Terms and Conditions - LSM-Education

Terms and Conditions

This agreement contains terms that are specific to students on Academic courses undertaken at our affiliated universities and includes general terms also applicable to all students of LSM Education. LSM Education intends to rely upon the written terms set out in this document. If you require any changes, please make sure you ask for these to be put in writing. In that way, we can avoid any problems surrounding what you and we are expected to do. If you do not fully understand any part of this agreement or are uncertain as to your rights under it, please contact us for assistance. To ensure that your query is dealt with effectively please contact the admissions department.

Our contact details are as follows:

1. Admissions: 

2. Academic office: , 

3. Finance: 

4. Submissions: 

5. Registry & Student Records: 

6. Legal & Compliance: 

 

Definitions

1. The following definitions apply in relation to the terms contained in this agreement.

Term Meaning
Academic course A BA, MA, or MBA course; or any other degree awarded by an Affiliated University and delivered by LSM Education.
Affiliated University A university with which LSM has a formal agreement, which provides for the delivery by LSM of courses awarded by that university, and for such close supervision and control by that university that it is treated as part of it (i.e. an associate ‘college’ or ‘school’ of the university).
Agreement The Agreement between you and LSM Education for delivery of your chosen course, and associated services such as enrolment, contained within these Terms and Conditions, the summary terms, consents, and payments plan contained in your application form, the Student Contract, and any terms implied by statute.
Application Application for enrolment on a course offered by LSM, either on an LSM application form, or through the online enrolment form on the LSM website.
Top-Up Course The courses awarded by an Affiliated University applied for by you, excluding any pathway courses such as EduQual qualifications which will be supplied to you by us.
Course Fees The fees payable by you to us to cover the cost of us supplying you with your chosen course of study, excluding registration fees.
Fees The course and registration fees payable by you to us to cover the cost of us supplying you with your chosen course of study.
Local Access Point, LAP, RIBD A business promoting the market in their home country or within a certain area of the United Kingdom or EU for LSM’s courses under an agreement with LSM.
Pathway Course Eduqual diploma or certificate course that satisfies the criteria for enrolment on a Top-Up course on successful completion of that course.
The parties LSM Education Limited and the applicant to or student on our programmes of study, and where applicable the student’s Sponsor, LAP, or RIBD.
Resubmission Where an exam board, professional awarding body or Affiliated University allows a student to retake or resubmit an assignment he or she has failed, or has failed to submit by the deadline.
Registration Fees The part of the course fees covering Affiliated University and Awarding Body registration fees, any commission paid to your referring agent, plus a fee of £250 to cover our administration and registration costs.
Sponsor The organisation/individual who agrees to pay your registration and course fees on your behalf and who you hold out as having sufficient funds to do so, and any RIBD or LAP through which you have applied.
Student handbook A guide written by us available both online and in hard copy (upon request) containing details on all matters (academic and non-academic) relating to life as a student at our institution.
Terms, Terms and Conditions, The Terms and Conditions contained in this document, and the summary terms contained in the application pack which apply between you and LSM Education Limited.
Visa student Individuals who hold neither British, European Union, Swiss, Norwegian, Iceland nor other EEA citizenship, and would therefore be required to obtain a visa or leave to remain to study in the UK, including Tier 1 – 4 sponsored migrants.
We, Us, Our and Our institution, LSM, LSM Education, the college, Associate College All refer to LSM Education Limited, with company number: 04289595, including the LS Education Group, a UK registered provider of private education whose trade names include LSM Education, LS Business School, and LS Education Group. Our website refers to http://lsmeducation.com/.
You, the student, and Your All refer to applicants to and students on our programmes of study. In the case of a sponsor or employer who intends to agree to pay the fees of a student then they will be subject to these terms also, and included in the term you and your.

 

2. These terms contain information about:

– Your rights and obligations
– Our obligations; and
– Limitations of Our liability to you.

Affiliation

3. We deliver the Top-Up Courses as an Associate College of the Affiliated Universities, and as such you will be enroled as a student of the Affiliated University that is the awarding body for your Top Up Course. You are subject to the terms and conditions, including the regulations, disciplinary procedure, and the prospectus, of the relevant Affiliated University.

4. If you are a visa student, you must meet the requirements and follow any restrictions set by your visa or existing sponsor’s CAS, and you may be required to change “Tier 4 Sponsor” in order to be enroled. It remains your responsibility to ensure such changes and where applicable, cover any associated costs. LSM’s courses are not eligible for sponsorship under Tier 4 of the immigration points based system.

Enrolment and Course Fees

5. Unless payment is made to a LAP or a RIBD authorised to collect fees on our behalf, course and registration fees must be paid in UK £ Sterling. If payment is made in a currency other than sterling, you agree to cover the bank charges incurred by LSM for receiving and exchanging the payment.

