Terms & Conditions
1 Defined Terms
In these terms and conditions the following definitions are used:
“Contract” is defined at clause 2.2.
“Contract Commencement Date” means the date You are issued your username and password for the VLE.
“Examination Confirmation Email” means the email which is sent confirming the date, time and venue for Your examination on any module.
“Interrupt Your Studies” on a module means starting a module (i.e. You have
been given access to a module) and ALO approves Your request to not to complete the study of that module. ALO reserves the right to make the final decision on whether to approve a request to interrupt a module
“IPR” means Intellectual Property Rights.
“Module fee” means the fee due for the first attempt of a module.
“Offer” means Our offer to You of a place on the Programme.
“Programme” means the programme which You are studying with ALO.
“Programme Materials” means all learning resources required for successful
completion of a module.
“Regulations” means the Academic and Programme Regulations relevant to Your
Programme with ALO.
“Resubmission” means submitting an assessment as a second attempt after having
previously failed the module or after a Retake as a fourth attempt having failed the
Retake (see the “Number of attempts” and “Resubmission” sections of the Regulations for further detail).
“Retake” means repeating a module after having previously failed the module (see the “Number of attempts” and “Retakes” sections of the Regulations for further detail).
“Tuition Fees” means the Module fees for all modules on Your Programme and any
additional fees incurred as set out in clause 8. Tuition Fees cover Your access to and
use of the VLE, Programme materials (including the e-Library) and tuition in
accordance with the Programme specification.
“ALO” means Access Law Online Ltd.
“VLE” means ALO’s Virtual Learning Environment.
“We”, “Us” and “Our” means ALO.
“You”/ “Your” means the student/ the student’s.
“Employer sponsor” means where Your employer has entered a contractual
arrangement with ALO via a contract for services to pay Your Tuition Fees.
2 The Contract
2.1 This document sets out the terms and conditions which form a part of the Contract between You and ALO for You to study with ALO. It is an important document which describes legal rights and responsibilities.
2.2 The Contract is made up of the following documents:
2.2.1 These terms and conditions
2.2.2 The Regulations
2.3 By entering into the Contract You agree to comply with all of the above documents. They are also important documents describing legal rights and responsibilities.
2.4 The Contract is formed when You accept the Offer by returning the signed Student Enrolment Form or submitting your application via our website.
2.5 The Contract will end if:
2.5.1 You fail to complete Your studies within the maximum period of registration for Your Programme, as set out in the Regulations;
2.5.2 You exhaust the permitted number of attempts at a module (normally four: a first sit and a Retake and in both instances You may have a Resubmission – see the ‘Number of attempts’ section of the Regulations)
2.5.3 You complete the Programme. There is a time limit within which You must complete your Programme (see the “Maximum Period of Registration” section of the Regulations).
2.5.4 ALO exercises Our right to cancel the Contract early if You breach it (see clause 14)
2.5.5 You exercise Your right to cancel the Contract (see clause 15)
3 General
3.1 The Contract is between You and ALO. No one else has any right to
enforce any of its terms
3.2 If ALO delays in taking any step against You in respect of Your breaking the
Contract, that will not mean that You do not have to act as the Contract
requires, and it will not prevent Us taking steps against You at a later date
3.3 If any of the terms of the Contract are found by a court or any other relevant authority to be unlawful or unenforceable, the remaining terms of the Contract will remain in full force and effect. Each of the terms of the Contract operates separately.
3.4 The Contract is governed by English law and You or ALO can bring legal
proceedings in respect of the Contract in the English courts only.
4 Equality, Diversity and Additional Needs
4.1 ALO is committed to promoting equal opportunities for all students and will comply with the Disability and Additional Needs Policy and the Equality and Diversity Policy
4.2 You must co-operate with ALO in promoting equal opportunities and avoiding unlawful discromination
5 Our obligations to you
2.1 ALO will use reasonable endeavours to provide teaching and assessment with reasonable care and skill.
2.2 Your Programme will be delivered by supported online learning via the VLE and in accordance with the VLE Terms of Use (see Annex 1).
