Student Contract - INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS SCHOOL

Terms and Conditions 2024/25 Undergraduate and Postgraduate Taught Programmes

Version: 202409

Date: 1 September 2024

Review Date: 1 September 2025

Any offer of a place made to you by the International Business School (the “School”) is made on the basis that in accepting the offer you agree to the below terms and conditions, which form part of the contract between you and the School. It is important that you read and understand these terms and conditions as the School will apply and rely upon them during your time as a student at the School.

Payment of fees and other charges

1. The tuition fees for your course will be as set out in your offer letter.

2. Tuition fees are payable in accordance with the tuition fees advertised on the School website (theibs.uk).

3. If your course is longer than 1 year, your tuition fees may be subject to increase in the second and subsequent years of the course. This will be limited to increases based on the Retail Price Index and Bank of England interest rates.

4. In the event that you decide to request an authorised interruption of studies or withdrawal from your course, you will be liable for a percentage of fees for your course currently set as 30% of the total tuition fee payable.

5. If you have applied for a tuition fee loan from the Student Loans Company (“SLC”) or Student Awards Agency for Scotland (“SAAS”), the School will advise them of your withdrawal/ intermission and the fees you will be required to repay will be in line with SLC/ SAAS regulations.

6. You should note that there may be additional charges which you will have to pay to the School in order to complete your studies successfully. These are outlined on the website.

7. You are liable for the full amount of the annual tuition fees and, subject to paragraphs 4 above and 32 below, are not entitled to a refund of fees if you withdraw from the course during the year.

Accuracy of information

8. By accepting the offer of a place at the School you confirm and declare that the information you have provided in support of your admission to and enrolment with the School is accurate and complete to the best of your knowledge.

9. The provision of false, incomplete or misleading information may render your admission and enrolment invalid and will entitle the School to terminate its contract with you.

10. The School requires all students to provide proof of identity and qualifications at the point of enrolment.

Communications to and from the School

11. On enrolment you will be provided with a School email address which the School will normally use for all communications with you. You are expected to check this e-mail account regularly. Any communication sent to you by the School to this email account will be regarded as properly sent and received by you.

Policies

12. By accepting the offer of a place at the School, you agree to comply with the provisions of all the School’s Regulations, Rules, Codes, Conditions and Policies that apply to enrolled students from time to time (together the “Policies”). The Policies and a summary of the Policies can be found here: IBS Policies

Student Contracts – Taught Courses

13. Key provisions of the Policies of which you should be aware include:

(a) the School’s expectations as regards student attendance, academic conduct and academic progress as set out in the Academic Regulations. Students are expected to attend such lectures, tutorials, examinations and other activities that form part of their course. Failure to meet these expectations may mean that you are not permitted to progress on your course;

(b) the School’s rules regarding academic misconduct, including plagiarism. Breach of these rules may result in a disciplinary process and the imposition of academic penalties and/or expulsion. Further guidance about academic misconduct can be obtained from the School.

(c) the School’s rules regarding payment of sums due to the School, which can be found in the Tuition Fees notice in admission letters. If you do not pay money that you owe to the School, the School reserves the right to withdraw its services and/or your right to use its facilities where it is necessary and proportionate to do so. In deciding whether to do so, the School will consider all the circumstances of your case;

(d) the School’s expectations of student behaviour. Breach of these rules could result in a disciplinary process and the imposition of sanctions, including expulsion from the School. The School’s disciplinary code is set out in the School’s Regulations for the Conduct of Students;

(e) the School’s Support to Study Procedure which describes the steps the School may take if there are concerns about your health and wellbeing that raise questions about your fitness and suitability to continue to study;

Changes to Policies

17. The School reserves the right to add to, delete or make reasonable changes to the Policies where in the opinion of the School this will assist in the proper delivery of education. Changes are usually made for one or more of the following reasons:

(a) to review and update the Policies to ensure they are fit for purpose;

(b) to safeguard academic standards, for example, in response to external examiner feedback;

(d) to reflect changes to funding or financial arrangements or changes to government policy, requirements or guidance;

(e) to incorporate sector guidance or good practice;

(f) to reflect feedback from students; and/or

(g) to aid clarity or consistency of approach.