6. Course and registration fees are inclusive of the fees for enrolment in the Affiliated University, the examination/assignment and other fees charged by it, but exclusive of resubmission, resit, postage, or deferral fees, and any additional costs (e.g. accommodation) which you may incur whilst a student of ours.

7. It is your responsibility to make provision for any costs which you may incur outside of your registration and course fees.

8. You will not receive a reduction in your course or registration fees if you enrol after your course has commenced. If you enrol after the intake deadline for a course (a ‘late enrolment’) you will be required to pay an additional late enrolment fee.

9. You will also be provided with details of the course fees payable by you in a ‘durable medium’ – such as a personally addressed email, or in the payment plan document in the application form, as part of the application process, and in the event of any discrepancy between those details and the website fees the details provided in this way shall override those displayed on the website.

10. Registration and course fees may be paid by either you, your LAP or RIBD, or your sponsor, by telephone or on our website by the following methods: Bankers draft, bank transfer, debit card and credit card. We accept the following credit cards: Visa, Mastercard, Solo, and Maestro. Fees may also be paid by cash in person at our Head Office the address of which is: 9 Devonshire Square, London, EC2M 4YF, United Kingdom

11. Please be warned that any charges incurred by our bank or the bank of the sender of your fees must be paid by you.

12. As part of the enrolment process, you will also be required to agree to the Student Code of Conduct. This is a binding code of conduct that details the responsibilities and duties owed between you and LSM Education.

LSM Payment Plan

13. You may elect to enter into an instalment payment plan (‘The LSM Payment Plan’) in order to help spread the cost of your course. The LSM Payment Plan is governed by the terms set out in the Payment Plan Application Form which you must complete and sign.

14. In order to be eligible for the LSM Payment Plan, you must:

a. Have no outstanding balances from previous courses which we have supplied to you;

b. Pay your registration fee and at least 50% of your course fee on or before your course induction date and

c. Submit a completed Payment Plan Application Form at the date of induction along with any documents required by us.

15. If you do not meet our eligibility criteria set out at clause 14 above, you will be required to pay your course fees in full upon enrolment.

Sponsors

16. If in your application you declare that an individual or organisation (e.g. an employer or parent) agrees to act as your sponsor and provide us with their details, we will send them an email asking them to confirm this. If you enroled through one of our LAPS or RIBD partners, they will be treated as your sponsor for purposes of this agreement. Please be aware that if they deny having agreed to sponsor you, you will be required to pay your course fees in full.

17. If an individual or company confirms that they will be sponsoring you, both you and they will have responsibility to ensure that they pay your fees in full by the instalment dates. If your sponsor does not pay all or part of your fees, you will be required to pay the amount outstanding. If neither of you do, you will both be liable.

Terms Specific to Local Access Point (LAP) and Recognised International Business Development Partner (RIBD) Students

18. Clauses 13 – 15 above in respect of payment plans do not apply to LAP students, or students referred by a RIBD with permission to collect students’ fees on our behalf. If you enroled through your LAP or a RIBD with such authority, fees must be paid to your LAP or RIBD by any method permitted by them, in accordance with any payment plan agreed with them, and subject to whatever penalties and interest for late or non-payment are imposed by them.

19. You and your LAP or RIBD are jointly and severally liable for your fees. You may remain liable for the overdue fees if fees are not paid to us by the LAP or RIBD at all or on-time, and your enrolment may not be completed if your LAP or RIBD does not forward the minimum deposit (LSM and Affiliated University registration fees) to us before commencement of your course.

20. Refunds for students referred by LAPs or RBIDs who collect student fees on our behalf must be sought through the LAP or RIBD, and LSM’s liability for the refund is limited to the fees actually received by us from that LAP or RIBD.

Problems with Payment

21. If you experience any difficulty in paying any or all of your fees please contact a member of our finance team for assistance either by telephone on +44(0)2033225739 or by email to  .

22. In the unlikely event that the amount payable for your course fees is stated incorrectly on our website, or the durable medium statement of the fee amount provided as in clause, we accept no liability. However, we will make every effort to notify you of the correct amount as soon as is reasonably practicable and refund any amount for which you have been overcharged.

Late/Non-Payment of Course Fees

23. If all or part of your fees are outstanding after you have fully enroled, or you miss an instalment under the Payment Plan, you or your sponsor will be required to pay interest of 8% p/a on overdue amounts, accruing daily from the initial due date.

24. If you have chosen to pay by the LSM Payment Plan, please see the Payment Plan Application Form for details of the charges applicable for late payment.

25. You or your sponsor will be required to pay an administration charge of £50 for any late payments, dishonoured cheques, transactions rejected by our bank, and non-payment of standing orders.

