either be your course Diploma, or your NCTJ Preliminary Certificate (if you are doing a course that includes NCTJ exams and you pass them).
2. Provide you with suitable materials, sufficient for your course, when you ask for them - please note: it is your responsibility to request Modules.
3. Ensure that course materials conform to the NCTJ syllabus (if you are doing a course that includes NCTJ exams).
4. Inform you when, and how, to enter NCTJ exams (if you are doing a course that includes NCTJ exams).
5. Encourage you during your studies.
6. Provide you with access to appropriate expertise to support you during your course.
7. Assign you to a personal tutor with whom you can work on a one-to-one basis.
8. Deal with your tutorial queries by email within two working days.
9. Inform you about contact arrangements and times between yourself and your tutor.
10. Return marked work to you within three working days (if you are doing a course where we mark assignments for you).
11. Provide constructive and individual feedback on your progress (if you are doing a course where we mark assignments for you).
12. Deal with any difficulties promptly and fairly.
13. Send you a copy of our complaints procedure on request.
14. Operate an equal opportunities policy.
15. Remove you from the course, and archive your records, if you do not communicate with us for 12 months without prior arrangement.
16. Reinstate you on the course, at your request, if you have been removed for any reason, provided any outstanding course fees are brought up to date. If you have not communicated with us for more than 12 months, we will ask you to re-enrol and will charge you of 30% of the original course fee.
17. Allow you to transfer to another more suitable course, at your request, and after discussion with us. A transfer fee will be charged. This will be in proportion to the amount of the original course you have completed.
18. Remind you if you have fallen behind with any course fee instalments and only lapse your tuition if you have failed to respond to two warning emails. We will then give you written notice that we have lapsed your tuition and will archive your records. You may rejoin the course at any time if your course fees are brought up to date and on payment of an £50 administration fee.
19. Offer advice and support if you are seeking work placements.
20. Offer advice and support if you are looking for work.
21. Offer advice and support if you are going for a job interview.
22. Offer coaching, advice and support to prepare you for your NCTJ exams (if you are doing a course that includes NCTJ exams).
23. Consider re-funding your course fees only in exceptional circumstances.
24. Not be held responsible, or liable, for problems or financial losses that are caused by agents or circumstances outside our control - for example, exam boards, NCTJ, ISPs, web hosts, Paypal, Western Union.
25. Remove you from the course if, in our opinion, your behaviour towards us, or any member of our staff, is unreasonable, or if you indulge in plagarism by submitting work for marking that is not your own. Refunds will not be made in such circumstances.
26. Offer you ONE other course at half price, once you have completed, and paid for, one of our existing courses. This offer is limited to one half-price course, per student.

At the point of enrolment on one of our courses, you will be asked to sign a form, or click a box, that states: 'I understand that fees are non-refundable if I decide for any reason not to continue the course.' This agreement is legally binding upon you. However, these are the occasions when a refund, or partial refund, will be considered, at our discretion:

1. If you face unexpected hardship: eg injury, bereavement, hardship, redundancy, financial loss or some other misfortune.
   In these circumstances, we will ask to see evidence - a letter from a doctor, employer, solicitor, or other relevant authority or organisation. The amount we refund will be in proportion to how far you have progressed with the course and we may also deduct up to 15 per cent of the original course fee to cover our administrative costs and any Paypal commission.
   
2. If we have broken our side of your Student Learning Agreement and have failed to put it right according to our Complaints Procedure.

Section 2: Your responsibilities

You will:

1. Read the Welcome file thoroughly at the start of the course so that you are fully aware how the course works.
2. Proceed with the course in the way prescribed in the Welcome file. We may not be able to support you fully, or at all, if you decide to proceed with the course in a different way. This especially applies to courses leading to NCTJ exams.
3. Ensure that all course fees are paid by the agreed times.
4. Undertake sufficient private study to maintain progress on your course. This will involve doing your own research to supplement our teaching materials.
5. Submit work which is your own work, clearly presented and a true reflection of your knowledge and abilities.
6. Submit work in the format, and by the method, explained in the Welcome file.
7. Keep in contact with your tutor by email only, without making unnecessary demands upon his or her time.
8. Be prepared to email your tutor to ask for help if you find that you are stuck.
9. Take reasonable precautions against computer viruses if communicating with us online.
10. Register with any external awarding body if we ask you to do so.
11. Notify us in advance if you wish to take a break from your course, and tell us for how long (please note: we do not chase students who take a break from their studies without notifying us).
12. Notify us if you are going to lapse from the course for any reason (please note: we do not chase students who discontinue the course). By failing to communicate with us for 12 months, you are effectively removing yourself from the course for which you have enrolled, and are exonerating us completely from all of the responsibilities we had to you, above, under the Student Learning Agreement. You may re-join the course, but a fee of 30 per cent of the original course fee will be charged.
13. Accept that your course fee is non-refundable if for any reason you decide not to continue with the course.