18. Any changes will normally come into effect at the start of the next academic year, although may be introduced during the academic year where the School reasonably considers this to be in the interests of students or where this is required by law or other exceptional circumstances. The School will take all reasonable steps to minimise disruption to students wherever reasonably possible, for example, by giving reasonable notice of changes to Policies before they take effect, or by phasing in the changes, if appropriate.

19. The updated Policies will be made available on the School’s virtual platform(s) and/or website and may be publicised by other means so that students are made aware of any changes.

Disability and reasonable adjustments

20. The School is committed to providing an inclusive and accessible environment and strives to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate individual needs. Notification of disability early in the recruitment process enables the School to engage with you and discuss your support needs more effectively. All offers are conditional upon the School being able to implement the specific adjustments reasonably needed for you to complete your course. The School is more likely to be able to implement such adjustments in a prompt and timely fashion if you notify of any disability early in the recruitment process and you engage in any necessary discussions or health assessments as required by the School.

Criminal convictions

21. As a condition of taking your place at the School you are required to disclose on a continuing basis (i.e. as soon as is reasonably practicable following the event) any relevant unspent criminal convictions, by contacting the Admin Office.

22. The School Admin team will contact you if further information is required. The School will only ask for information relevant to its obligations to safeguard staff and students or to comply with professional requirements.

23. If you commit a relevant offence whilst you are a student, you will need to tell your course leader at the earliest opportunity. In the most serious cases this may result in the School requiring you to withdraw from your course and/or the termination of your enrolment with the School.

Changes to courses and services

24. The School will use all reasonable endeavours to deliver teaching and related educational and other services and facilities required for your course in accordance with the description applied to it for the academic year in which you began the course.

25. The School will be entitled to make reasonable changes to a course or to related educational and other services and facilities where that will enable the School to deliver a better quality of educational experience to students enrolled on the course. Such changes may be to:

(a) the content and syllabus of the course;

(b) the timetable, location and number of classes;

(d) the method of delivery of the course, services and facilities; and/ or

(e) the examination and assessment process.

26. In making any changes, the School will aim to keep the changes to the minimum necessary to achieve the required quality of experience and will notify and consult with affected students in advance about any changes that are required. If the School changes your course and you are not satisfied with the changes, you will be offered the opportunity to withdraw from the course, move to another course and, if required, offered reasonable support to transfer to another provider. Further guidance can be found in the School’s Student Protection Plan.

Events Outside of Our Control

27. Sometimes circumstances beyond the reasonable control of the School which could not have been prevented even if the School had taken reasonable care (“Events Outside of Our Control”) mean that the School is prevented from, hindered or delayed in providing or otherwise cannot provide the course, related educational and other services and facilities as described.

28. Examples of Events Outside of Our Control include (but are not limited to):

(a) industrial action by the School’s staff or third parties;

(b) the unanticipated and/or unavoidable absence or departure of key members of staff or specialist staff;

(d) acts of terrorism;

(e) pandemics, epidemics and other threats to public health;

(f) fire;

(g) severe weather conditions;

(h) natural disasters;

(i) political or civil unrest;

(j) damage, interruption or lack of access to buildings, facilities or equipment;

(k) the acts or delays of any governmental or local authority;

(l) legal or regulatory changes, including changes to government guidance;

(m) withdrawal by any government or local authority of any necessary licence; and/ or

(n) insufficient uptake of a course.

29. Where Events Outside of Our Control occur, the School will notify you that the events have occurred and will take all reasonable steps to minimise the resultant disruption to those students who are affected, by, for example:

(a) offering the opportunity where reasonably possible to move to another course;

(b) deferring the start date for the course;

(d) delivering a modified version of the same course;

(e) assisting you to transfer to complete the course at another institution; and/ or

(f) delivering other services and facilities in a different way, from a different location or online.

