Adult Learning Lewisham terms and conditions

Additional expenses

Some of our courses may incur other expenses in addition to your course fees e.g. materials – please refer to the course information sheets for further details. Please do not purchase anything before your first session unless requested to do so on your course information sheet. No liability can be accepted for expenses incurred for a course cancelled/altered at short notice.

Adverse weather conditions

Adult Learning Lewisham (ALL)’s priority is to ensure that its service is uninterrupted throughout the year. ALL aims to open all buildings, whatever the weather, but there may be times when this is not possible. If ALL needs to close any of its centres, learners will be informed through the Lewisham Council website and the ALL website.

Text messages to learners may be sent if this is practicable and if valid mobile numbers are held.

Adult Learning Lewisham Virtual Learning Environment (ALL VLE)

All learners have access to ALL VLE.

You can communicate with your tutor and fellow learners and access resources for your course. Your tutor will give you log-in information at the first lesson.

Code of conduct

ALL reserves the right to exclude any learner as a disciplinary measure.  For further information, refer to the Learner Guide.

Course changes

ALL reserves the right to cancel or amalgamate courses with insufficient enrolments or to change a course, tutor, location or scheduled time. Where possible, suitable alternative courses will be offered on the understanding that you have the option of accepting or cancelling the agreement without penalty. ALL will try to give seven days’ notice if these circumstances arise.

Eligibility

Our courses are open to everyone who is 19 years old or over on the 1st September 2021. The fee for your course is dependent on your personal circumstances. See fees and refunds for more information.

Examination certificates

The name that appears on any certificate will be taken from the details you provide at enrolment. You must advise us of any change. If the name on a certificate has to be changed after issue, the awarding body will normally make a charge for this. 

All examination certificates will be posted to the home address held by us unless you indicate on the enrolment form that you wish to collect the certificate.

A charge will be made by the awarding body for a replacement certificate.

Examination resits

If a learner does not receive the examination grade/pass they worked towards ALL’s practice is to allow learners, on a second occasion only, to repeat the course. This is subject to a minimum attendance of 85% on the previous course.

Family learning courses

Most of our courses are only open to learners that are aged 19 and above. However we also offer family learning courses where parents, grandparents or carers are able to learn with children. The age of the child/children will differ depending on the course. Read more about ALL family learning courses.

Fees and refunds

You must provide evidence to support any claim for a reduced fee. Read information about the fees for our courses and our refund policy.

Health and safety

All learners and staff are responsible for their own safety and for not compromising the safety of others. Signs regarding health and safety are clearly displayed at all sites. We ask every learner to make themselves aware of the guidance available to them and to comply with the health and safety advice given by their tutor and centre staff.

You should inform a member of staff at one of the centres if you encounter anything on ALL sites that you consider to be a risk to health and safety.

In certain classes you will have to wear protective clothing and footwear – please check your course information sheet or speak to your tutor for details. Learners will only be allowed into classrooms or workshops when a tutor or technician is present.

Learners are responsible for ensuring they are medically fit for any courses that include physical skills or activities or the use of subject specific equipment and resources. All learners undertake such courses at their own risk.

Children are not allowed in classrooms/workshops unless it is a family learning class where adults and children are working together. Food and drink, other than water, should not be consumed in classrooms.

Instalment payments

Instalments may be available on fees for education and training funded courses on request. Full details, including instalment dates, will be given when the initial enrolment is processed.

Late enrolments

It is possible to join some of our courses after they have started but only during the first three weeks. You will be required to pay the advertised fee based on your circumstances. Please call 020 8314 3300 for more information.

Learner guide

This handbook is available to all learners on ALL VLE and provides further details relating to ALL’s policies. Read our learner guide.

Learner support funds and additional learning support

There is a box on the enrolment form to tick if you would like more information about additional learning support or you can ask our centre staff. We may be able to provide extra financial help with courses leading to a qualification or give support by providing adapted equipment or software if you have a disability.

National Insurance Number

You will be required to supply your National Insurance Number when enrolling on a course with ALL.

No smoking policy

Smoking is not permitted at any of ALL’s sites. This includes all areas within the buildings, outside entrances and exits to the building, in car parks or inside any of the boundary wall and fences. The use of e-cigarettes is also not permitted on Lewisham Council premises.