26. We may require you to leave your course (without refund), or withhold documents such as degree certificates, transcripts, or student ID cards, if at any time you have a balance of fees (including postage, resit, resubmission, or deferral fees) outstanding. You will not be registered with LSM until the £250 is paid, and will not be registered with the Affiliate University until sufficient payments have been made to cover both the £250 LSM registration fee, and the Affiliate University’s registration fees.

27. We reserve the right to take legal action against you and/or your sponsor if all or part of your fees are outstanding and/or refer the matter to a third party debt recovery agency.

Application Processing

28. It is your responsibility to ensure that you provide us with true and accurate information. If you fail to do so, we reserve the right to take any disciplinary action against you which in the circumstances we feel to be reasonably appropriate, including expulsion without refund of any instalments or fees paid.

29. Please note that if you are a visa student and are residing in the UK, you will need to provide a copy of your passport and visa in order to enrol.

30. By enroling, you agree that your understanding of the English Language is sufficient enough to enable you to successfully complete your course.

31. Provided that you have completed your application in full and submitted all the documents required by us, we aim to process your application within three working days from the date of submission. Once your application has been processed, you will receive a ‘welcome email’ confirming your enrolment. However, we are only able to process your application within this timescale provided you have agreed to our services beginning within 14 working days on the application form, and thereby waive your right to a full refund for cancellation during that period.

32. Please note that we do not guarantee that your application will be processed within this time period, it is only an estimate. We cannot be held liable if your application takes longer to process. Your application is likely to take longer if we are waiting for your funds to clear. Please note that it can take up to ten working days for International bank transfers to clear, and much longer for an international bank draft to clear.

33. All places on our courses are subject to availability, and approval by our Admissions Department. We reserve the right to refuse admission to any applicant at our absolute discretion.

In order to limit our paper usage and impact on the environment, it is our policy to send all admission documents via email. If you require hard copies of any or all of your admission documents, please inform our Admissions team in advance, specifying which documents you require. It is also our policy to send all post by courier, for which a postage fee of £30 will be charged.

Learning Platform

34. Upon acceptance onto your course, you will receive a password providing you with access to your personalised Learning Platform for the duration of your course, outside of which your password will become inactive and your access will expire.

35. Upon acceptance onto the Top-Up element of your course, you will also receive an University Student ID card from the awarding Affiliated University, and a password providing you with access to the E-Vision E-Learning platform provided by the Affiliated University, providing you with access to their E-library and course materials.

36. Your Learning Platform will provide you with access to an e-library, keynote market research reports and online tutor support services and may also contain various assessment support materials.

37. Please note that we give no warranties or assurances as to quality or suitability of the contents of your Learning Platform which may differ from the contents of the course which you are studying.

Course Delivery and Contents

38. We reserve the right to make changes, including substantial changes, to the contents or methods of delivery of your course and to discontinue, merge or combine courses for the following valid reasons:-

a. To comply with changes in the law, or current industry practise;

b. To implement changes in course structure, contact time, duration, dates, or delivery method, required by an accrediting or awarding body, or Affiliated University;

c. Where we consider such action to be necessary in light of external circumstances beyond the control of LSM;

d. Where, prior to course commencement, there are insufficient student numbers to justify offering a course or delivery mode;

e. Student withdrawals/study mode transfers during the period of a course mean there are insufficient student numbers to continue to provide a particular course or study mode.

39. We will notify you in advance of any changes made under clause 38 above and if, after your application is accepted, the changes made to your course render it substantially different from that on which you agreed to enrol, you are entitled to withdraw from the course. In such circumstances, you will be entitled to a refund of your course and registration fees. If you do not request the refund within three calendar months (inclusive of the start and end date) of the date you are notified of the change, you will be deemed to have accepted the change and will not be entitled to a refund.

40. We reserve the right to close on UK public holidays without providing you with a reduction in course fees for any class or classes of yours which would normally be or have normally been held had there not been a public holiday.

41. We reserve the right to temporarily change class times and dates and staff and venues without notice though we will make every effort to notify you at least 24 hours in advance. As this may not always be possible, we cannot be held liable if we are unable to do so.

42. You agree that we are not liable to compensate you financially or otherwise for loss of income or travel expenses if your class is cancelled; or to reimburse your travel expenses where your location of study is changed. However, we will make every effort to inform you in advance so that such expenses can reasonably be avoided.

Assignments will be assessed by LSM Education, post assessment moderation of a sample of the submitted theses will be conducted by the Affiliated University.

Course Attendance

43. If your course includes an EduQual pathway course, your award of the Top-Up Course degree is also dependent on your successful completion of the pathway stage (i.e. award of the diploma awarded by EduQual).

