Lewis Secretarial and Computer College
Terms and Conditions
Confirmation and Cancellation
After your enrolment has been completed, you will receive by email confirmation that a place has been reserved for you for the course you have enrolled on and on the start date you have selected.
You will also receive a copy of these Terms and Conditions.
We reserve the right to refuse an application should we consider the course is not suitable for a particular individual.
We are regulated by the Distance Selling legislation which entitles you to a 7 working day cancellation period.
You have the right to cancel your booking within 7 working days from the date you submit your enrolment form.
If you have paid any monies to us then you will be entitled to have this refunded to you if you cancel within this time.
This will be refunded to you either by bank transfer or by cheque within 10 days of the date of cancellation.
You can cancel your booking within 7 working days as detailed above either by email or by post, but not by telephone.
After the cancellation period has expired you are required to pay the full course fees either in full or by instalments as agreed.
Text books– are required for Shorthand, Legal and Medical courses and are NOT included in the course fees.
Instalments - There is a 5% Administration charge for course fees received more than 7 days after their due date. You will be provided with details about the instalment payment dates when you book.
Course fees can either include all the exam fees, OR you can pay for these separately later on in the course. Any discounts applicable when booking and paying for the course fees, will not apply to exam fees, if these are paid separately later on in the course.
Course Time Limits
If we do not hear from you with some completed course work for 2 months or more then your course will be terminated as we will deem you no longer wish to continue with the course.
You will need to study at least 5 hours per week on average during term time. If you study more than 5 hours per week during term time, you will be able to complete your course in a shorter time. You can study your course full time or part time, depending on what suits you - or a mixture of both. You can complete the course as quickly as you wish. You can also continue to study if you wish whilst we are closed for a holiday break, submitting your work when we re-open again.
You have up to a certain time limit to complete your course within - this information is provided to you.
The course time limits will be extended to take into consideration holiday gaps - either when the College is closed or you are on holiday.
This means your course is put on hold whilst you are on holiday or we are closed, and the number of weeks added to the overall time limit.
This enables you to enjoy your holiday and to pick up your course again when you return from holiday.
In exceptional circumstances course time limits can be extended by agreement eg due to pregnancy, moving house, bereavement, prolonged illness etc.
Course/Tutor Provision
Depending on the course you have booked to study you will have one or more tutors looking after you.
All the courses are tutor led and we are very hands on dealing with our students, on a daily basis. With some students who are studying full time or every day part time we tend to be in touch several times a day.
Each student is taught separately – to ensure tuition style/pace matches the student’s needs as much as possible.
Every student also has Penny Lewis acting as their personal mentor throughout the course.
You will be provided with the relevant courseware as you progress through your course, which includes reference notes, exercises and assignments.
You will have a range of lessons to complete and assignments to complete to develop your knowledge and skills in each module.
As part of your tutor support you can of course ask questions, request further explanation etc as you work through your exercises/assignments.
You may also be provided with additional teaching material if your tutor feels you require additional help to assist you on your course.
Some students prefer to complete module by module, whilst other students prefer to have several modules to work on at any one time – the choice is yours.
You should complete each module within 2-4 weeks of receiving the lessons for the module to keep your course on track.
Exam/assessment preparation is also included in the lessons as and when appropriate.
You will continue to receive this support until you have completed and achieved all the exams /assessments on your course subject to the 2 month contact requirement above and the course time limit period as detailed on the course information.
Feedback and marking of submitted work is carried out as quickly as possible, and usually within 36 hours 80% of the time, excluding weekends and holiday periods.
However, we cannot guarantee to reply within a certain time limit due to unexpected demand, heavy exam periods, holidays, illness or any other unforeseen circumstances. We will do our best to inform you if there is to be a delay in replying to your work, of more than 3 working days.
From time to time relevant exam boards will modify their exam syllabus and exam format - sometimes at short notice. You will be informed of these changes if these affect you and any necessary additional teaching will be provided to meet the new exam requirements.
If you have not finished your course within the time limit and you wish to continue, then at our discretion we may be able to extend the time limit further, depending on the circumstances.
Alternatively, you can pay additional fees to extend your course.
Equipment you will need to study
You will need the following equipment/programs:
* A computer – laptop or PC
* Internet connection which allows accessing and downloading files and programs
* An email account to provide additional contact
* Relevant software ie Microsoft Office 2007/10
* A printer – preferably colour if studying IT
You need to ensure that the Internet/email connection you plan to use for the course will enable you to download course material from links to our Virtual Learning storage area, and programs (some businesses have blocked this and you may need to seek permission).