Parking

Confirmation of your place on an ALL course does not guarantee a car parking space.

Personal property

Learners are responsible for personal property and equipment whilst on ALL premises. ALL and the Local Authority will not accept responsibility for damage caused to, or loss of learners’ property.

Privacy notice

Department for Education

This privacy notice is issued by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) on behalf of the Secretary of State for the Department of Education (DfE) to inform learners about the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) and how their personal information is used in the ILR. Your personal information is used by the DfE to exercise our functions under article 6(1)(e) of the UK GDPR and to meet our statutory responsibilities, including under the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009. Our lawful basis for using your special category personal data is covered under Substantial Public Interest based in law (Article 9(2)(g)) of GDPR legislation. This processing is under Section 54 of the Further and Higher Education Act (1992).

The ILR collects data about learners and learning undertaken. Publicly funded colleges, training organisations, local authorities, and employers (FE providers) must collect and return the data to the ESFA each year under the terms of a funding agreement, contract or grant agreement. It helps ensure that public money distributed through the ESFA is being spent in line with government targets. It is also used for education, training, employment, and well-being purposes, including research.

We retain your ILR learner data for 20 years for operational purposes (e.g. to fund your learning and to publish official statistics). Your personal data is then retained in our research databases until you are aged 80 years so that it can be used for long-term research purposes. More information about the ILR, data collected, and the ILR specification can be found on the government website.  

ILR data is shared with third parties where it complies with DfE data sharing procedures and where the law allows it. The DfE and the English European Social Fund (ESF) Managing Authority (or agents acting on their behalf) may contact learners to carry out research and evaluation to inform the effectiveness of training.
For more information about how your personal data is used and your individual rights, please see the DfE Personal Information Charter and the DfE Privacy Notice. 

If you would like to get in touch with us or request a copy of the personal information DfE holds about you, you can contact the DfE in the following ways:

• Using our online contact form 
• By telephoning the DfE Helpline on 0370 000 2288
• Or in writing to – Data Protection Officer, Ministerial and Public Communications Division, Department for Education (B2,28), 7 and 8 Wellington Place, Wellington Street, Leeds, LS1 4AW

If you are unhappy with how we have used your personal data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at:
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. You can also call their helpline on 0303 123 1113 or visit the Information Commissioner's Office website. 

Adult Learning Lewisham

Adult Learning Lewisham is the adult education service for the London Borough of Lewisham. Your data is used by ALL and LBL to analyse our performance and to make improvements to our services. Your data will not be shared with anyone except the Department for Education and then only if your learning is subsidised by them. You can request a copy of any information that we hold about you from the MIS team at ALL. Your data is held securely on protected IT systems and in locked storage, it will be destroyed once we have met our statutory obligations to DfE and the European Social Fund. Read how and when we process information about you.

Proof of Identity

You will normally be asked to produce one of the following when you enrol:

• passport
• full driving license
• recognised identification card
• bank debit or credit card.

When you enrol by telephone or online, the bank debit/credit card you pay with is acceptable for identification purposes as long as it is your own, if it is not please bring your identification to reception at any of our centres on your first day of class. Read more about how to enrol on our courses.

Safeguarding

ALL is committed to good practice in vulnerable adult and child protection and contributes to the identification, referral and assessment of a child, young person or vulnerable adult in need who may have suffered, be suffering or who is at risk of suffering significant harm.

As part of our commitment to the safety of our learners, ALL operates an e-safety policy which we expect all learners and staff to follow. Read our safety policy.

Should anyone have any concerns please raise these immediately with a member of ALL staff, either via your tutor, curriculum leader, or any of the centre staff.

Transfers

If after less than three classes you feel that you are not enrolled on the right course we may be able to arrange for you to be transferred to a more suitable course. You should initially discuss this with your tutor or the curriculum leader. Centre staff can give you contact details.

Your contribution

The Greater London Authority makes a significant contribution to subsidising courses. In return we must show the positive impact these courses have on learners' lives. Your contribution is to share with us (e.g. through individual learning plans or other feedback) the positive impact your class has had for you.