Fees and Charges Policy

Approved by Date
______
Principal and Chief Executive
Document Title / Date of Previous review / Date of Review / Responsibility of / Due date of next review
Fees and Charges Policy / January 2017 / January 2018 / Patrick McKeown / January 2019

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Policy Statement

The College will provide this policy in alternative formats on request where reasonably practicable, eg, Braille, Large Print, Computer Disk, Audio formats, etc, and/or alternative language.

The College is committed to promoting equality of opportunity and good relations in accordance with Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998. This policy should be interpreted in a manner consistent with the aforementioned legislation.

Policy Aim

1.1To operate fees and charges for the provision of appropriate educational facilities and services so as to recoup a reasonable proportion of expenditure while acting in a fair and equitable manner towards existing and prospective students and other customers.

1.2The policy is restricted to those facilities and services where the College is able to operate some discretion in the levying of charges. Therefore the policy does not relate to the following:

  • Any subsidies, bursaries or exemptions as offered by the Department forthe Economy (DfE), any other government agency or private benefactor;
  • Examination fees as charged by Awarding Bodies;
  • Financial support packages for students;
  • Loans as made available from the Student Loan Company or Education Authorities.

Background

2.1The College is not fully funded from the Department forthe Economy (DfE) for all its education programmes and training activities. The shortfall in income to fund its recurrent expenditure and capital investment programme is recovered by levying appropriate fees and charges payable by students, customers and users of its business services. Fees and charges are therefore an important source of income to the College, without which it would not be able to deliver the range of programmes, attract and retain high quality staff and invest in new equipment and buildings to facilitate learning.

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Fees Setting

3.1The process of setting fees and charges takes into account market forces, the College Development Plan, target market, competitor analysis, skill shortages and other relevant factors such as equality issues. Through the setting of fees and charges the College seeks to widen access to all of its provision.

3.2The College has the power to set its own fees as laid out in the College’s Financial Memorandum with DfE.

3.3Tuition fees are set each year by the Finance & General Purposes Committee of the Governing Body and apply to the academic year beginning 1 August and ending on 31 July.

3.4In reaching a decision as to appropriate fees and charges, the Committee strives to ensure the financial viability of each course or programme, set against other sources of funding and the criteria as listed above (3.1), taking into account local circumstances.

Fees and Charges

4.1The fees for 2018/19are included in the annual fees structure (See Appendix 1). Some full time course fees are prescribed by NI Statutory Rules, Student Support Regulations for HE courses and Awards and Benefit Committee for FE courses. Fees for franchise courses (i.e. awarded by another external institution) are set by the external body and do not attract concessionary rates or staff discount. International Students are those students from non-EC countries. The fees are based on ‘full cost recovery’ for Higher Education and Further Education programmes. Normally the fee takes into account the number of taught hours, cost of materials and other direct costs associated with the programme.

4.2Part-time course fees for vocational and non-vocational programmes are derived from the number of taught hours and may include other costs such as examination/registration/assessment/residential/materials and appropriate overhead costs. Part-time franchise courses are as per agreement with the external institution. The fees for part-time vocational courses will be payable at the time of enrolment.

4.3Fees for all other courses are based on the number of taught hours, cost of materials and other direct and indirect costs associated with the programme. Staff discount is provided to all permanent and part-time staff (see Appendix 1, section 10).

Charges

5.1Charges for the hire and use of College premises are as set out in the Fees Structure at Appendix 1, Section 9.

Payment of Fees

6.1Fees are normally collected during registration at the beginning of the academic year.

6.2Arrangements are available to facilitate payment by self-paying students.

6.2.1For all fees other than Full-Time HE & Non EU

  • For fees of £150 or less the full amount must be paid on enrolment.
  • £151 - £400 – a minimum deposit of £100 with the balance paid over a maximum of 3 instalments.
  • For fees greater than £400 – a minimum deposit of 25% with the balance paid over a maximum of 4 instalments.

6.2.2Full-Time Higher Education

  • Year 1 - A deposit of £200 is payable on acceptance of an offer of a place on a full-time HE course.
  • Year 2 - A deposit of £200 is due on or before 1 September prior to commencing year 2.

The balance to be paid over a maximum of 4 instalments.

In both cases above a deposit will be waived if the student provides a letter from the Student Loan Company confirming that an application for a tuition fee loan has been received.

6.3If the student is sponsored by any organisation, the Employer to Pay(ETP)section of the enrolment form must be completed.

Concessions

7.1Concessions are made available by the College for a range of vocational courses (Appendix 1- Section 5). The schedule of those who currently qualify for concessionary rates is shown in Appendix2. Evidence of entitlement will be required at the time of enrolment.

Collection of Student Debt

8.1Responsibility for ensuring that debts are paid rests with the individual student. Letters of reminder will be sent to students who owe money to the College. Legal proceedings may be taken to recover the outstanding fees together with any administrative costs.

8.2Organisations and employers who sponsor students are liable for the full cost of the course fee. Late payers may be charged interest and non-payers may have legal proceedings taken against them to recover the outstanding fees together with any administrative costs.

Refunds

9.1The College will make every endeavour to run courses and programmes which are advertised. However, all courses are required to have a minimum number of students. In some circumstances classes may be combined to improve class sizes. Classes may have to be cancelled due to lack of demand.

9.2Refunds/credit of course fees will be allowable only on:

  • production of medical evidence of unfitness; (in this case, a £10 admin fee will be charged)
  • cancellation of the course.

