Student Contract Terms and Conditions

In accepting the offer of a place on a programme with LSME, you enter into a legally binding contract with the College and agree to be bound by these terms and conditions. This can only be amended by agreement in writing.

The official offer is the letter you have received from us directly. You should read these terms and conditions and other suggestive documents carefully before accepting an offer and again before your registration.

3.1 If you accept the Offer, you accept and agree to be bound by and comply with

• The College Regulations, Rules, Policies and Procedures, Codes of Practice and Student Charter, which are updated regularly and are set out in the General Student Handbook, Programme Handbooks for Students, and Programme Specifications as well as the College  website (https://lsme.ac.uk/students/college-policies).
• The Awarding Organisation’s rules and regulations and all amendments thereof.
• Any relevant professional accreditation and/or regulatory body eligibility requirements for your
  Programme.
• Registration on your course on offer on the date stipulated in your offer letter.
• Having a written request to change, defer or withdraw from the course offered to you and an understanding that you cannot do so without a written agreement with LSME.
• A written request for a change in the Programme of study must be made within three weeks of the course start date.
• The current arrangement to commence your studies using the delivery mode in place.
• The commitment to attend all tutorials and lectures as per the timetable and an acceptance that failure to achieve an attendance level of 80% could lead to disciplinary action including
  suspension or termination of your registration with LSME. Any absence should be authorised by
  LSME, and any suspensions or terminations will be reported to the regulatory authorities.
• The commitment to attend College on the timetabled days in a week for face-to-face sessions.
  The exact days for both day and evening classes may change each term, and in such event, the
  student will be provided with at least four weeks’ notice to enable planning and scheduling of
  other responsibilities outside College hours.
  Academic Year 2023-24 2
• Students on the programmes with work-based components are required to adhere to the
  arrangement in place for work-based learning.
• Students will be asked to attend extra days to make up for authorised and unauthorised absences
  to update their attendance records and catch up with their academic work.
• The policy for disciplinary action to be taken against you for any inappropriate behaviour or
  misconduct and this can lead to termination of registration with LSME.
• During term time, you will not be permitted to travel overseas for a holiday or to attend family
  functions, etc. You may be authorised to travel in case of emergencies that are evidenced
  accurately.
• Other policies include the Fitness to Study Policy, Regulations for the Acceptable Use of IT
  Facilities, Equal Opportunities Policies, Health and Safety Policies, Data Protection Policy and
  Privacy Notice, Anti-Harassment and Bullying Policy and the Code of Practice on Freedom of
  Speech which will be available to you on the College VLE after registration on your Programme.
• If your Programme requires you to register with a professional, statutory or regulatory body
  and/or to practice under licence or to undertake a work placement learning for a specified
  duration of your course, it is your responsibility to ensure that all necessary declarations
  (including criminal records, medical conditions, disabilities) are made to the College both during
  the admissions process and during your period of study and that you comply with all relevant
  rules and regulations during your studies and on placement.
• You are responsible for paying any associated registration or licence fees and maintaining any
  licences and registrations with Professional bodies.

4.1 All programmes which lead to an award incur a tuition fee for each academic year of study, including an academic year repeated with or without attendance, with partial supervision, and with or without mitigating circumstances.

4.2 Your Tuition Fee includes a charge for tuition and registration with the Awarding Organisation. Tuition Fees are set annually as per the approved fee rate for our registration status with the Office for Students (OfS) for local and international students. They are also set out in the Conditional Offer Letter. Other fees, e.g. repeat study fees, may rise in subsequent years of study. The cost of field trips and penalties is often payable separately. Further information on other costs which may be applicable to your Programme can be found within the relevant Programme Specification and is outlined below:

1. If you intend to avail Government funding (administered by the Students Loans Company), it is your responsibility to check your eligibility with Student Finance England before your enrolment and registration.
2. A penalty of £20 will be levied on you if you are self-funded and your payment by cheque is not honoured. LSME will terminate the registration if an alternative arrangement for payment is not mutually agreed.
3. You are required to pay a refundable deposit of £25 if you wish to borrow books from the library. This amount will be paid back at the end of your Programme after you have returned all books in your possession. If you do not return books within the period in which it is due, you will be liable to pay a penalty of £5 per day until the book is returned.