44. If you are unable to complete your course as a result of resubmissions or resits you may be subject to a resit or resubmission fee.

45. You are required to attend all classes or webinars and complete all assignments.

Course Changes/Deferral

46. You may not change course, start date, module or delivery method after we have registered you with the awarding body (e.g. EduQual or an Affiliate University).

47. If you wish to make changes to your enrolment (including course or mode of study) before we have registered you with the awarding body, you must pay a £250 admin and re-registration fee to do so except in fully evidenced extenuating circumstances.

48. Any non-extenuating deferrals (change of intake or assessment submission date) will also need to re-register with both LSM and the Affiliated University, and so must pay a fee of £1,195 (except where fully evidenced medical reasons exist for the entire period of the deferral, in which case the fee payable is £495). These fees are set by the Affiliated University, and may change from time to time and vary between Affiliated University.

49. You may only defer an assessment or change the intake if the deferral is accepted by the awarding body under its regulations or bye-laws.

50. You may only defer an assessment or change the start date/intake if:-

a. the deferral is accepted by the awarding body under their regulations or bye-laws; and

b. The change is agreed prior to your registration with the awarding body; and/or

c. You have fully evidenced (usually medical) extenuating circumstances.

In any case, you may only defer once.

Refunds and Cancellations

51. We advise you to ensure that you have a full understanding of the academic and financial requirements of your chosen course before paying your fees. If you are a Visa student we also advise you to ensure that you fully understand the immigration requirements for coming to the UK as a student before enroling with us.

52. Registration Fees are considered to be a reservation payment.

Right to Cancel:

53. You have the right to cancel this contract within 14 days without giving any reason. The cancellation period will expire after 14 days from the day the contract is concluded by submitting the application form to us.

54. To exercise the right to cancel, you must inform us (at LSM Education, 9 Devonshire Square, London, EC2M 4YF, United Kingdom, or by email to support , or to your LAP or RIBD if you applied through a LAP or RIBD) of your decision to cancel this contract by a clear statement (e.g. a letter sent by post, fax or e-mail). You may use the cancellation form at clause 68 below, but it is not obligatory. To meet the cancellation deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right to cancel before the cancellation period has expired.

 

Effects of cancellation:

55. If you cancel this contract, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the registration costs.

56. We will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to cancel this contract.

57. We will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of the reimbursement.

58. If you requested to begin the performance of services during the cancellation period, you shall pay us an amount which is in proportion to what has been performed until you have communicated us your cancellation from this contract, in comparison to the full coverage of the contract (e.g. registration fees).

 

Expiry of Cancellation Period

59. After the 14 day cancellation period has expired, you are entitled to a refund of the course fees only in exceptional circumstances such as medical incapacity supported by an original medical certificate; or bereavement, at the sole discretion of LSM. In such circumstances deferral may also be offered in the alternative, and the amount we refund may be reduced in proportion to how far you have progressed through the course. We may also retain the registration fees to cover our administrative costs and/ or RIBD’s commission.

60. Please note the following are not extenuating circumstances, and you will not receive a refund after the 14 days have expired if:-

  • You feel that your standard of English language is not sufficient enough to enable you to successfully complete your course;
  • You are withdrawn or discontinued by the university for plagiarism, academic failure, or non-submission;
  • You are expelled without refund as a consequence of a breach of their responsibilities under this agreement;
  • You withdraw or are expelled as a result of unlawful or illegal conduct (such as providing fraudulent identity documents);
  • You cancel a course after deferral but before the new commencement date;
  • Volume of work;
  • Inadequate IT facilities;
  • You are a Late Enrolment, and find after starting the course that you are unable to cope with the truncated timetable;
  • You apply for an LSM Top-Up course with results of accredited prior learning or English language test (e.g. an EduQual diploma) necessary for the course entry requirements pending, and you subsequently fail to meet the entry requirements (in which case your registration will be delayed until the next intake). 62. After the expiration of the 14 day cancellation period, please allow a minimum of 4 weeks for your refund application to be processed.

61. After the expiration of the 14 day cancellation period, please allow a minimum of 4 weeks for your refund application to be processed.

62. Model cancellation form:-

To LSM Education/LSM Education (Partnerships Team)*, at 9 Devonshire Square, London, EC2M 4YF, United Kingdom [email protected] / [email protected]*

I/we* hereby give notice that I/we* cancel my/our contract for the supply of the following service:

Course Title:
Course Start Date:
Name of Student:
Student Number:
Date and amounts of payments:
Account Details of UK Bank Account or Last 4 Digits of Card Used:
Address of Student:
Signature of Student: [if in paper format]
Date:

[*] delete as appropriate

Dissertation Workshops

63. Any student studying for any Academic course is can choose to attend these workshops.

64. Students will receive a certificate of attendance from LSM at the end of the workshop.

65. Each workshop will be limited to 24 students, and in the event we have more than that number, we will offer multiple workshops simultaneously.

