Terms and Conditions of Enrolment
1 Student fees, charges and other debts
1.1 The service you, the student, purchase is the right to attend specified Ara Institute of Canterbury1 courses. This service is provided in full upon formal enrolment (Refer CPP107 Fee Payment Policy).
1.2 Ara student fees and charges for each course are established by the Council. In the event of any discrepancy between department advice, public advertisements, brochures, letters or other communication, the Ara current tuition fee on the Student Management System at the time of enrolment will prevail.
International student fees and charges are set out in the student's invoice. In the event of any discrepancy the student's Ara invoice will prevail.
1.3 You become liable for all Ara fees and charges when you attend the course. This liability for all fees and charges is not reduced in any way if you do not attend all of the sessions.
1.4 Additional external examination or registration fees, if not paid at the time of enrolment, must be paid by a date specified by Ara. If not paid by the specified date, the responsibility lies with you, the student, to pay such fees directly to the examining body.
1.5 Attendance /engagement (without formal enrolment) at any Ara course will be deemed to be your acceptance of the liability for all fees and charges associated with the course, and you will be invoiced for such fees plus an invoicing charge.
1.6 Should you fail to pay any invoice(s) by the due date then you shall pay all costs and expenses whatsoever (including legal costs and debt collection agent fees) which may be incurred in the recovery or attempted recovery of the overdue amounts from you. Under these circumstances Ara may give to, or obtain from, any third party information about your personal or commercial credit arrangements.
2 Enrolment/changes to personal details
2.1 Your enrolment as a student in any course at Ara remains provisional until you have completed ALL necessary enrolment procedures. These include:
- receipt by Ara of a current Admission & Enrolment form completed, dated and signed by you, the student.
- acceptance by Ara of your request for enrolment in the course.
- payment in full of all fees and charges for the course.
2.2 Students are required to produce evidence of identity, citizenship and residency (see Admission and Enrolment Guide for approved documents). Ara will withhold the academic results for students who have not provided identification documentation, until such time as copies of the relevant documents are received.
2.3 Domestic students who do not supply the correct ID documentation, may be liable for full international fees.
2.4 Acceptance of your request to enrol will not be given if you still owe course fees and charges from a previous enrolment.
2.5 Ara reserves the right to decline a request for admission & enrolment.
2.6 Upon payment of the fees and charges for enrolment in a course, you will be issued with an official Tax Invoice/Receipt. This is your proof of payment and enrolment and must be presented to support any subsequent adjustments to your enrolment.
3 Confidentiality agreement
On receipt of an application for study, or completion of enrolment, you are issued with a unique Ara identifier (student ID number). Signing your Admission & Enrolment form is evidence that you are confirming that:
- the evidence of identity belongs to you
- you authorise the use of your unique identifier for admission and enrolment purposes
- you accept responsibility for all uses of your unique identifier
- you agree not to provide your unique identifier or password to other people.
4 Communication with Ara
Students are required to ensure that Ara has their current contact information at all times.
Prior to completing enrolment Ara will use your personal email address as the main point of contact. If you need to change your email or postal address details at this time it should be done online via the Student Portal.
Once you are fully enrolled all contact will be through the Ara email and student portal. It is a condition of your enrolment, that all students must read information on their Ara student email/student portal at least once per week (you are strongly advised to check your email daily).
This requirement is for your protection and will ensure that you are up-to-date with all requirements and information from Ara.
5 Changes to enrolments
5.1 If you wish to change your course, you must make your request in writing to your Head of Department or delegate either as a written statement/letter or by completing an Enrolment Amendment form.
5.2 In addition to any difference in tuition fees, an administration charge may apply to each course change.
6 Withdrawal from courses
6.1 Formal withdrawal from a course of study at Ara must be made in writing either as a written statement/letter or by completing an Enrolment Amendment form.
6.2 The effective date of withdrawal will be the date on which the Institute receives your written advice not your last day of engagement.
6.3 Withdrawal from all courses of study at Ara requires the return of any Ara materials on loan or hire including your Ara ID Card and any relevant class texts, workbooks or equipment.