30. If you are not satisfied with any such steps to mitigate the disruption caused by Events Outside of Our Control, you may terminate your contract with the School and the School will follow its Student Protection Plan.

31. Where, as a result of Events Outside of Our Control, it is necessary to close or discontinue or cease to deliver a course, the School will follow its Student Protection Plan.

32. Where Events Outside of Our Control occur and the School is unable to take steps to minimise the resultant disruption to students then neither the School nor you will be liable for breach of this contract nor for continued compliance with the contract including the provision of further tuition or services, payment of further fees, making refunds of fees paid or other loss or damage of any kind.

Requirements for EU and overseas students

33. Students from the EU will need to demonstrate settled or pre-settled status in order to take up a place at the School for 2024-25 or may need a student visa to take up a place at the School.

34. If you are an overseas student, you may need a student visa to take up your place at the School. Further information about visas can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/student-visas. It is your obligation to make sure you continue to comply with the terms and conditions in your visa. If your visa is revoked for any reason, the School reserves the right to terminate its contract with you.

Data protection

35. You can find out more about how the School handles student data and your rights in relation to data protection in our privacy policy.

Intellectual property

36. In the interest of encouraging innovation, entrepreneurship, and development of new ideas by its students, the School does not assert ownership over intellectual property rights developed, made or created by its students in the course of their study or research at the School, except in the circumstances set out in the Intellectual Property Regulations.

Complaints

Complaints relating to admissions issues will normally be dealt with informally in the first instance, and should be addressed to the Head of Admin.

General

38. If any provision of the contract between you and the School is held to be void or unenforceable in whole or in part by any court or other competent authority, that contract shall continue to be valid as to the other provisions contained in it and/or the remainder of the affected provision.

39. The contract between you and the School shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales and the parties agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

40. The School’s contract with its students does not confer third party benefits for the purposes of the Contract (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.

Cancellation rights

RIGHT TO CANCEL

41. You have a statutory right to cancel this contract without giving any reason. The cancellation period will expire after 14 days from the day you accept the offer of a place at the School.

42. To exercise the right to cancel, you must inform the School of your decision to cancel this contract by a clear statement (e.g. a letter sent by post, or e-mail). You may use the model cancellation form at the end of this document, but it is not obligatory. The School is very happy for you to just send an email to admin@theibs.uk.

43. To meet the cancellation deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right to cancel before the cancellation period has expired.

EFFECT OF CANCELLATION

44. If you cancel this contract as set out above, the School will reimburse to you all payments received from you minus the deposit, which is non-refundable. The School will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than 28 days after the day on which it is informed about your decision to cancel this contract.

45. The School will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of the reimbursement.

CANCELLATION AFTER THE STATUTORY CANCELLATION PERIOD

46. If you cancel the contract after the statutory cancellation period has expired, The School will not refund payments received from you. Depending on when you cancel the contract (in particular, whether it is before or after enrolment) you may be obliged to pay a proportion of your tuition fees, as set out at paragraph 4 above.

COURSES THAT BEGIN WITHIN THE STATUTORY CANCELLATION PERIOD

47. If your course is due to begin within 14 days from the date you accept the offer of a place at the School then, by accepting the offer of the place, you are expressly agreeing that the service should begin within the cancellation period. If you subsequently decide to cancel the contract within the cancellation period, you may be liable to pay a proportion of fees to cover the period from the commencement of the School’s service to you to the date of cancellation.

MODEL CANCELLATION FORM

Please fill out this form and send by post addressed to IBS Admissions Office at International Business School, 2 Oriel Court, Ashfield Road, Sale, M33 7DF or send it by email to admin@theibs.uk.

I hereby give notice that I wish to cancel my contract with the School to study a course commencing in [ (month)] [ (year)].

Name of student:

Student number:

Course title:

Date you accepted your offer:

Address of student:

Signature of student:

Date: