The providers for higher education that close down the courses shall now offer students optional program or assist them transfer to another institute and also offer them the refund if that is not possible.
This has been decided according to the new guideline that has been agreed by the membership organizations which includes Universities UK, the Independent Universities Group, and the GuildHE.
It was released after the announcement plan made by the government for the new student protection needs as the part of higher education Green Paper.
These guidelines accept that the higher education providers might occasionally had to change or close the courses.
The paper had said that the providers shall act transparently and enter into a dialogue with the student organizations for identifying the options and decreasing the impact on students that are affected by the changes and the closures.
According to the guidelines, if the course is set to closure then the universities shall have the policies of addressing the problems of how and when they would offer the optional course and how the institute would help the students to transfer to the other providers, which also includes transfer of credit. If that is not possible, there shall be clear policies of refunding all or part of the fees paid and also recording the amount of credit or academic progress achieved.
The document was also signed by the National Union of Students and the Higher Education Funding Council for England. And they both have called for the universities that partner with the providers for delivering the course and that it have clear policies on how they will assist the learners affected by the closure for completing their studies.
In event of the closure, the providers shall identify the optional course from the academic program with the comparable academic needs. And that the funding councils and the representative bodies will do all that they can do for facilitating the transfer.
The Green paper said that the reforms of the government have focused on the choice of the student brought about an increased likelihood of the providers having to close down the courses or to close completely.
It also said that the ministers might set up the needs for the providers that make closures for ensuring continuity of the provision for the students, and for providing financial recompense.
According to the chief executive of Study UK, Alex Proudfoot, the code of practice will assist the providers in meeting the challenges of the Green Paper head on. The latest rules mean that it will be impossible for the independent providers to teach the foreign students in the event of institution losing its license for visa sponsorship.