7 Refund of fees and charges
7.1 Domestic Students
a) Any request for refund of fees and charges associated with formal withdrawal from a course as specified in (6) above, must be made in writing before the nominated Last Withdrawal Date.
b) A formal withdrawal after the Last Withdrawal Date will not be eligible for a refund of the Ara fees and charges except in the case of a compassionate withdrawal.
c) Withdrawals received within seven calendars days of the course occurrence start date will result in an administration charge of $10.
d) Withdrawals received after the start date of the course, but before the last withdrawal date, will result in an administration charge of $40.
e) Refund amounts of less than $10 will not be made. A credit balance up to $10 will be held on account and can be used to offset subsequent expenditure. All credit balances up to $10 will be written off on completion of your course, or the end of the academic year, whichever is the earlier.
f) External examination fees will be refunded in full if a withdrawal is advised before the specified payment date. Application for refund of examination fees after that date must be made directly to the appropriate examining body.
g) Approved refunds will be direct credited to the party making the original payment, within six weeks of receipt of the complete refund application, or where supplied, to an approved bank account.
7.2 International Students – Read about our refund procedures for Full Fee Paying (FFP) International Students at International Refund Policy.
8 Alteration or cancellation of courses
8.1 Ara reserves the right to cancel any course before the commencement date – fees and charges paid will be refunded in full to the person or organisation which paid originally, or may be transferred with the agreement of the original payee and used as payment towards another course.
8.2 Ara reserves the right to alter delivery dates/times of a course. Where days, dates or times are altered, Ara undertakes to attempt to contact all enrolled students either at their stated email address or contact number to inform them of such changes.
9 Centre for Assessment of Prior Learning (CAPL)
CAPL terms and conditions are agreed in conjunction with the Ara published terms and conditions of enrolment, noting that:
- “course(s)” refers to all CAPL facilitation, tutorials, support, assessments
- “enrolment” refers to all CAPL enrolments, offer agreements
The following CAPL specific terms and conditions apply:
a) Length of CAPL process, taken from first facilitation or assessment date:
i. Degree/Graduate Diploma (Levels 6-7): 12 months.
ii. Certificate and Diploma (Levels 3-6): 6 months.
b) Extensions:
i. In exceptional circumstances the candidate may request to go ‘on hold’ for a period of up to 3 months, during which time no facilitation or assessment will take place. This will be treated as an extension as per the Ara Assessment Policy (APP505).
ii. This option can only be used once.
c) Failure to engage:
i. A non-agreed period of 2 months with no facilitation or assessment will be deemed non-engagement.
ii. CAPL reserves the right to withdraw candidates for non-engagement after one written notice.
d) Final assessment date changes:
i. Any request for a change to an agreed final assessment date must be made to CAPL in writing and the candidate will be liable for any costs incurred.
10 Privacy (Personal Information)
The Institute collects and stores information about students to comply with various statues and/or regulations, to enable us to make decisions regarding your academic progress, and to provide you with evidence of your academic achievements. This information may be also shared with other Ara schools/areas on a ‘need to know’ basis, and is used to arrange appropriate support for students. After graduation your contact information is used for the graduate destination survey and provided to the Alumni office.
Where it is relevant, personal information may be disclosed to other agencies such as but not limited to: Ministry of Education, Audit New Zealand New Zealand Qualifications Authority, Industry Training Organisations, industry licensing and registration bodies, other tertiary institutions and providers of work experience for students in courses with a practical component.
Upon failure to comply with the attendance requirements for international students, information may also be provided to the parent, guardian or caregiver of an international student. In addition, when required by law, we will release information as directed.
An information matching agreement exists between the Ministry of Social Development and Ara, which allows payment of loans and allowances. Students have the right to request to see and correct if necessary the information you have provided. If you wish to enquire about personal information held by Ara please contact the Privacy Officer in the first instance. You will be required to provide some form of valid ID such as a drivers licence or passport if you wish to access your personal information.
1 From herein referred to as Ara
Workforce restrictions for children's workforce
If you have a criminal conviction, and you are studying (or considering studying) toward a qualification that will lead to a job in the state funded sector (including teaching or providing youth services) working directly with children, you will need to check whether your conviction could prevent you from working in some roles in your chosen field.
This is because new legislation, the Vulnerable Children's Act 2014, will prevent state sector agencies and government-funded service providers from hiring people with convictions for "specified offences" to work with children in some roles. The restrictions came into effect on 1 July 2015.
- You can read the list of specified offences online here
- You can get more information (including FAQ's) here