Student Learning Agreement

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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. We will also provide textbooks, as part of your course fee, if they are required for the course you have enrolled on (ie - Newspaper, Magazine, Broadcast and Photo journalism. We will only supply one copy per book per student and cannot be held responsible if items are lost in the post.
   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. Update your learning materials twice a year if they require it, by sending you replacement teaching modules. This usually takes place in December and July and on other occasions if we deem it necessary. Most changes relate to courses using NCTJ exams and are made in line with NCTJ syllabuses. We will also provide you with updates, if necessary, when you enter the NCTJ exams, as part of our exam coaching service.
   8. Assign you to a personal tutor with whom you can work on a one-to-one basis.
   9. Deal with your tutorial queries by email or Skype within two working days.
10. Inform you about contact arrangements and times between yourself and your tutor.
11. Return marked work to you within three working days (if you are doing a course where we mark assignments for you).
12. Provide constructive and individual feedback on your progress (if you are doing a course where we mark assignments for you).
13. Deal with any difficulties promptly and fairly.
14. Send you a copy of our complaints procedure on request.
15. Operate an equal opportunities policy.
16. Remove you from the course, and archive your records, if you do not communicate with us for 12 months without prior arrangement.
17. 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.
18. 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.
19. 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.
20. We will not be able to mark work, offer tutorial advice or provide new modules if your course fee instalments are not paid up to date.
21. Offer advice and support if you are seeking work placements.
22. Offer advice and support if you are looking for work.
23. Offer advice and support if you are going for a job interview.
24. Offer coaching, advice and support to prepare you for your NCTJ exams (if you are doing a course that includes NCTJ exams).
25. Consider re-funding your course fees only in exceptional circumstances - see the statement under no 28, below.
26. 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, overseas agencies, the NCTJ, ISPs, web hosts, Paypal, Western Union.
27. Remove you from the course if, in our opinion, your behaviour towards us, or any member of our staff, is absuive or 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.
28. 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 and cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer.

At the point of enrolment on one of our courses, you will be asked to tick a box that states: 'You must tick this box to confirm you have accepted our Student Learning Agreement'

This agreement is legally binding on 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, illness or redundancy.
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.

You also have the right, under the Distance Selling Regulations, to claim a full, unconditional refund of all fees paid within seven days of your first payment being received.

Money back guarantee scheme

You may also take part in our Money Back Guarantee Scheme. This works as follows:

1.You must inform us by email that you wish to use the Guarantee before you enrol.
2. You then enrol on the course for the half the advertised course price.
3. If we have agreed to give you a scholarship or a discount, the guarantee will apply to the agreed fee.
4. The scheme does not operate if you are paying by instalments.
5. Once you have enrolled, you will complete the course in the usual way.
6. When you have completed the course, you may decide as follows:
a) you are dissatisfied with it - and ask for a full refund of the fee you have already paid.
    This will be refunded unconditionally, though see 7 and 8 below.
OR
b) you are satisfied with it - and pay us the balance of the course fee (50%). On receipt we will award you our
    diploma.
7. The guarantee only operates if you have completed the course.
8. You will invalidate the guarantee if you breach any other terms of this Student Learning Agreement,
    on Section 2, below.

Section 2: Your responsibilities

You will:

   1. Read the relevant course information pages on this website to establish that the course is appropriate for you. You may email us or telephone us (see contact page) if you wish to discuss your options. We are bound by the Association of British Correspondence Colleges Code of Pratice to give honest and imartial advice.
   2. Read the Introduction file thoroughly at the start of the course so that you are fully aware how the course works.
   3. Proceed with the course in the way prescribed in the Introduction 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.
   4. Ensure that all course fees are paid by the agreed times.
   5. Undertake sufficient private study to maintain progress on your course. This will involve doing your own research to supplement our teaching materials.
   6. Submit work which is your own original work, clearly presented and a true reflection of your knowledge and abilities. Students who commit plagiarism by submitting work that is not theirs will be removed from their course immediately, without refund of fees.
   7. Submit work in the format, and by the method, explained in the Introduction file.
   8. Keep in contact with your tutor by email only, without making unnecessary demands upon his or her time.
   9. Be prepared to email your tutor to ask for help if you find that you are stuck.
10. Take reasonable precautions against computer viruses if communicating with us online.
11. Register with any external awarding body if we ask you to do so.
12. 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).
13. 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.
14. Accept that your course fee is non-refundable if for any reason you decide not to continue with the course.