Contact point for enquiries about this student protection plan: The Director of Studies

Student protection plan for the period 2018/19

The risk that The City College as a whole is unable to operate is low because our financial performance is strong, and a sound business continuity plan is in place ready to deal with any major disruption. The College also operates from a single site which is owned by a partner company so therefore the risk that this site would close is very low.

The risk that the College will not be able to deliver individual programmes is also low. There are five level 4/5 HND programmes, a level 3 and a level 5 teaching programme, and the level 6 Acupuncture and Tui Na programmes. Recruitment has been consistent for a number of years from the appropriate sectors. Numbers for the provision for Acupuncture and Tui Na provision are increasing and in line with expectations. The College is committed to providing teaching for all students who have enrolled or been accepted onto an existing course and any course closure would only occur once all students had completed their studies.

The risk that the College is no longer able to deliver material components of our programmes is low. Units are designed to be taught by teams of academic staff. Most of our academic staff are hourly paid and teach at other colleges or universities. Our central location and reputation helps us to recruit and retain a wide variety of well-qualified and experienced staff to teach on our courses.

The risk that the College will not maintain its’ accreditation to deliver programmes from Pearson, the awarding body, is low. This is based on the fact there has been consistently positive annual management reports and annual External Examiner reports published by Pearson.

The risk that the College will not maintain its’ designation is medium-low. The College has a solid history of meeting QAA expectations as part of the HER and annual review process. The most recent annual review stated improvements were needed and the College has been addressing these by implementing revised and robust quality assurance and enhancement systems, procedures, policies and practices.

In the unlikely event that the College decided to discontinue provision, we would teach out the programme ensuring that all students enrolled on the programme or holding an offer of a place are able to complete the course. An action plan will be put in place to provide students with an assurance that they will be able to complete their studies and that they would not be adversely affected by the closure. Where applications have been received to the programme but no offers made, applicants will be notified as soon as possible in order that they are able to find an alternative programme.

If the College was not able to preserve the continuation of study, it has sufficient financial resources to teach out existing course, reflected in the Refund and Compensation Policy to which we will adhere and make available on the website and intranet. In addition:

• • As mentioned in the Business Continuity Plan, the College has business interruption insurance cover for up to 24 months which would come into force in the case the college cannot continue its operations due to unavoidable circumstances

• • In case of closure, the college would endeavour to teach out students who have paid fees for the academic year/ period. In terms of students funded by the Student Loan Company, fees are paid on a termly basis. If student attendance is confirmed for a particular term, every effort will be made to teach students for the reminder of that term

• • In terms of change of location, students will be given at least 6 months’ notice in advance before the change in location. If a student wished to withdraw, then a refund will be given on a pro rata basis. If the change in location added extra cost for travel, the college would reimburse the difference in costs between the current and the new location

• In terms of compensation, this would be assessed on case-by-case basis.

Staff will be made aware of the implications of our student protection plan when they propose course changes through the course approval procedure, annual programme monitoring procedure or periodic review procedure, as appropriate.

The student protection plan will be reviewed by the Senior Leadership Team and with students through the Student-Staff Liaison Committee meetings, and other relevant meetings with students. Student involvement will therefore be through the elected student representative system utilising cohort reps. and programme reps. Any changes will then be confirmed using the website, intranet and by contacting students individually through letter or email. Students affected would also be invited to a meeting if this was practicable.

If this student protection plan needs to be engaged in any way we would aim to provide all students with a minimum 6 months’ notice of closures/ withdrawal, excepting in emergency situations and/ or events beyond our control where this may not be possible. The College also has a Business Continuity Plan in place to manage emergency situations effectively.