4.3 When you accept the Offer, you accept that you are responsible for ensuring that you supply the College with full and correct information about who will pay your Tuition Fee. Failure to do so may result in the termination of your admission”.

4.4 If an external organisation other than the Student Loan Company is sponsoring you (paying your Tuition Fee), you agree that:

1. The College may share your personal data, including your academic standing, with your sponsor, without seeking further consent.
2. You remain responsible for ensuring your Tuition Fee is paid in full.
3. If your sponsor defaults on any Tuition Fee payment arrangement, all outstanding Tuition Fees will be transferred to your student fee account for immediate payment.

4.5 If you are a self-funded student, a payment plan will be provided to facilitate instalment-based payments. If a suitable arrangement to pay the Tuition Fee has not been made, or you default on any payment arrangement, the College may restrict your access to library and computing services.
If there are outstanding Tuition Fee charges at the end of an academic year, you will normally be prevented from registering for the next academic year until those outstanding Tuition Fee charges have been paid or you have agreed on an acceptable arrangement to pay. If you have outstanding Tuition Fees charges one calendar month before the date of graduation, you will not normally be permitted to graduate. Please note that any discounted fees offered are subject to be revoked if you do not meet the agreed payment arrangements.

4.6 If there is an outstanding payment other than tuition fees, although you may be allowed to graduate, your certificate will be withheld until the payment is received.

4.7 If you are a local student who is funded by the SLC but whose loan does not cover the full cost of tuition, you must pay the remainder of, or full Tuition Fee in full before the start of your course or via an agreed Payment Plan with the College. Please note that non-receipt of the Tuition fee may result in your deregistration from the Programme.

4.8 You will not be charged a Tuition Fee if your registration is declined by LSME or if you fail to register or enrol on your Programme of study, having previously firmly accepted an offer to do so nor will a Tuition Fee be charged if you leave (suspend or withdraw from) your Programme within the first four weeks of the start date of your course. If you choose to leave or suspend your Programme after four weeks of the start date, including at any time during subsequent academic years, the College will re-calculate the amount of Tuition Fee you will be charged on the basis of the date we are formally notified of your intention to change your registration, but you will have no claim to a refund of Tuition Fee for the period you were registered during that year.
4.9 Your Tuition Fee may inflate annually by the rate of inflation and/or at any time to reflect a change in the law or government requirements.

5.1 In return for the Tuition Fee, LSME provides you with educational services and facilities to enable you to access the Programme and will give you access to reasonable support to help you learn. You agree to play a full and active role in progressing in your studies and to meet the standards of behaviour and personal responsibility expected of all LSME students.

5.2 Our website, prospectus and printed marketing material provide information on what programmes we offer at the time it was published. These programmes are subject to review regularly as per the requirement of the Awarding Organisation. Hence changes may sometimes be necessary, for example, to ensure that the content is current and relevant or as a result of student feedback or external examiner reports. These changes could include a choice of units or modules, and changes to timetables and are only made where it is considered necessary to do so or in the best interests of students, but occasionally changes may have to be made for reasons outside of the College’s control. Changes to course content by the Awarding Organisation will not normally affect you if you are enrolled on an older version of the same Programme.

5.3 You agree that LSME may make reasonable changes without giving you notice to ensure you are provided with the best quality of educational experience, including:

1. Keeping Programme content and delivery up to date and relevant. For example, we may need make technical adjustments to reflect developments in academic teaching, research and/or professional standards/requirements or to address external examiner or student feedback. We must ensure the curriculum is current and reflects developments in the subject area and to vary the methods of assessment.
2. Change as a result of a programme review: LSME regularly and formally reviews all of its programmes in line with the Awarding Organisation and regulatory requirements to ensure that the academic standards and quality of learning opportunities of Programmes remain appropriate to the awards to which they lead. Programme review may result in changes to a Programme to enhance its quality.
3. Adhering to external regulation: LSME may amend a Programme to reflect changes in relevant laws or statutory, regulatory requirements and/or the way in which higher education is regulated.

In making any such changes, the impact on students will be as minimum as necessary to achieve the required change and will normally notify and/or consult (depending on the nature of the change) affected students in advance.

