Consumer Protection Law: HE Admissions Liz Hough, Assistant Director (Head of Admissions)

Offer Stage An admission offer constitutes offer of a contract: Provide confirmation of contract in durable medium Provide material information in durable medium (and ensure this is not different from anything previously stated) Give applicants notice of their cancellation rights Successful applicants now receive an ‘offer email’ with two pdf attachments: Terms and Conditions Material Information for their course 2

Offer Email You should carefully read the information below on fees, accommodation, funding and opportunities to visit, and the two attached documents - which include important information such as course fees and payment methods, course length and typical contact hours, your cancellation rights and our complaints policy - before deciding whether you wish to accept our offer via UCAS. You should also retain this information for future reference.

Fair terms and conditions They must strike a balance between our rights and obligations and those of students. For example: no limitation on liability for non-performance; no wide discretion to vary course content or increase fees; ‘The tuition fee for the academic year 2015 - 16 for the above course is £9000. The University will confirm the fee prior to enrolment and reserves the right to revise it in the meantime.’ no blanket assignment of intellectual property rights to the University; no academic sanctions for accommodation debts (Ordinance 16); important or surprising terms highlighted. 4

Fair terms and conditions Our full terms and conditions, which are the same for all undergraduate offers, include our general regulations and other regulatory documents. They now cover: Payment of Fees (obligations) Provision of accurate information Communication to and from the University University regulations (including 36, 11, 16, 23) and changes thereto Data Protection Cancellation Rights Complaints procedures 5

Disclaimers In these circumstances, the University will take all reasonable steps to minimise the resultant disruption to those services and to affected students, by, for example, offering affected students the chance to move to another course or institution, or by delivering a modified version of the same course, but to the full extent that is possible under the general law the University excludes liability for any loss and/or damage suffered by any applicant or student as a result of those circumstances.

Disclaimers The University will use all reasonable endeavours to deliver the course in accordance with the description applied to it in the University’s prospectus for the academic year in which you begin the course. However, the University will be entitled to make reasonable changes to the course (including to the content and syllabus of the course where developments in the subject area make that necessary, or the location of the course or the method of delivery of the course) where that will enable the University to deliver a better quality of educational experience to students enrolled on the course. In making any such changes, the University will aim to keep the changes to the minimum necessary to achieve the required quality of experience and will notify and consult with affected students in advance about any changes that are required. If the University changes your course and you are not satisfied with the changes, you will be offered the opportunity to withdraw from the course and, if required, reasonable support to transfer to another provider.

Scenario At the University of Tadcaster, the Department of Physics has just been through a bruising re-accreditation process for its undergraduate courses with the Institute of Physics. The Head of Department fully expects that the shortcomings identified during the re-accreditation exercise will translate into withdrawal of formal accreditation. With Clearing and Adjustment just weeks away, and with many student places still to fill, the report confirming her suspicions arrives. Q: When should potential students and current offer-holders be told of the loss of the Department’s accreditation? Q: What obligations does the Department have to continuing students who wish to transfer to other, accredited, HEIs? Scenarios adapted from David Palfreyman (2015) Send for the Director of Compliance! Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education, 19:1, 10-18

Material Information Course specific (Home/EU and Overseas versions) Contain information on: Key course details (title, duration, location) ‘What you will study’… Tuition fees Additional course costs (in progress) Challenges: (In-year/cycle) changes to courses or other material information Deferred applicants Moving towards compliance – should be provided with information on modules, delivery methods, assessment methods. This has been a significant piece of work. At present, due to technical limitations in our current systems, this section includes a link to the course page on the Study pages. modules, study and assessment methods, opportunities, career opps. This needs to be more fulsome, particularly with regard to placements (as this can impact on costs). Interim solution. Disclaimer – about different pathways being available, and this affecting study and assessment methods, contact hours etc. ‘the choices you make will affect your overall experience’ Tuition Fees = ongoing work; There was now an agreement on 2017 – 2018 fees, but the issue of 4 year programmes/deferrals remained. Additional costs – awareness raising, for specifics, contact department. Survey conducted by Finance Office to collate information, work is ongoing within DAR’s office to collect such information from all departments

What’s Next: Provision/archiving and regular review of Ts and Cs, and material information Postgraduate level courses Clearing

https://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/aro/cpl Questions? https://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/aro/cpl cpl@warwick.ac.uk