66. Students must pay the fees in full on registration. LSM will only confirm a student’s place by issuing them an invitation letter to attend once full cleared payment of the fees has been received.

67. To cover the cost of classroom hire and tutor attendance, fees are non-refundable where a student:-

  • Fails to attend; or
  • Cancels more than 14 days after registering; or
  • Cancels his place on a dissertation workshop that takes place within 14 days of their registration.

68. Where a student cancels a workshop run by LSM directly as a result of a visa refusal, no refund is possible but they may transfer to a later workshop and receive credit of 30% discount on the second workshop’s fee.

Our Website

69. This section also applies to the Learning Platform, which forms part of our website.

70. We shall not be liable for any unforeseeable loss, damage or expense suffered or incurred by you or arising from your use of or inability to use our website.

71. Although our website may contain links to third party websites, we do not maintain nor control such websites, nor do we guarantee the reliability of their contents.

73. Please note that our website is for information purposes only. Its contents should not be regarded as constituting advice on any matter.

74. From time to time, our website may be unavailable due to maintenance or improvement works. We will make every effort to notify you of such works in advance, though accept no liability if we are unable to do so.

75. All disputes arising in relation to our website will be dealt with in accordance with the law of England and Wales.

Intellectual Property

76. The LS and LSM Education, and ‘LAPs’/ brands and trademarks are owned and licensed by us. The Affiliated University’s brands and trademarks are owned and licensed by the Affiliated Universities. EduQual’s brands and trademarks are owned and licensed by EduQual.

77. Copyright in your course material and all other material on our website belongs to us.

78. No part of our website or your course material may be copied, reproduced or republished in any form or by any means, without obtaining our prior written permission.

79. We reserve the right to bring legal action against you if you breach this obligation. By entering into these terms and conditions you consent to any use we may make of images of you in our marketing and recruitment material and on our website without obtaining your further consent. The copyright in such images will belong to us.

Data Protection and Privacy

80. The following policy applies to all of our services and websites, including the Learning Platform.

Collection of your personal information and the Data Protection Act 1998

81. At some sites, and during enrolment, we collect personally identifiable information, such as your e-mail address, name, home or work address or telephone number. At other sites, we collect anonymous demographic information, which is not unique to you. Some sites collect a combination of the two types of information. Information collected at one of our websites, and during enrolment may be shared between our websites, and with universities and colleges with which we are affiliated. Personal and demographic data may be stored and processed outside your country (if outside the United Kingdom) and by using our website(s) or services, you consent to any such transfers being made outside your country.

82. There is also information about your computer hardware and software that is automatically collected by us and may be shared with other websites within the LS Education Group and those of our Affiliated Universities. This information can include your IP address, browser type, domain name, access times and referring website addresses. This information is used by us for the operation of the service, to maintain quality of service and to provide general statistics regarding use of our websites.

83. Please keep in mind that if you directly disclose personally identifiable information or personally sensitive data through our website, you are encouraged to review the privacy statements of websites you choose to link to from our website so that you can understand how those websites collect, use and share your information. We are not responsible for the privacy statements or other content on websites outside of our websites.


Use and processing of your personal information

84. We collect and process personal information for the following purposes:

a. Enrolment with LSM, and with affiliated universities, and awarding bodies);

b. Monitoring attendance on the courses provided by LSM Education, and Affiliated Universities;

c. To ensure payment of fees under this Agreement; d. To allow us to comply, or to ensure your compliance, with the Agreement;

d. To prevent and investigate academic offences and plagiarism (e.g. Turn-it-in)

e. To allow us to co-operate fully with the UKVI, Police, and associated organisations;

f. For quality control and course development (e.g. ‘mini-viva’ video interviews)

85. Our website(s) collect and use your personal information to operate the websites and deliver the services that you have requested. We may also contact you via surveys to conduct research about your opinion of current services or of potential new services that may be offered.


Use of cookies

86. Cookies are small pieces of information sent by an organisation to your computer and stored on your hard drive to allow that organisation to recognise the user when you next visit.

87. Our website(s) may use cookies to help you personalise your online experience. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. They are uniquely assigned to you and can only be read by a web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you.

88. One of the primary purposes of a cookie is to provide a convenience feature to save you time and to tell the web server that you have returned to a specific page. For example, if you personalise our pages, a cookie helps us to recall your specific information on subsequent visits. This simplifies the process of recording your personal information, delivery addresses, and so on. When you return to the same website, the information that you previously provided can be retrieved, so you can easily use our features that you customised.