5.4 If LSME considers a significant change to be necessary for reasons other than those covered in conditions 5.2, it will take reasonable steps to obtain your consent (including where you are an applicant who has accepted an offer and may be directly affected by the change) and will inform you if that change is implemented. If you did not consent to the change and the implementation of the change causes you exceptional detriment or hardship, the College will work with you to try to reduce the adverse effect on you or find an appropriate solution. If you did not consent to the changes and remain dissatisfied with them, you will be offered the opportunity to withdraw from the Programme and, if required, you will receive reasonable support to transfer to another provider. There may be limits or conditions on any offer made to you.

5.5 If in the rare event that your Programme delivery is disrupted by circumstances beyond our control, the College will provide you with as much notice as practicable and will take all reasonable steps to minimise any resultant disruption, for example by delivering a modified version or offering affected students the chance to move to another Programme or institution. Examples of such circumstances include industrial action by the College or third parties; the unanticipated departure  of key members of staff or unavoidable specialist staff absence; acts of terrorism or a security threat; damage or interruption to buildings, facilities or equipment; severe weather conditions or the acts of any governmental, regulatory or local authority.

5.6 If an unprecedented event results in a national lockdown, such as a pandemic, or other circumstances, the College will take all reasonable steps to ensure continuity in education. In such events, the onsite provision will be swiftly replaced with online teaching and learning using a collaboration of online facilities. There will be a special arrangement for students with special needs who cannot attend online to continue with onsite teaching and learning. This arrangement will be dependent on guidelines provided by the government.

5.7 If after a review of your Programme and LSME decides to close it permanently for future intakes, it will make sure that appropriate arrangements are in place until current students have completed the Programme and will manage and maintain academic quality and standards and provide appropriate learning opportunities where necessary.

5.8 Very rarely negative changes may sometimes be unavoidable because of unforeseen issues such as student numbers. LSME reserves the right to cease to continue to offer any Programme. For example, advertised courses will only run when LSME is able to enrol a minimum of 15 students per course. The College, however, will seek to minimise the impact of any changes on students and any negative impact on the student experience. For this reason, LSME will provide four weeks’ notice prior to the course start date and fees paid will be refunded in full or you will be offered a provision to select another programme of your choice where the fees paid will be adjusted accordingly.

5.9 You agree that LSME may make such changes without seeking your express consent provided (i)the student representation has been consulted either directly or through representation on the Committee and (ii) you have been notified of the change before it takes effect.

For more information, please see our Student Protection Plan (https://lsme.ac.uk/wpcontent/uploads/annualreport/LSME-Student-Protection-Plan.pdf)

6.1 LSME will provide equality of treatment for all regardless of gender, age, race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, household income, religion or belief. Students who experience any form of unfair treatment at any stage of their academic journey reserve the right to complain via the College’s complaint procedures.

6.2 LSME will provide a safe and secure physical environment for students studying at the College premises.

6.3 For students availing Government funding, LSME will normally confirm your attendance with the SLC at the start of your studies if we are satisfied that you intend to study with us. In the event that your approval with Student Finance is delayed, LSME reserves the right to defer the confirmation of your attendance with the SLC for some time if you have a very poor attendance record and have failed to comply with the College policies on coursework and assignment submission.

6.4 LSME will provide good quality academic support and pastoral care delivered by suitably qualified academic and non-academic personnel to enrich the learning experience of all students.

6.5 LSME will encourage student representation and take reasonable action to ensure that the feedback provided is taken seriously and reasonable demands are actioned promptly and appropriately.

6.6 Students are allowed to appeal against assessment decisions in accordance with the College’s academic appeal policy and procedures.

6.7 LSME will take all reasonable measures to support and provide services for students with disabilities or other special needs only if the needs are brought to our attention at the right time.

6.8 LSME will protect all the personal information you provide in line with the Data Protection Act. Information kept about you will not be disclosed under any circumstances without your consent  unless required by the regulatory authorities such as the judiciary system or for national statistics (in the case of funded students). See additional information on personal data below.

