Fees Policy - Skills & Learning

Fees Policy

This document describes the Skills & Learning policy for setting fees.

It should be read in conjunction with policies covering:

Fees

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The majority of courses offered by Skills & Learning carry some form of government funding allocated to the service via the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). Please note that fees are correct at the time of publication but may be subject to changes. In all cases fees are non-transferrable.

If you wish to be considered for enrolment on a course that is government funded you must meet the eligibility criteria as outlined below.

Eligibility for funding 

To be eligible for funding you must meet the eligibility rules of the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). These can be found here.

These include but are not limited to: 

are a citizen of a country within the European Economic Area (EEA) or other countries determined within the EEA, or
have the Right of Abode in the UK, or
have been ordinarily resident in the EEA for at least the previous three years on the first day of learning 
A non-EEA citizen is eligible for funding if they have permission granted by the UK government to live in the UK, which is not for educational purposes, and have been ordinarily resident in the UK for at least the previous three years before the start of learning

The above information has been taken from the Education and Skills Funding Agency Combined rules for the Adult Education Budget. These can be viewed at link here.

Level of Funding

The level of funding available to a learner is determined by the Education and Skills Funding Agency Funding Rules as published here.

Learners who are eligible for full funding from the ESFA will not be charged a fee for the course, including exams, resources or awarding organisation registration and fees. Skills & Learning will meet the cost of the course from the government funding received.
Learners who are eligible for co-funding as specified by the ESFA will be partly funded by the ESFA with an additional contribution being paid by the learner or employer. Our published fees are based on the assumption of learners being eligible for co-funding. Where learners do not meet the eligibility for funding requirements, the actual fee payable will be higher than our published fees. 
Learners who do not qualify for funding are responsible for 100% of the cost of the course and will not receive or be eligible for any government support; including travel, childcare, adaptions or additional learning support.
We will not fund a learner to repeat the same regulated qualification where they have previously achieved it unless it is:

requirement of an apprenticeship
for any GCSE where the learner has not achieved grade C, or 4, or higher

Skills & Learning offers a Discretionary Learning Support Fund to assist with cases of hardship related, for example, to childcare (for those aged 20+) and transport, according to ESFA regulations. This is only for learners on government funded provision and is subject to eligibility and availability of funds. Our policy is published here.

Apprenticeship Training

No fee is charged to learners. Employer contributions will be charged in line with ESFA guidance taking into account market rates.

Level 3 and above courses

For Level 3 and above courses attracting Government funding, fees will be set at funding rates advised by the ESFA. We reserve the right to set fees at a different rate to take into account local market conditions. Learners, meeting eligibility criteria, may wish to take out a Government funded advanced learner loan for courses in scope for a loan. Please see here for further details.

Traineeships

Those eligible for traineeships (16-24 year olds) will be fully funded and not charged a fee.

16-18 year olds (ESFA funded provision)

Skills & Learning courses are not generally available for 16 to 18 year olds (excluding Apprenticeships) and we partner with specialist providers for delivery of programmes for young people. Those programmes are fully funded (you pay no fee) subject to eligibility and funding rules guidance. Please see here.

Non-accredited and Supported Learning 

Fees for these courses are as published. They are either wholly or partly subsidised by the Education & Skills Funding Agency. Certain courses are further subsidised for eligible learners. The fee will be shown as a ‘Concessionary Fee’.

Learners not eligible for funding

Learners aged 18 and over who are not eligible for funding and wish to be considered for enrolment on a course that is government funded can apply, however you will need to pay the full cost of the course. We will provide a price on application. For example a learner with an existing Grade C, or 4 or higher at GCSE Maths or English would not be eligible for funding, however they may apply to enrol on the course subject to paying the full cost of the course. Note the actual fee payable will be higher than our published fees. 

Full Cost Courses (not attracting Government funding)

These courses will be charged at a rate determined by Skills & Learning. We reserve the right to amend fees from time to time to reflect market rates. There is no concessionary fee available on Full Cost Courses.  Minimum numbers of learners on courses will apply to ensure these courses remain financially viable. Learners/Employers are responsible for 100% of the cost of the course and will not receive or be eligible for any government support; including travel, childcare, adaptions or additional learning support. The eligibility criteria for government funded courses does not apply, although learners must be aged 18 and over.

