There are three parts to this document

• Admissions Policy : Terms, Conditions and College Regulations
• How to make an application to LCLM - A Points Based System and Tier 4-Compliant Admission Procedure
• Advice on managing the Transition Process for students whose applications are pending following the UKBA review of college accreditation in spring 2010

Admissions Policy: Terms, Conditions and College Regulations

The student, by signing the College application form, agrees to abide by the Colleges’ regulations and policies, which are displayed in the college prospectus and on the college website and updated from time to time.  The main points of relevance to prospective students are set out below.

Student responsibilities

• Applicants must follow the Colleges’ admission process as described on our website.  All applications must be accompanied by evidence of qualifications and/or reference letters from employers detailing dates of employment, position held and duties must be supplied. Overseas students must also provide all the information listed on the application form checklist, including evidence of their financial ability to pay the course fees and UK living expenses (£9600 pa), in line with the UK Border Agency (UKBA) requirements for UK student visas under Tier 4 of the Points Based System. The UKBA requirements can be found on their website (http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/). Documents provided must be originals. Where the original documents cannot be sent, notarised copies or copies attested by the issuing authority are acceptable. The documentation required must be clear, legible and where necessary translated into English language by an approved translator.

• Students must arrive in the UK for their studies within the timeframe stated on the College admission letters, specifically the Confirmation of Acceptance to Study. Once in the UK, students cannot defer their admission to a later intake, except in extreme situations and if permitted by the UKBA. On arrival in the UK, students will undergo a secondary assessment by the College academic staff for ability to follow their chosen course successfully.  The College may require the student to complete an access course or undertake remedial classes before joining their course. Applications for exemptions will be assessed by and granted at the discretion of the staff. Any exemptions granted will be subject to the conditions applying to that exemption. The decisions of the academic staff on access and exemptions are final.

• Students are required to attend all lectures, take all tests and submit on time, assignments set by their tutors. Failure to do so may result in re-sits, which may in turn affect the students’ duration of studies, fees, completion, etc. It is the students’ responsibility to apply for and register with relevant academic or professional bodies where applicable and to enter for any external examinations.  Students must comply with the rules and regulations of relevant external bodies. Overseas students must follow a full-time weekday course of at least 15 hours a week and comply with all other immigration regulations and laws. Students must abide by all College regulations as amended and updated from time to time.

• Under the College’s Disciplinary Regulations students may be expelled for gross improper conduct, including the provision of false or forged documentation in their application, or any conduct that interferes with the well-being of other students, staff or the reputation of the College. Students will be required to pay for any damage they cause to the premises and/or property of the College, or property in the care of the College, or their accommodation arranged by the College. Students will be required to pay any charges incurred by them under College financial regulations (see below). No refund of fees will be granted to expelled students and they will remain liable for any extant fees and charges.

• Students must notify the College promptly of any change to their UK address and/or telephone number, and of any reason for absence, such as sickness.

College rights and responsibilities

• The College reserves the right to assess applications and to offer admissions or reject applicants as it deems appropriate, in line with course entry requirements and the responsibilities placed on the College by the UK Border Agency. Accordingly, the College may ask applicants to provide additional information where necessary.

• The College reserves the right to alter dates, fees and any particulars in published material (in prospectus, brochures, or on the website) without prior notice. Equally, the College reserves the right to vary, amend or introduce regulations, terms, policies and procedures without prior notice, within reason. This does not affect student’s statutory rights.

• The College accepts no legal liability in the case of accidents, illness, loss of or damage to personal effects or mail, or for any damages or accidents caused through negligence or otherwise of a third party.

• The College reserves the right to contract any third party to provide services, including enforcing any terms of this agreement, and to store and share with any parties as appropriate, students’ personal information in line with the Data Protection Act.

• The College reserves the right to conduct and provide its services from premises within reasonable commuting distance of its current campus.

• The College reserves the right to initiate the recovery of all outstanding fees or College property from the students, such recovery may require legal action as appropriate.

• The College will adhere to and implement good practices as advocated by the relevant accrediting and awarding bodies.

• The College reserves the right to change a student’s fee status classification in light of changes in relevant legislation or where the student has withheld relevant information.

• The College reserves the right to make special arrangements to cover exceptional/extenuating circumstances, at the discretion of the College.

