1. These terms
1.1. What these terms cover. These are the terms and conditions on which we supply a course (or courses) to you, whether these are services or digital content.
1.2. Why you should read them. Please read these terms carefully before you enrol with us. These terms tell you who we are, how we will provide the course(s) to you, how you and we may change or end the contract, what to do if there is a problem, and other important information. If you think that there is a mistake in these terms, please contact us to discuss it.
2. Information about us and how to contact us
2.1. Who we are. We are the College of Media and Publishing Limited, a company registered in England and Wales. Our company registration number is 05220267, and our registered office is at St. John’s House, St. John’s Street, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1UH, UK. Our registered VAT number is 924385414.
2.2. How to contact us. Enquirers can contact us by emailing [email protected] or by writing to us at College of Media and Publishing, St. John’s House, St. John’s Street, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1UH, UK.
2.3. How we may contact you. If we have to contact you, we will do so by writing to you at the email address with which you provided us at the time of enrolment.
2.4. We may occasionally communicate with you on Facebook or Messenger but only if other methods of communication are unavailable.
3. Our contract with you
3.1. How we will accept your order. Our acceptance of your order will take place when we email you to accept it, at which point a contract will come in to existence between you and us.
3.2. If we cannot accept your order. If we are unable to accept your order, we will inform you of this and will not charge you for the course(s). This may be because of unexpected limits on our resources, which we could not reasonably plan for, because we have identified an error in the price or description of the course(s), or because we are unable to meet a deadline you have specified.
3.3. If you enrolled on or after 3 September 2019, you are protected by the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and may request a full refund of your course fee within 14 days of your enrolment by writing to [email protected]
We will then cancel your enrolment and withdraw your access to the Online Learning Area (OLA). You will no longer qualify for a CMP diploma, Quality Licence Scheme certificate, reference, or any tutorial advice or support.
(e) We will make refunds within five working days of receiving your email.
(f) Payment will be made by BACS or PayPal. We are not responsible for any fees that your bank, or PayPal, deducts from the payment.
(g) This refund policy does not affect your other legal rights.
3.4. Discount codes must be applied at the time of enrolment. They cannot be used retrospectively. You may only use one discount code per transaction.
3.5. This agreement covers the period from the point of enrolment until the date we dispatch your CMP diploma and Quality Licence Scheme certificate when you complete a course. Any services and contact provided outside these periods are entirely at our discretion.
4. Enrolment
4.1. You must be aged 16 or over to enrol on a course with us. Learners under the age of 16 will need to provide us with a letter of consent from a parent / guardian or teacher.
4.2. You must provide truthful, accurate and complete information when registering for your course(s).
4.3. It is your responsibility to maintain any changes to your registered information (including your contact details). Your registered information can be viewed in the initial enrolment confirmation email you received from us when you signed up. Please message us through the OLA if you wish to alter any of your registered information. You can update your name and email address through the “edit profile” option on your OLA account without informing us.
4.4. Enrolment is at your own risk and we will not be liable for any unauthorised transactions or communications made using your username or password.
4.5. You are responsible for the security and use of any usernames or passwords needed to access our websites, or any of the content in relation to your course(s). It is your responsibility to ensure that security, and you agree not to allow any other person, without express permission from us, to access content using your account, or assist them in doing so.
5. Course materials
5.1. Our materials are updated, if necessary, at least every 12 months.
5.2. All updates will improve the materials, and the materials will continue to match the product descriptions on the course pages and the course subjects’ pages. Updates will not reduce the quality of the content that was described upon purchase. However, some aspects of our materials, such as hyperlinks, online references, and content relating to digital media and technology, may become out of date due to the ever-changing and fast-moving nature of the internet. We undertake to update materials more frequently than every 12 months when we consider it necessary, and upon receipt of a reasonable request by email.
5.3. You will access materials for your course(s) from the OLA which you will also use to submit assignments for marking, to access other resources, to chat to other learners and to keep abreast with college announcements. Your use of the OLA is governed by other aspects of this Learning Agreement, and by our Website’s Terms and Conditions, and by our Website’s Acceptable Use Policy.
It is your responsibility to read these policies and to adhere to them at all times. If you breach them, we may remove you from your course(s), without making a refund of payments.
5.4. Our courses are delivered in English. If English is not your first language, it is entirely your responsibility to ensure that your written English is good enough to study our course materials, complete the assignments satisfactorily, and to be able to communicate by email with our tutors and our administration department. We do not provide language support.
5.5. Our course materials are at all times owned by the College of Media and Publishing Ltd, which also owns the copyright. Your enrolment entitles you to save one copy of each Lesson and other course-related documents on to your computer; and to print one copy of each Lesson and other course-related documents.
No part of our Lessons, or other course-related documents, may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or using other electronic or mechanical methods, without our prior written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.
For permission requests send us an email titled “Attention: Permissions”.
Please also see section 8.2.
6. Price and payment
6.1. Where to find the price for the course(s). The price of the course(s) (which includes VAT) will be the price indicated on the order pages when you placed your order. We take all reasonable care to ensure that the price of the course(s) advised to you is correct.
6.2. The total cost of your course(s) is broken down as follows:
(a) 60% – course materials (digital content).
(b) 35% – tutorial support.
(c) 5% – administrative costs.
6.3. When you must pay and how you must pay.
Courses must be paid for in full, and in advance, before you can start studying, unless:
(a) You are paying by instalments, in which case the first instalment must be paid.
(b) You are paying by employer invoice, in which case, the funds must clear.
(c) Your course(s) is part of a redundancy / severance package or a similar arrangement put in place by your employer, that requires you to complete the course before the fee(s) is paid. In these circumstances, you must complete the course within six months of the date of enrolment. If you fail to do so, your employer will be liable for all fees and must pay for them within 30 days of the six-month period ending.