89. You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to fully experience the interactive features of our websites you visit.

90. If you wish to find out more about cookies, or wish to find out how to refuse cookies for your browser please visit aboutcookies.org which provides this information and further guidance on cookie laws.

Security of your personal information

91. We secure your personal information from unauthorised access, use or disclosure. We secure the personally identifiable information you provide on computer servers, and personal data collected through the enrolment process, in a controlled, secure environment, protected from unauthorised access, use or disclosure. When personal information (including credit card number) is transmitted, it is protected through the use of encryption, such as the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol.

92. We also take appropriate measures to ensure that the information disclosed to us is kept secure, accurate and up to date and kept only for so long as is necessary for the purposes for which it is used.

Disclosure of information we collect and process to outside parties

93. We may pass your information to our service providers (e.g. BQU), LAPs, RIBDs and associated organisations, including UKVI, turn-it-in, Affiliated Universities, and their associated service providers.

94. We may also share your personal information with your sponsor, where they have agreed to pay your fees.

95. We do not sell, rent or lease our customer lists or other personal information to third parties. We may share data with trusted partners to help us perform statistical analysis, send you email or postal mail, provide customer support, or arrange for deliveries. All such third parties are prohibited from using your personal information except to provide these services to us and they are required to maintain the confidentiality of your information.

Confidentiality

96. Except as detailed at paragraphs 96–97 above, we will keep personal information disclosed to us confidential, and will not disclose it any third party. LSM Education Limited does not use or disclose sensitive personal information, such as race or religion, without your explicit consent.

97. We keep track of the websites and pages that our customers visit within our network, in order to determine which of our sites and services are the most popular. This data is used to deliver customised content within our network, to customers whose browsing behaviour indicates that they are interested in a particular subject area.

98. Except as detailed at paragraphs 96-97, We will disclose your personal information, without notice, only if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to (a) conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process served on we or the site; (b) protect and defend the rights or property of LSM Education Limited and its group of websites and, (c) act under exigent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of LSM Education Limited, its websites, or the public.

99. We may also need to disclose your information if required to do so by law or by a court order.

Subject access requests

100. You may request to be:

a. told whether any personal data is being processed;

b. given a description of the personal data, the reasons it is being processed, and whether it will be given to any other organisations or people;

c. given a copy of the information comprising the data; and

d. given details of the source of the data (where this is available),

101. Any such request must be made in writing to LSM Education, and we may require you to pay a fee (of up to £10 for most data, up to £50 for health or education data).

102. Where a subject access request is made as above, we will respond within 40 days, providing any fee due has been paid.

103. We will not comply with a public access request until you have provided sufficient information to allow us to

a. Confirm that you are the subject of the relevant information,

b. Find the information requested

104. We will not comply with a public access request where to do so would require disclosing a third party’s personal information, unless they have given consent, unless in all the circumstances it would be reasonable to do so.

Your consent

105. When you submit the application form through our website’s online enrolment system, or when signing and submitting a paper application form, you must give your express consent to the collection and use of any information you provide, including sensitive personal data such as on your health, in accordance with the above purposes and this privacy statement.

106. You also consent to our transferring your information to countries or jurisdictions which do not provide the same level of data protection as the UK, including Sri Lanka, and your home country, or to LAP or RIBD partnerships outside of the UK, if necessary for the above purposes. If we do make such a transfer, we will, if appropriate, put a contract in place to ensure your information is protected.

Changes to this statement

107. We reserve the right to amend this privacy statement and will occasionally update this privacy statement to reflect customer feedback. We encourage you to periodically review this statement to be informed of how we are protecting your information.

108. If we do so, we will post notice of the change on our website and you will be deemed to have accepted such changes.

Miscellaneous

109. Qualifications offered by LSM are approved and accredited in the UK only. Neither we, nor the awarding body ( e.g. Affiliated Universities or EduQual), make any guarantee or accept any responsibility for approval of any qualifications offered by us outside of the UK, including by embassies, governments for immigration purposes, or universities for admissions or accreditation of prior learning purposes.

110. You must update us promptly, and no later than 5 working days after any such change, of any significant change of circumstances including but not limited to change of:-

  • Address;
  • Name;
  • Contact Number and/or email address.

111. If you are intending to make a statement, work of art, video etc. regarding our institution, or employ a third party to do so on your behalf, we require you to seek our permission prior to doing so.

112. If you fail to seek prior permission before doing so, we reserve the right to take any disciplinary action against you which we feel to be appropriate. Full details on our Student Disciplinary Procedure are available in the Student Handbook.


