Approval of Department Policy on the charging of fees at Highlands College.

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A decision made (12/12/2006) regarding Approval of Department Policy on the charging of fees at Highlands College.

Subject:	Approval of Department Policy on the charging of fees at Highlands College
Decision Reference:	MD-ESC-2006-0071	Exempt clause(s):		n/a
Type of Report (oral or written):	Written	Person Giving Report (if oral):		n/a
Telephone or e-mail Meeting?	n/a	Report File ref:		Livelink: ESC/Governance/Ministerial Government/Ministerial Reports
Written Report – Title:	Policy on the charging of fees at Highlands College	Written report – Author:		Michael Heald, Assistant Director, Policy and Planning
Decision(s): Approved the Department for Education, Sport and Culture’s Policy on the charging of fees at Highlands College.
Reason(s) for decision: There is a need to clarify both the criteria under which Highlands College can charge fees for the courses its runs and the flexibility it has to adjust fees based on individual circumstances.
Action required: a) Develop detailed guidance for application of the policy in conjunction with Highlands College.
Signature:			Date of Decision: 12 December 2006

Approval of Department Policy on the charging of fees at Highlands College.

Education, Sport and Culture Department Policy
Title:	Charging of fees at Highlands College
Date:	11th December, 2006

Author:	Jim Westwater

1. Overview

The Department for Education, Sport and Culture has recently received applications for courses at Highlands College from EU citizens who are ordinarily resident but who have been in Jersey for only a short period of time. The Department has also received applications from graduates wishing to take courses at lower levels. e.g.

· a law graduate wishing to study on the Foundation Art course

· a Social Science graduate wishing to take the Beauty Therapy course.

Some of these prospective students have not taken up places because of the cost of tuition fees. If Highlands are already running the desired course and the cost of accepting an extra student is marginal, there may be benefits to both the College and the student, if Highlands were to have the power to determine and charge appropriate fees.

In order to ensure that the College can use this power within a framework, the following policy has been developed to guide such decisions.

2. Scope

This policy applies to any student considering further or higher education.

3. Responsibilities and distribution

Having formulated guidelines with the Department, it is then the responsibility of Highlands’ Governing Body to apply this policy consistently.

Any appeals should be dealt with by the Director in the first instance.

4. Policy/Standards

The criteria to be applied for the charging of fees at Highlands College is set out below:

	Compulsory school age	Post 16	FE	HE
Children of EU Citizens	Children have right to free education	Free if ordinarily resident	Courses at Highlands free if ordinarily resident	Five year rule applies
EU Citizens Aged 19+			Five year rule applies. Highlands will not receive funding for student but will be given the power to determine and charge appropriate fees.	Five year rule applies
Non EU with visa including children	Children have right to free education	Free if normally resident	Five year rule applies. Highlands will not receive funding for student but will be given the power to determine and charge appropriate fees.	Five year rule applies
Non EU with visa but not covering children	No right to free education for children, will be charged full AWPU rate	Will be charged at full AWPU rate	Any potential students who do not have a visa would not be entitled to benefit from the public purse hence they will be charged fees.	No grant will be available
Students seeking re-skilling or changing course			Highlands to have discretion regarding a change of course

Setting discretionary levels of fees can be considered only when there is spare capacity in the relevant courses at Highlands College.

A framework of setting out the circumstances in which reduced fees may be charged and the scale of charges will be agreed between Highlands College and the Department for Education, Sport and Culture to ensure fairness, uniformity and consistency in the application of the discretionary powers.

Definitions

1 Ordinarily resident is defined as someone who is living and working in the Island.

2 Workers with a visa will have stated on that visa whether their children have the right to access the public purse. When the visa expires or when the worker leaves the Island, any rights conferred upon the children are extinguished.

3 The five year rule states that in order to receive funding, the parent (or adult) must have been ordinarily resident in the Island for a period of five years prior to the date of commencement of the course applied for but Highlands College will be given power to determine and charge appropriate fees.

4 No funding will be available to a person who has already been funded for an FE or HE course and is either repeating a year of the course or taking a course at a lower level but Highlands will be given power to determine and charge appropriate fees.

5 The student’s age will be deemed to be their age on the 1st September at the commencement of the course

6 Any student who is in dispute with the department in relation to tuition fees may appeal. In the first instance, the basis of the appeal should be put in writing and addressed to The Director of Education.

Once this proposal is accepted in principle guidelines will be formulated in discussion with Highlands College to ensure consistency of application.

CHANGE HISTORY

Version	Date Issued	Issued by	Reason for Change
1	26th September, 2006	Jim Westwater	Present to Minister
2	7th November, 2006	Jim Westwater	-
3	11th December, 2006	Jim Westwater	Minor changes as a result of Minister’s approval

Approval

Presented To	Approved by:	Date
Senior Management Team	Senior Management Team	26th September, 2006
Minister for ESC	Minister for ESC	11th December 2006

Department for Education, Sport and Culture Report for Minister
Subject:	Policy on the charging of fees at Highlands College
Exempt Clause:	n/a	Date:	7th December, 2006

Author:	Mick Heald, Assistant Director, Policy and Planning

1. Introduction

The purpose of this report is to seek the Minister’s approval of the attached policy on the charging of fees at Highlands College.

2. Background

There is a need to clarify the criteria under which Highlands College can charge fees for the courses its runs and the flexibility it has to adjust fees based on individual circumstances.

3. The Policy

The policy is attached. This has been developed in conjunction with Highlands College and has been approved by the Senior Management Team.

4. Recommendation

The Minister is asked to approve the attached Department for Education, Sport and Culture’s policy on the charging of fees at Highlands College.

5. Next Steps

Once the policy is approved, in discussion with Highlands College, the department will develop more detailed guidance to ensure consistency of application.