Student Terms and Conditions (More)

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.

Offer: a conditional or unconditional offer of a place on a College programme of study made to you in writing by the College.

Programme: the College programme on which you have been offered or accepted a place or on which you are registered.

Tuition Fee: is the fee incurred by studying on a Programme for each academic year of study (You will find additional information on fees in condition 4).

2.1 You are required to sign and return the offer letter within 14 days immediately after receiving the offer.

• Your contract with the College will start after receiving your signed acceptance of the offer.
• You are allowed to cancel this contract at any time within four weeks of your Programme start date without giving any reason, as long as you do so in writing.

3.1 Given the COVID-19 outbreak, all lessons and student support are being conducted online, and this will continue until we receive further advice from the government for universities and Colleges in the UK. This mode of delivery may continue from September 2020 until further notice. This option will incur an additional cost to prospective students who do not have laptops with a webcam and internet access. It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that this infrastructure is available for their studies if they wish to study via the online sessions.

3.2 There will also be a provision for face-to-face sessions for a limited number of students while maintaining social distancing in the College. This provision is for vulnerable students who are not able to join the online sessions for different reasons including but not limited to students with cognitive disabilities (dyslexia, autism), poor or no internet connection and/or experiencing technical problems due to their vulnerabilities (socially deprived, care leavers and asylum seekers) or their current location. Should the government impose further restrictions such as a complete lockdown, this provision will be terminated immediately.

3.3 Alternative arrangements will be agreed in the case of students who are not able to attend face-to-face or engage in online studies. This will apply to international students who are experiencing internet connectivity problems in their country of origin and are not able to be in the College due to the current closure of airports. One option is to make use of email communication, telephone contact and the use of the VLE. If these arrangements are not suitable for the learner, the last option will be to suggest a deferral until the current situation returns to normal

3.4 Any subsequent changes in the mode of delivery in response to further easing of the restrictions will be communicated to students, providing ample time (at least four weeks notice of change) for arrangements to be made and to make informed decisions about your learning.

3.5 Students who consider any of the current arrangements as unsuitable for them also have the option to defer their Programme until when the situation returns to normality.

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

• The College Regulations, Rules, Policies, Procedures and Codes of Practice as updated regularly including the Student Charter, the Rules and Regulations and policies set out in the General Student Handbook, Programme Handbooks for Students and Programme Specification as well as all policies of relevance to students that are found on the College website (https://lsme.ac.uk/students/college-policies).
• The awarding organisation’s rules and regulation and all amendments thereof.
• Any eligibility requirements of the relevant professional accreditation and/or regulatory body 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 in view of the current Coronavirus pandemic.
• The commitment to attend all tutorials and lectures as per the timetable and an acceptance that failure to achieve an attendance level of 80% (both online and face-to-face sessions as arranged by your lecturer) 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 2 days per week for a face-to-face session when the current situation returns to normality after the COVID-19 pandemic is over. The exact days may change each term, and in such event, the student will be provided with at least four weeks notice of class day changes to enable planning and scheduling of other responsibilities outside College hours.
• 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. This applies to both online and face-to-face sessions.
• 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 including 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 Collegeboth 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.

• 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.
• Your Tuition Fee includes a charge for tuition, registration with awarding organisation, learning resources, assessment and graduation. Tuition Fees are set annually as per the approved fee rate for our registration status with the Office for Students (OfS) for local and EU 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. 1. If you are on Government funding (administered by the Students Loans Company), a refundable deposit of £250 should be paid on your enrolment/ registration day towards the cost of your registration with awarding organisation. This amount will be refunded after a successful application for student finance and demonstration of adequate interest and commitment to the course.
   2. If you are a self-funded student who has received a discounted rate of Tuition fee, it is your responsibility to pay for your registration with the awarding organisation.
   3. 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.
   4. Failure to comply with assignment submission deadlines without any reason will attract an administrative cost of £10 if submitted within two weeks of the deadline, £20 after two weeks of the deadline and £50 if submitted more than four weeks of the deadline for the DET programmes. This extra charge goes into the administrative cost in finding suitable assessors for the late assignments.
   5. 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.

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

1. 1. The College may share your personal data, including your academic standing, with your sponsor, without seeking any further consent from you.
   2. You remain responsible for ensuring that your Tuition Fee is paid.
   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.

• If you are a self-funded student, 50% of the course fee should be deposited with LSME upon acceptance of the offer letter. The remaining 50% will have to be paid at the time of enrolment/ registration or as per an agreed instalment plan. If a suitable arrangement to pay 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.
• 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.
• If you are a UK/EU student who is funded by the SLC but whose loan does not cover the full cost of tuition, you must pay the remainder, or full Tuition Fee either in full before the start of your course or via an instalment plan agreed with the College.
• 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 unconditional 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 more than four weeks after 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.
• 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, changes to timetables and are only made where it considered as 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.

  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 to 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.

  5.3 If LSME considers a significant change to be necessary for reasons other than those covered in condition 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.

  5.4 If in the rare event where 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.

  5.5 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.

  5.6 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.

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

• 6.1 LSME will provide equality of treatment for all regardless of gender, age, race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, 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 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.

  6.4 LSME will encourage student representation and take reasonable action to ensure that the feedback provided is taken seriously, and reasonable demands are actioned in a timely and appropriate manner.

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

  6.6 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.

  6.7 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.

  6.8 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.

  6.9 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.

  6.10 The final award is given during the convocation around September of each year. Students will be given the awarding organisation’s transcript of result on request.

  6.11 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.

  6.12 LSME will provide general guidance on career development and employability during your period of study. However, finding suitable employment after achieving the qualification is the sole responsibility of the student.

  6.13 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.

  6.14 LSME will invite you to take part in the government graduate outcomes survey conducted by the Higher Education Statistical Agency (HESA) about 15 months after your 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 statistics purposes), OfS (higher education funding and governance purposes), the SLC (for student finance purposes), UKVI 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 for further details on how LSME will use your personal information and your rights pertaining to the data stored about you, who to contact, the fee payable for data access request etc.

• • 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.
    • 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 IPwhich 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 Collegeand developed the IP in that capacity.

• • 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.

    (https://lsme.ac.uk/students/College-policies and https://lsme.ac.uk/admissions/application-process)

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

Contact Information

Queries relating to these terms and conditions should be sent to:
info@lsme.ac.uk

For General queries or information:
Tel.: +44 (0)208 594 8462 for additional information.