Complaints Handling Procedure

113. In the unlikely event that you have a complaint, LSM’s complaints should initially be addressed informally by telephone to:

  • Academic Support on +44 (0) 203 322 3034 / +44 (0) 203 322 2712 / +44 (0) 203 322 8873 / +44 (0) 203 322 8504
  • Finance Department on +44 (0) 203 322 5799 / +44 (0) 203 322 4665
  • Registry Department on +44 (0)203 322 9383 / +44 (0) 203 322 5373 / +44 (0) 203 322 9314

114. CIM/DMI or Masterclass students should address admissions or academic complaints to Catriona Farrell (on the Academic Support number given above).

115. If this does not satisfactorily resolve your concerns, please address the complaint in writing by email to the persons above, copying in [email protected] for general complaints, or [email protected] for academic appeals, within 10 working days of the initial complaint. Complaints received more than 10 working days after an initial complaint are not normally considered. You should present full details, including your name and contact details and include all relevant supporting evidence. You should detail what attempts you have already made to resolve the complaint, and state what outcome and remedy you are seeking.

116. As our courses are delivered world-wide by online delivery, all complaints are dealt with by consideration on the papers only and there will be no panel hearing. Complaints may be submitted personally, or through a Student Union representative only.

117. If you remain dissatisfied after the decision of the formal complaints procedure, you may make a written appeal within 10 working days in writing to [email protected] . The decision will then be reviewed by the Senior Management, to determine whether:

a. The procedure was followed correctly; and

b. The decision was reasonable; and

c. Whether any new evidence has been provided that should be considered.

118. We aim to provide an acknowledgement of your complaint within 3 working days, and a full response or decision in writing (for the Formal and Review stages) within 10 working days. We aim to complete the Formal and Review stages together within 90 calendar days of submission of a formal complaint.

119. For complaints or appeals on academic matters only, you may further appeal to the Affiliated University on conclusion of the LSM complaints handling process.

120. Where no further right of appeal exists from LSM’s complaints procedure, LSM will issue you a Completion of Procedures Letter (CPL) for purposes of the Office of the Independent Adjudicator’s scheme. Where further appeal may be made to an Affiliated University, the university will issue a CPL on conclusion of their own internal procedures.

121. Former students of LSM may raise a complaint under this policy only within 3 months of graduating/ withdrawing from the course.

122. Where it is clear to the decision maker at any stage of the complaints process that

  • a complaint is obsessive, harassing, or repetitive;
  • there is insistence on pursuing groundless complaints and/or unrealistic, unreasonable outcomes
  • there is insistence on pursuing what may be justified complaints in an unreasonable manner
  • the complaint is designed to cause disruption or annoyance
  • there are demands for redress which lack any serious purpose or value

LSM may terminate the complaints process, and will issue a CPL stating that it considers the complaint to be vexatious or frivolous, and stating the reasons why.

123. If you a student on a course awarded by an Affiliated University, and remain unsatisfied at the conclusion of the LSM complaints procedure (or where applicable that of the Affiliated University), you may complain to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator within 3 months of being issued a Completion of Procedures Letter. Details of how to complain to the OIA can be found here: http://oiahe.org.uk/making-a-complaint-to-the-oia/how-to-make-a-complaint.aspx . Please note the OIA is not an appeal from or part of the LSM or Affiliated University’s complaints process, and they cannot consider complaints in respect of admissions, academic judgment, or where the outcome has not materially affected you as a student.

124. Please be assured that you will not be disadvantaged by having raised a complaint. Privacy and confidentiality will be maintained in the handling of complaints except where disclosure is necessary to progress the complaint. Please see the Student handbook or the Learning Platform for further details on our complaints procedure.

125. It is our aim to ensure and maintain that you study in a pleasant environment. In order for us to be able to comply with this aim, we ask that you maintain a standard of conduct which is not harmful to the work, good order or good name of our institution. If you are alleged to be in breach of this obligation, the Director of Academic Partnerships and Compliance (for academic matters) or the Head of Legal and Compliance will consider the allegations made against you, and depending on the seriousness of the breach decide on the appropriate disciplinary action to be taken against you. Please see the Student Handbook or the Learning Platform for full details on our Student Disciplinary procedure.

126. Please note that you will be considered to have committed a ‘serious breach’ of this obligation if you are found to:-

  • have made any statement or statements or employed a third party to make such a statement or statements on your behalf either online or otherwise, if such statements are found to have been derogatory, false, misleading or libellous, in any way detrimental to the reputation of our institution following an investigation by us;
  • have purchased ‘model answers’, or any form of pre-written essay, assignment writing services, tuition support, or materials (whether intended for submission or research purposes) for LSM’s courses, other from the Learning Platform or LSM’s authorised ‘white-list’ of providers.