2.3 ALO will record your assessment results with SQA if You meet the academic requirements for the completion of the Programme, as laid out in the Regulations, provided that You or Your Employer sponsor have paid the Tuition Fees.
6 ALO’s Right to Vary or Close/Discontinue The Programme
6.1 ALO has the right to amend the Programme materially (e.g. by changing, suspending or discontinuing any module) only in order to:
6.1.1 comply with external professional, accrediting and/or regulatory body
requirements, changes in the law or any Court ruling;
6.1.2 ensure the curriculum and/or mode of delivery or assessment remains
current and relevant to intended learning outcomes and/or standards of
any relevant professional, accrediting and/or regulatory bodies and/or
employer requirements;
6.1.3 implement SQA feedback;
6.1.4 implement annual monitoring (the process of module and programme
review which looks at areas of good practice and areas for
improvement) and/or
6.1.5 preserve the student experience where there are less than ten students eligible to register on a module.
6.2 ALO has the right to close/discontinue or suspend a Programme only where due to financial viability, or due to resource availability, the Programme should be closed and in ALO’s reasonable opinion this is in the interests of students and ALO generally.
6.3 This clause applies to the delivery of the Programme to You. Nothing in this clause 6 requires ALO to continue to offer a programme in any particular form or at all to new students.
7 Interruption of Studies and Transfer of your studies
7.1 ALO may require You to Interrupt Your Studies on a module or modules if this is reasonably considered necessary for Your or another’s wellbeing.
7.2 If You wish to Interrupt Your Studies on a module or modules, the “Interruption of Study” section of the Regulations will apply.
8 Your Obligation to Pay Tuition Fees
8.1 You agree to pay the Tuition Fees set out in the Fee Schedule except where there is an agreement in place for Your Employer sponsor to pay your fees in this instance the Employer sponsor is liable to pay the Tuition Fees set out in the Fee Schedule.
8.2 Tuition Fees are quoted and payable in pounds sterling (GBP) only.
8.3 Tuition Fees must be paid in the amounts and within the timescales agreed on enrolment.
8.4 Additional fees may fall due under sub-clauses 8.5-8.6
Additional fees
8.5 Additional fees, beyond the Module fee for Your first attempt at a module outline in the Fee schedule, may be payable if:
8.5.1 You are required to Retake a module;
8.5.2 You Interrupt Your Studies on a module; or
8.5.3 Your Tuition Fees are not paid to ALO when they fall due
8.5.4 You cancel an examination at any time following the Examination Confirmation Email
8.6 The additional fees will be as follows:
8.6.1 You will not be charged for a Resubmission.
8.6.2 If You fail and are required to Retake a module You will be charged the full Module fee again.
8.6.4 If You Interrupt Your Studies on a module You will be charged an administrative fee of £30
8.6.5 If Your Tuition Fees or any part thereof are not paid to ALO when they fall due, You will be charged an administrative fee of £30
8.6.6 If You cancel an examination at any time following the Examination Confirmation Email or if You fail to attend an examination, You will be charged an administrative fee of £60
9 What we may do if you fail to pay your module fees
4.1 If Your Tuition Fees are not paid to ALO within 7 days of when they fall due under the Fee Schedule, We will contact You to request You pay this debt within 7 days (+14 days from the original due date).
4.2 If the outstanding amount is not paid by that time then, taking into account any other relevant circumstances You put forward, We may:
4.2.1 warn You that Your access to the VLE will be removed if We do not receive payment of the outstanding amount within 7 days (+21 days from the original due date); and/or
4.2.2 prevent You from accessing for any further modules with ALO.