Text books are required for some courses eg shorthand, legal and medical courses/modules only. Details will be provided. You will buy these direct from Amazon, WH Smith etc and are not included in the course fees.
Sitting Exams/Preparing Assessments
Text Processing (Secretarial) Exams and
AMSPAR Medical Terminology Exams
If you are studying a Text Processing Diploma/Medical Terminology, you will need to sit all the exams for that Diploma at a local OCR/City and Guilds test centre.
Past students have used over 100 different exams centres - most of which have been within one hour's travelling time from their home or place of work.
Nearer the time when you are ready to sit your exams, we shall let you have details of OCR/C&G test centres within an hour's travelling of where you live or work, if available.
We cannot guarantee that there will be a suitable test centre within a certain travel distance but in most cases test centres are within one hour’s travelling time from either a student's home or place of work.
For specialised exams eg Medical Terminology, students may need to travel further as these exams are not provided by as many test centres as other exams.
You will need to make the final arrangements with the OCR test centre by contacting them directly which will enable you to ask your own questions.
Some centres are open on a Saturday or in the evening, and you may also find it useful to sit more than one exam on one day to reduce travel times.
Medical Terminology exams are set dates and times only – available 3 times a year.
OCR Text Processing exams are available most months of the year (not September, October or January). There are 3 exam series, Spring, Summer and Autumn. Exams booked in any one series will need to be sat within the exam series dates.
Shorthand exams are on set dates in March, June and November.
These exam test centres are independent of ourselves and are approved OCR/C&G exam centres. We cannot be held responsible for their conduct of exams and any arrangements made with the test centre and any failure on their part to provide test facilities at the times and dates agreed or any related matter. Any grievances concerning a test centre needs to be addressed directly to that test centre.
You will need to confirm to us the exam arrangements in order that we can prepare your revision schedule to ensure you are fully prepared for your exams.
Assessments for IT and Administration Diplomas
These Diplomas are assessed through completion of Assessments which you will complete at home/work and then submit to us via the post/Internet.
For some of the Administration modules, you will need a witness and be able to carry out the assessment in the workplace.
Availability
We have a limit as to the number of students who can study with us at any one time as we teach our students individually. This means we have a limit as to the number of new students we can accept at certain times of the year.
This ensures we provide a quality service to our students and can provide adequate supervision of their course and progress.
There are course set start dates and enrolments are received on a first come first serve basis.
Once the next start date is full, any future enrolments received will be allocated the next available start date.
There are regular start dates throughout the year, most months of the year depending on availability, but not July, August, or December.
Holidays
The College is closed over the Christmas and Easter holiday periods, as well as in the summer for up to 4 weeks.
We try to follow the usual school terms to help those with children to manage their studying more easily.
These breaks enable students to have a break or they can carry on studying, submitting their work when the College re-opens.
Our Right To Terminate Your Course
We reserve the right to terminate a student’s course if their behaviour is aggressive, abusive or threatening.
A written warning by email will be provided initially and should we experience repeated aggressive, abusive or threatening behaviour then we shall terminate that student’s course and no course fees will be refunded.
Complaint Procedure
We aim to provide you with the best possible service and to put you first.
If you are dissatisfied about anything we have done or if there is anything you feel we should have done but failed to do, please tell us. Unless you let us know we will not be able to put it right.
Because we care about you we aim to investigate effectively and fairly any complaint we receive. We will do our best to put right any mistakes we find, and we will always tell you the result of our investigation.
How to make a Complaint
If you have a complaint, please make it in the following way:
1. Discuss the matter with Penny Lewis, your mentor directly if you feel you can do so. This can be either by telephone or email. It is always best to resolve matters informally if at all possible.
2. If you are not happy with the outcome, please complete a Complaint form – you can request one from admin@lewiscollege.co.uk.
3. We will acknowledge your complaint within 2 working days (during term time) and tell you what we are doing. We may contact you to agree how to proceed.
4. If necessary your complaint will be discussed at a special meeting held between all staff to see how the matter can be resolved.
5. We will then write to you with details of our response to your complaint.
Data Protection Act
We are registered under the Data Protection Act Registration Number Z1311996 as we retain information about students for administrative purposes.
This information includes names and addresses, date of birth, course details, payments, examination results and teaching record logs.
We do pass on Names only and Dates of Birth to the OCR exam board which is part of the exam entry requirements.
None of this information is passed onto any other person or organisation and remains confidential to this College.