In such circumstances you may be suspended or expelled. We may also withhold your student ID card, certificates, transcripts or enrolment letters while we investigate, if we suspect you have breached this term. We will not refund fees for the term in which you are expelled, however, at our discretion if you have paid for following terms in advance, any surplus will be refunded. We reserve the right to take legal action against you to prevent you from making derogatory, false, or misleading statements, or statements detrimental to the reputation of our institution.

127. Clause 126 will survive indefinitely upon termination of this Agreement. We reserve the right to terminate your enrolment and take legal action against you for breach of this obligation, and do not thereby waive any right to remedy in breach of contract, defamation, slander of libel.

128. We reserve the right to charge you for any costs that we may incur on your behalf.

129. We reserve the right to withhold your qualification certificates if you owe us money, including courier and resubmission fees, and outstanding fees for other courses on which you enroled.

130. If we need to contact you in writing, we will contact you via the most recent email address which you have provided us with. It is thus your responsibility to ensure that the contact details which you provide us with are correct and to inform us of any changes to such details.

131. We accept no liability for any inaccuracies or errors contained in any material which you may use for the purposes of study whilst you are enroled on a course at our institution.

132. Our sales literature is for the purposes of providing you with information only. Whilst every care is taken to ensure its accuracy, we do not accept any liability for any errors or omissions made.

133. Your computer usage at the venue at which you attend your lectures will be subject to the terms of computer use at that institution. Please contact the relevant member of staff employed by it for further information on its terms.

134. Please note that our staff are trained to provide you with information and advice in relation to your course of study only. Thus we cannot accept liability for any loss, damage or other expense you may incur from acting upon information and/or advice which does not concern your course of study. It is your responsibility to contact the body/organisation which specialises in providing such advice.

Staff are unable to provide advice on preparation of a visa application or other immigration advice – you should consult an OISC regulated advisor or UK solicitor.

135. Although every care is taken to ensure the accuracy of the education and advice (relating to your course) that our staff and consultants provide, no liability can be accepted for any loss, damage or other expense that you may incur from acting upon such advice.

Public Liability Exclusions

136. We exclude liability for accidental: injury to any person, loss or damage to material (including personal) property, obstruction, trespass, nuisance or interference with any right of way, light, air, water or easement happening in connection with LSM Education Limited, except in so far as it does not exceed the sum of £1,000,000 and is the consequence of proven negligence or breach of contract by LSM Education Limited.

137. We exclude liability for damage or distress by reason of inaccuracy of data, loss of data, destruction of data without our authority, or the disclosure of data or access having been obtained to data without our authority, except in so far as it does not exceed the sum of £50,000 and is the consequence of proven negligence or breach of contract by LSM Education Limited.

138. We exclude liability for wrongful arrest, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, and associated defamation of or assault on any person arising out of theft or suspicion of theft at the premises of LSM Education Limited (9 Devonshire Square, London, EC2M 4YF, United Kingdom) and its Affiliated Universities, except in so far as it does not exceed the sum of £25,000 and is the consequence of proven negligence or breach of contract by LSM Education Limited. We cannot be held responsible for any delay or failure to comply with our obligations if such delay or failure arises from any cause which is beyond our control. Examples of such causes include terrorist attacks and natural disasters.

139. If we fail to either:

  • exercise any rights or remedies of ours or;
  • insist on the performance of any obligation or obligations of yours

under this agreement, at any time, we shall be deemed to have waived neither our rights and/or remedies, nor any default of yours.

140. If we decide to waive any default of yours, such waiver shall only apply to that default and not any subsequent default.

141. In accordance with the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999, no right/rights or remedy/remedies shall apply to any person who is not a party to this agreement.

142. If a court or competent authority deems any of these terms to be invalid, unlawful or unenforceable to any extent, such term/terms shall no longer form part of this agreement, though this will not affect the remaining terms and you will continue to be bound by them.

143. To the best of our knowledge all of the information contained in this agreement is correct at the time of publication

144. We reserve the right to make changes to this agreement in order to assist the proper delivery of education. Although such changes will usually come into effect at the start of the following academic year, we reserve the right to bring changes into effect during the academic year if we consider this to be in your best interests. If, after your application is accepted, the changes made to this agreement render it substantially different from that agreed, you are entitled to withdraw from the course. In such circumstances, you will be entitled to a refund of your fees.

Jurisdiction and Litigation

145. This agreement is made subject to the laws of England and Wales. You agree that any dispute arising under a term of this agreement shall be subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

146. Unless agreed otherwise in writing, by submitting your application you agree that you enter into a contract with LSM Education Ltd, incorporating these Terms and Conditions. For the purposes of this contract, you, your Sponsor/LAP/RIBD (if any) and LSM Education Limited are the sole contracting parties.

lsmTerms and Conditions