4.3 If the outstanding amount is not paid by that time, taking into account the amount of the debt and any other relevant circumstances You put forward, We may withdraw Your access to the VLE, unless You have agreed a revised payment plan with ALO
4.4 If You fail to pay Your outstanding Tuition Fees within a further 21 days (+42 days from the original due date), or if You fail to comply with any agreed revised payment plan, We may also:
4.4.1 end the Contract (see clause 14);
4.4.2 revoke Your licence to use Programme materials (see clause 11), and/or
4.4.3 bring legal action against You to recover the outstanding Tuition Fees. You may pay ALO any reasonable legal costs We incur in doing so.
4.5 ALO may not register any award with SQA which You may qualify for until all outstanding Tuition Fees related to that award have been paid in full.
10 What ALO may do if Your Employer sponsor fails to pay your Tuition Fees
11.1 If Your Employer sponsor has not paid Your Tuition Fees to ALO within the
30-day credit terms lapse (+31 days from invoice date). We may:
11.1.1 prevent You from registering for any further modules with ALO.
11.1.2 Not confer any award You may qualify for until all outstanding Tuition
Fees related to that award have been paid in full.
11.2 If the outstanding amount is not paid by Your Employer sponsor within 7 days (+38 days from invoice date) You and your Employer sponsor will receive notification that We will withdraw your VLE access unless payment is received within 7 days (+45 days from invoice date),
11.3 If the outstanding amount is not paid by Your Employer sponsor within 7 days
(+45 days from invoice date) We will withdraw your VLE access until the debt
is paid.
11 Licence to use Programme Materials
11.1 You will not own any IPR in any Programme materials provided to You by
ALO.
11.2 ALO grants to You a personal non-exclusive restricted licence to use the
Programme materials solely for Your own personal use as part of studying the
Programme.
11.3 You may not share, loan, copy, reproduce or grant in any way any right or
licence to use the Programme materials to any third party and you must take
reasonable steps to prevent any third party using Programme materials.
11.4 You agree to indemnify ALO in respect of any breach by You of this clause 11.
12 Intellectual Property Rights
12.1 Unless otherwise assigned, where new IPR is created by You during the Contract, for example through a piece of assessment, the new IPR is retained by You.
13 Your Access to and use of The VLE
13.1 The provision of Programme materials via the VLE is dependent upon internet and third party connections which are out of the control of ALO and ALO does not warrant that the VLE and associated services will be available continuously. However, ALO will use its available resources and reasonable endeavours to keep downtime to a minimum.
13.2 To access Programme Materials and other information You must agree to and
abide by the VLE Terms of Use.
13.3 After the Contract Commencement Date, ALO will provide You with a
password and user identity for the VLE to access information and Programme
materials. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality and security
of Your online account and the Programme materials, including any unique
login details for the VLE.
14 Our right to end this contract
14.1 ALO may terminate the Contract at any time if You commit a serious
material breach of Your obligations under the Contract and You fail to put that breach right within a reasonable time of Our asking You to do so. If a breach is very serious or cannot be put right We may terminate the Contract
immediately.
14.2 Examples of a serious material breach include:
14.2.1 You or Your Employer sponsor fail to pay Your Fees as described in clauses 9 and 10;
14.2.2 You fail to provide correct evidence of Your qualifications that matches the details of Your qualifications that have been provided on Your application within 8 weeks of the Programme start date;
14.2.3 You provide ALO with incorrect information about Your qualifications
or any other important information which You provided to Us on Your
application;
14.2.4 You fail to meet the following requirements under the Regulations:
14.2.4.1 Exhausting all of the permitted attempts at a module
14.2.4.2 Exceeding the maximum period of registration for the Programme or being unable to complete the remaining requirements of the programme within the maximum registration period.
