Fees and Refunds Policy

Purpose of policy and policy statement

Creative Communities (South East) C.I.C is committed to ensuring that all fee paying courses are charged fairly and transparently.  The objective of this policy is to provide a clear outline of charges that are applied to our adult leisure courses and a process for the refund of fees.

Setting of Fees

Fees for our adult leisure courses are set according to the following factors:

• Teaching costs
• Venue hire rates
• Duration of course
• Materials and resources required to teach the course
• Minimum and maximum group sizes.

All adult leisure courses are currently subsidised by West Berkshire Council, who make a small contribution for each new learner. The fees are calculated to ensure they break even with a full cost rate, which is then reduced following the council contribution.  The advertised fee for each course is the subsidised rate. Fees are also compared to our competitors to ensure value for money for our learners.

Review of fees

Creative Communities are committed to ensuring clear and fair tuition fees, which are competitive and good value for our learners. To ensure this is always the case, all fees will be reviewed on an annual basis (August). Creative Communities will take into consideration factors such as the cost of living, value for money, competitor rates, fee subsidisation, cost of teaching, venue hire rates, cost of materials required to run the course.

Payment of fees

Learners are expected to comply with the following before their course begins:

• Complete the West Berkshire council enrolment forms online
• Pay the course fee in full
• Pay the materials fee in full

Concessions

All of our Adult Leisure courses receive a contribution from West Berkshire Council. As part of this contribution, the following fee concessions are available:

Over 60 and living within West Berkshire

• Learners who are aged 60 and over at the time of enrolment, and residing within the West Berkshire catchment area, are entitled to a fee concession of 30%. The concession is only applicable to tuition costs and does not include any materials fees.

Learners in receipt of a means tested benefit.

• Learners who are in receipt of any of the following means tested benefits are eligible to a 50% concession of tuition fees. This does not apply to material fees.

• Universal Credit
• Pension Credit
• Income support
• Housing Benefit
• Council Tax Support

Learners will be required to submit evidence of their benefit at the time of enrolment, in order for the reduction to be applied. Evidence includes only official letters/ documentation, dated within 3 months of enrolment.

Refund of Fees

Cancellation of a course

In the unlikely event that Creative Communities are forced to cancel a course, either due to low numbers (to the point where it makes the course financially unviable to run), or where the teacher is unable to take the course and a suitable replacement could not be found, Creative Communities will refund learner fees in full.

Request for refund is made.

In the event that a learner decides they no longer wish to do a course:

• Notice of withdrawal from course must be made in writing to ADMIN@creative-communities.org.uk at least 10 working days prior to the start of the course or workshop in order to receive a refund. Learners will also be eligible to transfer their course fees to a later start date for the same course, or another course/ workshop of the same value.
• If a request for refund is made after the 10 working days cut off point, learners will still be eligible to transfer their course fees to another course, however Creative Communities reserves the right not to refund. If a suitable course cannot be found, Creative Communities can issue a credit note for the learner to be used against a future course of their choosing.

In the event a learner is forced to cancel due to exceptional circumstances.

• In the event of exceptional circumstances, such as severe illness, family bereavement, pregnancy complications/ labour etc, Creative Communities may issue a refund after the 10 working days cut off period. This is at the discretion of the Managing Directors and evidence may be required, such as a copy of a hospital note.

In the event of a learner complaint

• In the unlikely event that a learner is dissatisfied with the quality of the course they have enrolled on and request a refund, the complainant must submit their reasons for wanting to withdraw in writing, outlining the areas of complaint. The Managing Directors will then review the case and respond in writing to the complainant within 10 working days.