Terms and Conditions
What if you need an extension?
All our courses are designed to be completed within a time frame that suits individuals who are employed full-time. However, there are some instances (i.e. a crisis) where you may need to stop your studies for a period of time or where you need an extension. We understand that life happens, and we want to see you successfully complete your course. There are several options available.
A formal break from the course:
Should you need to stop studying for a period of time, you need to let your tutor as well as admin know. We will then freeze your course for up to three months and await your instruction before we restart it. The duration of the break needs to be reasonable for the purposes of course continuity. For example, a few weeks to a few months would be fine. For longer periods, your tuition may become too fragmented, and the successful completion of the course will be compromised. All extensions are subject to tutor approval and availability.
If you need an extension:
All requests for extensions must be made to the college principal, and you will need to state a reason. Any extension request must be made well before your course deadline, not after.
A note will be placed on your student record, and we will ask you to commit to a new deadline. Please note that we only grant extensions in certain circumstances and that receiving an extension on a deadline-driven journalism course, for instance, is rare. Depending on the reason given, you may or may not be awarded a certificate as you will have gone over the time allocation.
NB: We only allow one extension request per course, provided your tutor is still available. We will also liaise with your tutor before we grant the extension. If you require another extension, you will need to pay 50% of the course fee to continue.
Returning after a deadline has passed:
If your course deadline has expired, we will invoice you for 50% of the current course price. You will then be given a new deadline to complete your course.
Refund Policy
If within 7 days of starting your course you are not happy on your course, we can either transfer you to a different course or provide a full refund, minus a 5% administration fee.
If you request a refund after seven days and before 30 days we will charge a 5% administrative fee, as well as any bank fees and tutor fees already incurred.
We do not offer a refund after 30 days on the course.
Assessment Disputes
In the very unlikely event that you don’t get on with your tutor you need to inform us immediately. We want you to be happy with every aspect of your course and the relationship with your tutor is a vital part of the success of your course.
Should an issue arise we will act as an intermediary between you and your tutor until the issue is resolved. In cases that cannot be resolved we will transfer you to another tutor. Please be aware, though, that you will receive training from an industry professional. They are obliged to give you honest, real-world feedback and will not pretend that a substandard piece of work is acceptable; this would only set you up for failure and would undermine our aim of providing excellent tuition. Of course, if work you produce is not up to an expected standard the tutor will help you see why and help you make improvements – this is the reason you are doing the course. This is done in an encouraging and nurturing way.
Criteria for course admission
Each course has specific entry requirements displayed on each course page. We don’t require any prior qualifications for you to do one of our courses. We do assume that you have a reasonable grasp of written English, and where we may need to assess this we will require an application form to be completed.
Some courses require that you have successfully completed a previous course with us. For example, our Advanced Creative Writing Course, Advanced Novel Course and Advanced Magazine Journalism Course. Should you apply for a course and we think a different course will be more appropriate, we would discuss this directly with you.
Privacy and Your Intellectual Property
We will never pass on your personal details to any third party. Any intellectual property (i.e. writing) you create during your course belongs solely to you. The college and its employees have no claim to any work produced by you during and after the course.
What if you feel you have chosen the wrong course?
During the application process, we get a good idea of your suitability for the course you have chosen. If we feel there is an alternative course that will serve you better, we will always recommend that you consider that course before we approve your choice. We provide plenty of detail on each of our courses online so that you can make an educated choice as to which course will suit you best. If you want advice before you apply, just ask us. We have a lot of experience in determining your needs as a writer and finding the most suitable course for you.
If you do embark on a course and find that it is the wrong choice, then we will happily transfer you to another course, as long as it is early on in the course (i.e. within the first module). If you change your mind later on in the course, we will charge you pro rata for the modules you have completed as well as an administrative fee.