14.2.4.3 You have not demonstrated a sufficient level of academic engagement on your programme
14.2.5 Your conduct constitutes a serious disciplinary offence or academic misconduct offence. This is likely to include:
- physical or racial assault, harassment, or violent, indecent and/or abusive behaviour directed at other students, members of staff, visitors and any other person connected with ALO programme delivery (for any reason, including on the grounds of race, sexuality, gender or gender identity);
- sexual misconduct, including but not limited to sexual intercourse or engaging in a sexual act without consent, attempting to engage in sexual intercourse or engaging in a sexual act without consent, sharing private sexual materials of another person without consent, kissing without consent, touching of a sexual nature through clothes without consent, inappropriately showing sexual organs to another person, repeatedly following another person without good reason, and/or making unwanted remarks of a sexual nature;
- behaviour that brings ALO’s name into disrepute;
- harassment, bullying or abusive behaviour face to face or through any form of electronic communication or on social media;
- theft of, damage to, or unauthorised use of property or systems belonging to ALO, third-party learning delivery venues, other students, members of staff or visitors;
- possession, sale, or use of illegal drugs on or in the local vicinity of ALO property, and whilst at or in the local vicinity of third-party learning delivery or examination venues or whilst on ALO organised activities;
- incidents other than minor incidents that undermine the British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance;
- the organisation of, or glorification of, criminal activity;
- the organisation of, or glorification of terrorism or extremist behaviour;
- hate speech;
- Misuse of Programme Materials or infringing ALO’s intellectual property rights;
- other serious fraud, deception or dishonesty.
14.3 Notification of the termination of the Contract by ALO and the reason for it
will be provided in a clear written statement, either by letter sent by post, or
email.
14.4 ALO reserves the right to revoke any award in accordance with the
Regulations:
14.4.1 in the event of a termination following a disciplinary or academic
misconduct offence that would have resulted in a decision not to grant an award, or
14.4.2 if the evidence shows that you did not meet the requirements for the
award, or We discover any other information that would have resulted
in a decision not to grant an award if these facts were known at the
time the award was granted.
14.5 Any decision under this clause is subject to Your right of appeal under the ALO Student Appeals and Complaints Policy. However Our obligations to You under this Contract may be suspended pending the outcome of any such appeal.
15 Your right to cancel your contract
15.1 You have the right to cancel the Contract under the Consumer Contract
(Information, Cancellation and Additional Payments) Regulations 2013 within
14 days without giving any reason. The cancellation period will expire 14 days
after the Contract Commencement Date (i.e. 14 days from the point at which You first register for Your Programme via our online portal.) To exercise the right to cancel, You must inform ALO of Your decision to cancel the
Contract by a clear statement. You should exercise Your right to cancel by
contacting ALO at:
17.3 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.) If You cancel the Contract within the 14 day cancellation period, ALO will reimburse all payments received from You
without undue delay, and in any event not later than 14 days after the day on which You inform ALO of Your decision to cancel. Reimbursement will be
made only to the account from which you made payment.
17.4 If You requested to start Your Programme during the 14 day cancellation
period, You must pay ALO an amount which is in proportion to the services
You received since starting the Programme until You communicated to ALO Your cancellation of the Contract.
16 Our liability to you
16.1 Nothing in the Contract shall operate to exclude or limit Our liability to You for:
18.1.1 death or personal injury caused by Our negligence;
18.1.2 fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or
18.1.3 any other liability which cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law, for example under section 57 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
16.2 ALO will only be liable for loss or damage that is caused by and is a reasonably foreseeable result of ALO breaching the Contract. This means
loss or damage that is an obvious consequence of ALO’s breach of the
Contract or loss or damage that was expressly contemplated by You and
ALO at the time of entering into the Contract.
16.3 ALO will not be liable for any indirect or consequential losses including but
not limited to lost profit or lost anticipated future earnings
17 Data protection
17.1 You are required to confirm or update Your personal details on an annual
basis, when requested by ALO.
17.2 ALO shall at all times when processing Personal Data relating to, or
provided by, You:
17.2.1 comply with its obligations under the General Data Protection
Regulation (2016/679), the Data Protection Act 2018 and any
amendment or update to that legislation.
17.2.2 comply with the ALO Data Protection Policy (opens new window)
and the Privacy Notice for Students (opens new window);
17.2.3 ensure that there are in place appropriate technical and organisational security measures to prevent unauthorised or unlawful processing of Personal Data and to prevent accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, Personal Data.