Exams and Re-sit Fees

This policy advises learners of the charges they will incur if they:

fail to sit a scheduled exam or assessment
fail to submit required material in line with awarding body and Centre requirements
do not achieve the pass mark and wish to retake the exam or assessment
wish to resubmit assessment materials

Re-sits fees

For ease, ‘re-sit’ refers to the re-sitting of a failed exam, sitting a missed exam, re-taking another form of assessment, taking a missed assessment, submitting other assessed work past the original submission date or re-submitting assessed work that did not meet the requirements for the qualification.

Your course fee or the funding we claim to support this fee, includes a single attempt at achievement of the qualification through examination and/or other form of assessment as required by the Awarding Organisation. If you are; unsuccessful, miss an exam/assessment, submit work later than the agreed submission date, and wish to ‘re-sit’, additional fees will be payable. These additional fees will include all or any of the following;

payments to the Awarding Organisation for the re-sit
administration charges
invigilation charges where appropriate.
staff time for re-marking/assessing

These additional fees cannot be covered by any other form of funding and you will need to make a payment by the agreed dates in order to be considered for a re-sit.

You will not be charged a no-show or re-sit fee for an exam or assessment that was cancelled or postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Specific qualification guidance

Qualification	Re-sit trigger	Costs
IAB Book keeping		Manual or Computerised exam £50.00 (this includes a £10 admin fee and the Awarding Organisation re-sit fee) Assessment fee £25.00 (this includes a £10 admin fee and the Awarding Organisation re-sit fee)
VTCT Hairdressing	Unit exam failed	A re-sit fee of £22.50 will be charged £20.00 no show fee
ITEC	Unit exam failed	A re-sit fee of £50.00 will be charged £20 no show fee
Other vocational courses (Awards, Certificates, Diplomas)	Portfolio has not been submitted before course end date or agreed submission date Portfolio/units have been referred and resubmitted after course end date or agreed submission date	If portfolio/Units not submitted within 2 weeks of the end of a course or agreed submission date, a £20 fee will be charged If portfolio/Units not submitted within 6 weeks of the end of the course or agreed submission date, a £40 fee will be charged
GCSE English and Maths	Failed/missed exam or assessment Learners who have borderline fails and want to request a review of marking Learners who have achieved a Grade 4 but wish to re-sit the exam or course to get a higher grade	£65.00 will be charged for re-sits in November ( same exam year) Exam no-show fee of £30 charged Fee set by Awarding Organisation and refunded if grade goes up. Fee charged as stated in current awarding organisation fees list Re-sits in November will be charged as above. There is no funding (subsidy) to support taking the course again. All costs of joining a course the following year will be charged to the learner.
GCSE Biology	Failed/missed exam Learners who have borderline fails and want to request a review of marking Learners who have failed the GCSE or achieved a Grade 4 but wish to take the course again to get a higher grade	Re-sit opportunities are not available. Exam no-show fee of £30 charged Fee set by Awarding Organisation and refunded if grade goes up. Fee charged as stated in current awarding organisation fees list There is no funding (subsidy) to support taking the course again. All costs of joining a course the following year will be charged to the learner.
Functional Skills English and Maths	Failed/missed exam or assessment	Exam no-show fee of £30 charged Please refer to the course entry policy for information about re-enrolling on a course to extend learning for another year.
Functional Skills ICT	Failed assessment Planned assessment date is missed/not attended	An assessment no show fee of £30 will be charged if an additional assessment session is required
ECDL	Learners will take 4 exams in year. Any failed unit will need to be retaken.	Free – first failed unit re-sit to cover Diagnostic test and exam Subsequent units will incur a resit fee of £25. No charge for diagnostic/mock resit Exam no-show fee of £30 charged
IT Essentials courses (portfolio based)	Portfolio/units have been referred and resubmitted after course end date or agreed submission date Portfolio has not been submitted before course end date or agreed submission date	If portfolio/Units not submitted within 2 weeks of the end of a course or agreed submission date, a £20 fee will be charged If portfolio/Units not submitted within 6 weeks of the end of the course or agreed submission date, a £40 fee will be charged
ESOL	Failed exam or assessment	Exam no show fee of £30 charged for external L1 and L2 reading exam only
Distance Learning Courses	Learner enrols, receives course materials and is registered but fails to continue with the course	£100 fee to cover costs (fully funded learners only i.e. that paid no fee for the course)
End Point Assessment (EPA) for apprenticeship programmes	Apprentice misses the scheduled end point assessment or does not pass one or any combination of elements of the end point assessment	The employer will be required to pay the EPA re-sit fee. These fees vary across end point assessment organisations and apprenticeship standards and full details will be provided when required

May 2020 (review February 2021)

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