6.9 LSME will contact you if staff/students have any concerns about your ability to manage your studies and to support and advise you accordingly, referring you to more appropriate support within the College when applicable. In situations where the supporting staff is of the view that you may have a serious mental health issue and your fitness to study is suspect, LSME reserves the right to refer you to your local GP with your consent. If you do not consent to be referred to your local GP, LSME reserves the right to suspend your studies and advise you to see your medical team for further assistance. Your reinstatement will be based on confirmation from your medical team that you are fit to return to College. Please note that the regulatory authorities, including funding authorities (for students on funding), will be informed of your suspension on health grounds.

6.10 LSME will claim the Awarding Organisation’s transcript and final award for qualified students as soon as due diligence processes have been completed. The timing of the certification is dependent on the Awarding Organisations.

6.11 The final award is given during the convocation, where graduants will be given the Awarding Organisation’s certification and transcript. Graduants will be notified beforehand of when the ceremony will take place.

6.12 In the case of any delays in receiving certificates, the College will issue interim completion letters to students. This will serve as confirmation of a pending award until the original certificate becomes available.

6.13 LSME will provide general guidance on career development and employability during your period of study. Students will also have the opportunity to engage with potential employers during career events. However, finding suitable employment after achieving the qualification is the student’s sole responsibility.

6.14 LSME will organise extra-curricular activities including guest lectures and seminars, special talks and social activities for students during term time. Students will be invited to participate in these events and provide feedback accordingly.

6.15 LSME may invite you to join the College Alumni after completion of your course. If you agree to join the LSME Alumni, your contact details, as well as your destination after leaving the College, will be kept on our database.

6.16 LSME will invite you to participate in the government Graduate Outcomes survey conducted by the Higher Education Statistical Agency (HESA) 15 months after graduation.

By accepting the Offer, you agree that:

• The College can keep personal and sensitive personal data about you (information) on its systems to fulfil its purpose and to meet its legal obligations to you and to funding bodies and government regulators.
• You will be responsible for accurately maintaining your Information whilst a registered student of the College (e.g. up-to-date and accurate contact information).
• Following graduation, LSME will continue to store your Information (including telephone number, email and postal address data) so that it can share news and updates, promote benefits, services, events and reunions and keep you informed of its fundraising programmes which may involve telephone fundraising.
• The College can share Information with external agencies such as HESA (higher education statistical purposes), OfS (higher education funding and governance purposes), the SLC (for Student Finance purposes), UKVI (residency and immigration purposes), the OIA (student complaints and appeals) or local authorities (for Council Tax exemption purposes), provided that information is only shared with central government departments and agencies and devolved administrations to enable them to carry out their statutory functions under the Education Act or other Acts of Parliament;
• If you are required, by virtue of your registration on your Programme, to apply for a DBS (criminal records) check you will provide authorised Admission staff with your DBS Certificate number and agree that this will be deemed to be informed consent for them to receive information in relation to any criminal records.

Please refer to the privacy notice (www.lsme.ac.uk/privacy-notice/) for further details on how LSME will use your personal information and your rights pertaining to the data stored about you, whom to contact, the fee payable for data access requests, etc.

• Intellectual Property (“IP”) means any idea, invention, method, discovery, secret process, design, trade or service mark, copyright work (including computer software and all data and other information relating thereto), database rights, trade secret, confidential information, or any similar process, right or information.
• IP you create during your studies, or research will normally belong to you unless:
  • you were commissioned by the College to do so as per your studentship with the institution.
  • you generate IP which builds upon an existing IP generated by the College and its partners in which case you will be required to assign such IP to the College and will be entitled to a share of any revenue generated by that, Or
  • you are an employee of the College and developed the IP in that capacity.
• If during the course of your studies, you have access to confidential information belonging to LSME or a third party, you agree that you will only use that confidential information in connection with your studies and you will not without the prior consent of the College or the third party to whom it belongs disclose such confidential information.

If you want to complain about your Programme or the facilities and services provided by LSME, you should do so under the Students Complaint Policy and Procedure unless your complaint is about our recruitment or admission process, in which case visit the policies and procedure section and application process of the College website for additional information.
(www.lsme.ac.uk/students/college-policies and www.lsme.ac.uk/admissions/application-process/)

No third party has any right to enforce any of these Terms or any term of your student contract.