CTC Kingshurst Academy: Charging and Remissions Policy

Charging and Remissions Policy

The legislation governing the charging for college activities is set out in The Education Act 1996, Sections 449-462. This legislation covers what governing bodies may and may not charge for when activities take place, either during or outside of college hours, including residential activities.

College Policy

The College Policy is drawn up in compliance with the above legislation. Ideally, the College would like to make no charge to parents or students for any activity that is relevant to education provision, which occurs inside or outside the College. The limits of the College's budget, however, force us to make charges for certain activities and this policy outlines those areas.

Charges in respect of residential and other trips that are not relevant to education provision will be made on the basis of recovery of the cost involved. Other charges will be made according to the activity and may constitute a contribution to the cost of that activity to ensure that it continues, particularly in the case of charges for peripatetic music tuition.

The charging policy will operate at the margin between activities funded by the College and activities funded wholly or partly by students or parents. The aim is to ensure that the policy is implemented equitably but with the flexibility to make charges as prudent administration of the College funds requires.

The following list indicates the types of activity where the College could make charges, although this is not exhaustive:

Peripatetic music tuition for work outside of the national curriculum.
External visits, trips, exchanges etc that fall inside or outside of College hours and are not a necessary part of the national curriculum or an essential part of the syllabus for an approved examination.
Students' board and lodging whilst on residential trips.
Curriculum-related visits or activities to enhance the students' experience, that occur outside the students' �formal' teaching timetable (e.g. Theatre, Research, projects etc), for which the College would need to ask for voluntary contributions.
Students' travelling costs incurred whilst on work experience.
Completed work projects which students indicate they would like to take home (e.g. Art projects, food projects, models etc)
Consumables over and above a student's allocated entitlement from the College � e.g. For assembling work for a student's Record of Achievement during his/her time at the College.
Examination entry fees which have been paid for by the College, where students fail to attend the exam.
Students' fees in respect of second attempts at examinations will only be paid by the College in exceptional circumstances.
Examination fees for non-prescribed examinations or those not recommended by the College for a particular student.
Fees in respect of Awards (e.g. Grade 4 flute etc.)
Costs incurred in relation to any College property which is broken, damaged, or defaced, where it is felt that this is a result of a student's conduct or carelessness (to include accidental damage, if appropriate).

Remissions

Whenever charges are made, there are students whose family circumstances may exempt them from payment. The College will consider remission from payment for all or part of the charge for an activity, providing that the parents'/carers' only income is derived from state benefits. Individual applications must be made on each occasion for which remission of all or a part of a charge is requested.

Where appropriate, students or parents/carers may request consideration for remission from charges as outlined in the information provided to the student and parent/carer by the activity organiser.

Any student or parent/guardian seeking remission in respect of a charge will be expected to provide the College Principal with details of his/her personal circumstances.

No individual student will be prevented by financial hardship from participating in an event that is considered to be essential to his/her programme of study.

Implementation of Policy

The following guidelines will be followed when implementing the College's charging & remissions procedure:

All students will be notified in advance of any charges that are to be set and they will have, where appropriate, information to take home to parents / carers. This will take the form of a letter outlining the activity, what the charge is, when it is to be paid and to whom monies must be given.
When seeking voluntary contributions from parents or students for a particular activity, the College will always indicate whether the activity will be prevented from going ahead in the absence of sufficient funds.