17.3 In this Clause 17, Personal Data has the meaning given in the General Data
Protection Regulation (2016/679) Article 4.
18 Confidentiality
18.1 ALO shall at all times keep confidential any special categories of personal
data (as defined in the General Data Protection Regulation (2016/679) Article
9) that it may hold about You which is provided on a confidential basis to
ALO, such as information regarding disability or wellbeing issues, which
enables ALO to provide support as part of its obligations to You. ALO will
only share such special categories of personal data with explicit consent or as
required by applicable law or regulations.
18.2 You must keep information confidential when it is provided on a confidential
basis between You and ALO, for example in relation to when a student is
undergoing a disciplinary or academic misconduct matter, or when a
complaint against a member of staff is being investigated.
19 Events outside our control
15.1 ‘Force Majeure Event’ means any circumstance not within a party's
reasonable control including, without limitation:
15.1.1 acts of God, flood, drought, earthquake or other natural disaster;
15.1.2 epidemic or pandemic;
15.1.3 terrorist attack, civil war, civil commotion or riots, war, threat of or
preparation for war, armed conflict, imposition of sanctions, embargo,
or breaking off of diplomatic relations;
15.1.4 collapse of buildings, fire, explosion or accident
15.1.5 nuclear, chemical or biological contamination or sonic boom;
15.1.6 any law or any action taken by a government or public authority
15.1.7 any labour or trade dispute, strikes, industrial action or lockouts (other
than in each case by the party seeking to rely on this clause);
15.1.8 non-performance by suppliers or subcontractors; and
15.1.9 interruption or failure of utility service (including public or private
telecommunications networks, railways, shipping, aircraft, motor
transport or other means of public or private transport).
15.2 Provided it has complied with Clause 15 .4, if a party is prevented, hindered or
delayed in or from performing any of its obligations under this agreement by a Force Majeure Event (‘Affected Party’), the Affected Party shall not be in
breach of this agreement or otherwise liable for any such failure or delay in
the performance of such obligations. The time for performance of such
obligations shall be extended accordingly.
15.3 The corresponding obligations of the other party will be suspended, and the
time for performance of such obligations extended, to the same extent as
those of the Affected Party.
15.4 The Affected Party shall:
15.4.1 as soon as reasonably practicable after the start of the Force Majeure Event, notify the other party in writing of the Force Majeure Event, the date on which it started, its likely or potential duration, and the effect of the Force Majeure Event on its ability to perform any of its obligations under the Contract; and
15.4.2 use all reasonable endeavours to mitigate the effect of the Force Majeure Event on the performance of its obligations.
15.5 The other party shall cooperate with the Affected Party as is reasonable to mitigate the effect of the Force Majeure Event.
20 Your consumer law rights
17.1 As a consumer of services provided by ALO you have legal rights (including statutory remedies) in relation to services not carried out with reasonable skill or care. For further information go to the Competition and Markets Authority website: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/competition-and-markets-authority. Students living in the UK may visit their local Citizen’s Advice Bureau or Trading Standards Office.
21 Complaints Procedure
18.1 The ALO Student Appeals and Complaints Policy details the process for raising a complaint with ALO, and the procedure that will be followed if you raise a complaint. The Student Appeals and Complaints Policy forms part of the contract. A copy of the Student Appeals and Complaints Policy can be found here: https://accesslawonlineltd.com/pages/student-appeals-and-complaints-policy
22 Our right to vary these Terms and Conditions
22.1 ALO has the right to revise and amend these terms and conditions, including the Academic and General Regulations for Students in order to:
- comply with external professional, accrediting and/or regulatory body requirements and/or changes in the law;
- implement changes for the benefit of students as a consequence of module monitoring;
- ensure the curriculum is current and relevant to intended learning outcomes and/or standards of any relevant professional, accrediting and/or regulatory bodies and/or employer requirements and/or;
- implement internal verifier feedback.