APPENDIX 1

NWRC

FEES STRUCTURE 2018/19

The following amounts represent the minimum fee to be charged

1FULL-TIME COURSES

1.1HE Mandatory Awards £2,500 per year

2NON-EU STUDENT FEES

2.1Higher Education£8,000 per year

2.2Further Education£6,000 per year

2.3NCUK£12,000 per year

(The Northern Consortium (NCUK) is an educational charity, owned by eleven universities in the north of England, which provides university preparation for international students as preparation for study outside of their home country)

NCUK students must pay a deposit of at least 10% on application. All other International (non-EU) students must pay a deposit of at least 50% on application. The balance for both NCUK and Other must be paid no later than 2 weeks in advance of course commencement.

3ACCREDITED COURSES, PART-TIME

3.1Part-Time Further EducationRate/hr*

£

Course Length:

Up to 50 hrs1.60

51 – 99 hrs1.50

100 – 249hrs1.40

250+ hrs1.30

Community Fees 1.20

* Fee will be rounded up to nearest £5

The minimum course fee will be £30.00

3.2Part-Time Higher Education£500.00 per year

The fee will remain as per that charged in 17/18 for students entering year 2 of their course in September 2018.

This fee may vary for particular courses (see prospectus).

Students wishing to infill to part of a part-time HE course the fee will be pro-rata the annual fee.

3.3Situations arise where students wish to infill to a full-time HE course on a part-time basis. In such circumstances the following will be used to calculate the fee:

Weekly Hours (infill)Basis for Fee Calculation

1-7Pro-Rata the Part-Time HE Fee

8-11£3.30 per hour

12 - 14Pro-Rata the Full-Time HE Fee

4NON-ACCREDITEDCOURSES, PART-TIME

4.1Hourly Rate £3.125

(e.g. 16 hour course £50.00)

5CONCESSIONARY FEE – (Vocational Courses Only)

5.1 Concessionary Fee for Courses (with the exception of University

degree franchise courses and courses for non-residents)

A reduction on the full fee of 75% will apply to all relevant courses. The minimum concessionary fee will be £30.00. Concessionary fees will only apply to individuals paying their own fees and not to employers funding an employee.

6FULL COST RECOVERY

6.1Self-financing courses should be based on a number of factors including:

(i)Lecturer Costs

(ii)Premises Costs

(iii)Materials and Administration

(iv)Special Services

(v)Market Factor

(vi)Overhead absorption

The hourly rate for this type of work is likely to be in the region of £70-£80/hr although it is accepted that rates may vary considerably depending on the market.

7ACCESS COURSES

7.1ESOL£35.00

8SCHOOL PROVISION

8.1Entitlement Framework£70.00 per hour

9USE OF PREMISES

Minimum Charges are as follows:

(i)Foyle Theatreper session£200.00

(ii)Lecture Theatre per session£100.00 - £200.00

(iii)Conference Roomper session£ 70.00

(iv)IT Roomsper session£ 100.00

(v)General Classroomper session£ 50.00

(viii)Large spacesper session£ 80.00

(ix)Meeting Roomper session£ 40.00

Beyond normal working hours (9am-5pm Monday-Friday), all day Saturday and Sunday and Bank Holidays there will be additional staff costs.

10STAFF DISCOUNT

10.1Accredited

Staff Discount (minimum fee £30.00)80%

(Subject to maximum of 50% of staff per class)

10.2Non Accredited/Non Vocational

Staff discount (minimum fee £30.00) of 80% will apply provided that the minimum class size (ie paying full fee) has been enrolled.

11FEE WAIVER

The Principal and Chief Executive has the discretion to waive fees in exceptional circumstances.

12DEFERRED ENTRY

The College will consider deferred entry until September 2019for students who wish to take a gap year in the 2018/19academic year. In order to be considered students must apply and have an unconditional acceptance offer by 31 August 2018.

13SPECIALIST COURSES

The Directorate may determine, as appropriate, the fees to be charged for specialist courses.

14ADMINISTRATIVE FEE (For all Full-Time FE and HE students)

£10.00 fee payable for 1 year full time course

£20.00 fee payable for 2 year full time course

15STUDENT PRINTING CHARGES

Students will be provided with an annual one-off £5.00 credit for printing/photocopying. When the £5.00 credit has been used, students can purchase top ups using their Student ID Card.

16EXAMINATION RE-SITS

Examination re-sits will not be paid by the College unless in exceptional circumstances agreed by the Course Coordinator. One re-sit for Essential Skills will be paid by the College, provided the student sat the initial exam.

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APPENDIX 2

NORTH WEST REGIONAL COLLEGE

SCHEDULE OF THOSE WHO QUALIFY FOR CONCESSIONARY RATES

Concessionary fees are available for the following categories:

  • In receipt of Income Based Jobseeker’s Allowance or dependent spouse / partner of a recipient;
  • In receipt of Income Support; or Working Tax Credit (Depending on Gross income), or dependent spouse / partner of a recipient;
  • Income based Employment Support Allowance;
  • In receipt of Universal Credit (The WTC income threshold will apply to those in receipt of UC and who are working)
  • Under 19 years of age on 1 July of current academic year;
  • Over 19 years of age on 1 July of current academic year who are in full-time Further/Highereducation;
  • Senior Citizen aged 60 and over and in receipt of Pension Credit or Relief under the Rate Relief Scheme;

CROSS BORDER CONCESSIONARY FEES

Provided that students can produce evidence of status at the time of enrolment, concessionary fees are available for the following categories:

  • Old Age (Non-Contributory) Pension;
  • Carer’s Allowance;
  • One Parent Family Payment;
  • Widow’s or Widower’s (Non-Contributory) Pension;
  • Unemployment Assistance;
  • Pre-Retirement Allowance (PRETA);
  • Disability Allowance;
  • Supplementary Welfare Allowance.
  • Under 19 years of age on 1 July of current academic year;
  • Over 19 years of age on 1 July of current academic year who are in full-time Further/Higher education;

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