Financial regulations, refunds and transfers

• Students must pay the full tuition fees to enrol for a specific course. Students are required to re-enrol, and pay fees, at the beginning of each successive year of the course, and are liable on enrolment for the fees for the whole year, and will remain liable unless a refund is granted.

• Course fees may be paid by instalments at the discretion of the College.

• The College reserves the right to make the following charges, at the rates detailed in College regulations as updated from time to time.  These include but are not exclusive of:

• Instalment payment administrative charges;
• late payment penalty charges;
• Administrative charges for costs of dealing with missing payments, such as dishonoured cheques; Administrative charges for refunds including transfers to other colleges;
• Transfer charges for students who have already arrived in the UK and who defer their studies to a later session of their course or to another course starting at a later session.

• Students are contractually entitled under the terms of this agreement to a full refund of all tuition fees paid, minus a refund administrative charge, in the following circumstances:

• if the college is unable to offer an advertised course on the advertised start date or within a reasonable period thereafter;
• If a student applying from overseas is refused a visa and is thus unable to come to the UK to take up his/her course of study.

• Students are eligible for a discretionary full or partial refund of tuition fees, minus refund administrative and other charges, to be granted at the discretion of the college, if they meet the following requirement: that they, through no fault of their own, through circumstances beyond their control, are unable to follow the course.

• Refunds will be granted according to the college’s Transfer and Refunds Policy. All applications for refunds, whether contractual or discretionary, must be on the college’s refund forms and must have the required documentation attached.

• Students are expected to attend the course they enrolled for from the start date applied for. Students applying from outside the UK can transfer their application to a later session without penalty, but once they have obtained a UK student visa or entered the UK they cannot defer their admission to a later intake, except in extreme situations and if permitted by the UK Border Agency. After arrival in the UK, students can transfer to a different course at the discretion of the College, in accordance with the college’s Transfer and Refunds Policy. A transfer charge of 25% of course fees is chargeable and may be reduced or waived at the discretion of the College if the student has good reasons for deferral or transfer.

• Students are advised that the full College regulations, procedures and policies are available on the College website and can be provided upon request. For further information on the points above, students should consult our admissions office.

How to make an application to LCLM

Points Based System and Tier 4-Compliant Admission Procedure

Application & Registration

1. Please return the completed College Application Form to the College along with:

• A. £150 registration fee

• B. Two passport size photographs

• C. Copies of certificates, relevant passport pages, evidence of funding capability, proof of English language capability (e.g. IELTS test report form) and work experience details as explained on the checklist on the back of the form.

2. On receipt of these, the College will assess the documents and the applicant may be interviewed by the College. The interview can be in person, by telephone or by using web-conferencing tools such as Skype. The College wishes to ensure that applicants are academically capable of following the course and are willing and able to complete the course successfully. As such, applicants are advised to ensure they provide all the information as required in the entry requirements and as stated in this admissions procedure. By researching adequately and providing all the necessary documentation, the applicant can help make this a more straightforward process. The College may ask for additional information and documentation if required.

Successful applicants will receive a Conditional Offer letter, an Acceptance Form, a Payment statement and an invoice related to that payment statement.

The Conditional Offer may specify conditions (e.g. subject to achieving a minimum IELTS score of 5.5) which need to be fulfilled prior to Enrolment

Enrolment & Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS)

3.a) When the completed and signed Acceptance Form and evidence of fulfilment of any outstanding conditions stated in the Conditional Offer and payment of the course fee has been sent to us, a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) will be issued.

3. b) Students from non-EEA countries

The College will assess all the information provided to confirm that this is in line with the requirements of the UK’s Immigration rules for student visas (Tier 4 Assessment).  Where necessary, the College will ask for supplementary information.  Students should note carefully the requirement to show funding to cover in full the cost of the first year’s tuition fees and the UK living expenses for one year.  Students on courses lasting more than a year should also indicate/explain how they intend to meet the cost of the course and accommodation for subsequent years.

Once the College is satisfied that all the information provided conforms to the UK Border Agency (UKBA) Immigration rules for student visas, and applicants have returned the signed Acceptance Form, evidence of fulfilling any outstanding conditions stated in the Conditional Offer and payment of the course fee has been sent to us, the College will raise a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) number with the UKBA.

The College will notify the student of this CAS number which is a mandatory requirement for applicants to be able to apply for a UK student visa. The UKBA record which contains the CAS number will also contain details of what documents and information the College has used to assess the applicant and therefore on what basis the applicant has been granted admission. The College will also provide an unconditional offer letter to support the student’s application at the local embassy. This unconditional offer letter is provided for information purposes only and is not to be submitted as part of the visa application. As such, the letter will be sent by email to the student in Adobe pdf format.

Transition Process

Advice on managing the transition process for students whose applications have been submitted but are pending following the UKBA review of college accreditation in Spring 2010.

This section applies to those students who have already begun their application process to London College of Law and Management.   Applicants may be at various stages of the admission process and will need to comply with the new admission process as described above.

Introduction

The College has modified its entry requirements/criteria and therefore also the admission process to ensure that it is compliant with emerging immigration policy. The modified process is reflected in the Admissions policy and procedure as above. The modified criteria and process will be used by the College in assessing all applicants (current and prospective).

The College has increased fees for its courses. Details of the fee changes have been published on our website since earlier this year and are on the tuition fee list (which can be downloaded from the website).

The UKBA has announced that from 22nd February 2010, students can only apply for or extend their UK student visa using a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) number which also incurs a fee to manage the cost of administering the system.

Students who did not apply for their UK student visa by 15th January 2010 will be charged the new fee.  Equally, students who obtained their visa in sufficient time to be able to join their chosen course but were unable to or chose not to travel and join the course are advised not to travel, until they have confirmed with the College when they can start on their course.  The students will also be charged the new fee and will be required to pay the difference in the fees to enable the College to raise the CAS number.

Generally, any applicant who does not fulfil the revised criteria or does not pay the difference in fees (applicable as described above) will be declined admission and encouraged to apply for a refund of tuition fees paid, in line with the College’s refund policy.

Non-EEA students already in the UK

Example Case Studies

Have not had their visa letter or Enrolment Certificate (EC) from the College:

The candidate needs to inform the College of their wish to defer to the next available intake for their course. The candidate will be re-assessed as per the process described above. Candidates who applied before 15th January 2010 and whose applications have been dormant since, may have had their applications archived. In this case, the candidate needs to apply afresh.

Have had their visa letter or EC from the College, but not applied for their visa:

The candidate needs to inform the College of their wish to defer to the next available intake for their course and also return the original visa letter or EC to the College. The candidate will be re-assessed as per the process described above. Subject to meeting the additional criteria and LCLM assessment, the candidate should check what the fees are for their chosen course and pay the fee difference to the College. Once the fee difference has been paid and the additional criteria fulfilled, the College will raise the CAS number and notify the candidate.

Have received their visa letter or EC from the College and have applied for their visa

The candidate needs to wait until the UKBA (British High Commission/Embassy or indeed the Home Office) processes their visa application.  In such cases, the UKBA may ask the College whether we wish to continue sponsoring the student given that it is likely that by then, the last start date to join the course will have passed. The candidate will be re-assessed as per the process described above. Subject to meeting the additional criteria and LCLM assessment and if the student applied for their visa before 15th Feb. ’10, the College will provide the UKBA with the start date for the next available intake of that course. If the candidate applied for their visa after 15th Feb. 2010, they should check what the fees are for their chosen course and pay the fee difference to the College. Once the fee difference has been paid, the College will provide the start date to the UKBA for the next available intake of that course.

Have had their visa issued but did not travel to join their course:

The candidate needs to inform the College of their wish to defer to the next available intake for their course. Candidates are instructed not to travel until confirmation of a place on the course is received from the College.  Even though the candidate has their visa, they will be re-assessed as per the process described above. The candidate will need to explain to the College, why they did not travel and start the course when they should have. The candidate will need to meet the additional criteria and pass LCLM assessment. The candidate should also check what the fees are for their chosen course and pay the fee difference to the College, unless a waiver applies. Where candidates did not travel simply because of the recent suspension of the College license, this will not be considered eligible for a waiver. This is because the UKBA has stated in their guidance that students would still be permitted to join their college for their course.  Once the additional criteria have been met and the re-assessment completed satisfactorily, the College will defer the student to the next available intake for their course. Candidates must not travel to the UK until they have confirmation from the College of the start date for their course.

For any other questions relating to the admissions policy and procedure and arrangements for managing the transition phase as the PBS / Tier 4 system is fully implemented, please contact our admissions office.