(d) If your employer / ex-employer cannot or will not pay the fees, you accept that you will be personally liable for them.
See the available payment methods here: payment options.
We will agree on an appropriate payment method for your course(s) at the point of enrolment.
From time to time, we provide discounts for our courses. These are activated by typing a discount code in the appropriate box on a course enrolment form.
Some of these codes are time-sensitive and have expiry dates. We will not accept any code that has expired. We also do not allow discount codes to be used with a monthly instalment plan.
Only one discount code can be used per course. Discount codes cannot be aggregated.
Discount codes must be used at the point of enrolment. They cannot be used retrospectively.
6.4. We can charge interest if you pay late. If you do not make any payment to us by the due date we may charge interest to you on the overdue amount at the rate of 8% per year above the base lending rate of Santander Bank. This interest shall accrue on a daily basis from the due date, until the date of actual payment of the overdue amount, whether before or after any court judgement. You must pay us interest together with any overdue amount.
6.5. What to do if you think an invoice is wrong. If you think an invoice is wrong, please contact us promptly to let us know and we will not charge you interest until we have resolved the issue.
6.6. Our fees cover all of our course materials, the costs of your CMP diploma and Quality Licence Scheme certificate, and all administrative and tutorial support related to the course you have enrolled on. There are no hidden extras. However, we do charge fees for additional services. See details.
6.7. The prices stated on our course pages are inclusive of 20% VAT. You will not have to pay VAT if you live outside of Europe.
7. Termination
7.1. These conditions shall remain in place until terminated by either us or you.
7.2. If you wish to terminate, you must inform us in writing.
7.3. We reserve sole discretion to immediately terminate our contract with you.
7.4. On termination, you must destroy all materials obtained from our websites, together with any related documentation and all installations or copies of these, howsoever made.
8. Our responsibilities
We will:
8.1. Establish a learning outcome with you for your course(s).
8.2. Provide you with suitable materials, sufficient for your online course(s). Our materials are fit for purpose and are compatible with all mainstream internet browsers (Google, Firefox, Bing, Safari and Microsoft Edge); and with MS Word, Adobe Acrobat and similar programs; and with most computers.
However, we are not responsible if any of our materials do not operate efficiently, or at all, because of incompatibility and your local technical issues with software, hardware, browsers, broadband, firewalls, antivirus or anti-spyware / malware software, or device settings at your end.
Please remember that you are enrolling on an online course(s). You can see the equipment you will need to undertake the course(s) under the section: What will I need, on the relevant page(s). It is your responsibility to ensure that you have the necessary hardware and software, and that you know how to use it, before you enrol on the course.
8.3. Encourage you during your studies.
8.4. Provide you with access to appropriate expertise to support you during your course(s).
8.5. Update your learning materials as and when they require it, by announcing replacement teaching materials for download in the Learner Forum. This constant updating process means that course structures may change after you have enrolled. New subjects may be added, out-of-date subjects removed, and Lesson content / numbers / formatting may differ.
8.6. Assign you to a personal tutor with whom you can work on a one-to-one basis. You will be told about your tutor when you enrol, but can find out about them on this page.
You should have the same tutor for the duration of your course(s). However, we cannot guarantee this. If we need to change your tutor, either permanently or temporarily, due to holidays, sickness or for any other reason, you will be provided with an appropriate replacement and will be informed of any changes through the Learner Forum.
8.7. Provide tutorial support for our course materials and directly related issues: careers / job / work advice. While our tutors will try to help with other queries, this is entirely at their discretion.
8.8. Inform you about contact arrangements between yourself and your tutor.
8.9. Deal with your tutorial queries via the OLA within two working days of receipt. Note: we do not do phone tutorials.
8.10. Return marked work to you within three working days of receipt (if you are doing a course where we mark assignments for you).
8.11. Provide constructive and individual feedback on your progress (if you are doing a course where we mark assignments for you).
8.12. Deal with any difficulties promptly and fairly.
8.13. Operate an Equality and Diversity Policy.
8.14. Allow you to transfer to another more suitable course, at your request, and after discussion with us. A transfer fee may be charged. This will be in proportion to the amount of the original course you have completed. We only allow learners to transfer to another course once. Second and subsequent transfers are charged at the full course price.
8.15. Remind you if you have fallen behind with any course fee instalments and only lapse your tuition if you have failed to respond to two warning emails. We will then give you written notice that we have lapsed your tuition and we will archive your records. We will then calculate the amount that you owe us for course materials and services not paid for, and invoice you for the amount owed. See Clause 9.4. below.
8.16. We will allow you to rejoin the course(s) at any time if your course fees are brought up to date, and on payment of an administration fee. See details of our fees.
8.17. Reserve the right to charge additional fees. See details.
8.18. Not mark work, offer tutorial advice or provide new Lessons if your course fee instalments are not paid up to date.
8.19. Offer advice and support if you are seeking work placements.
8.20. Offer advice and support if you are looking for work.
8.21. Offer advice and support if you are going for a job interview.
8.22. Remove you from the course(s) if, in our opinion, your behaviour towards us, or any member of our staff, is abusive or unreasonable, or if you indulge in plagiarism by submitting work for marking that is not your own. We have a zero-tolerance policy on plagiarism. Refunds will not be made in such circumstances.
8.23. Offer other courses with a 40% discount once you have paid for one of our existing courses. This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer.
8.24. Operate a Refunds Policy.
8.25. Provide you with the certification for the course(s) that you enrolled on, as stated on the course page on our website, provided that:
(a) You have completed and passed every course assignment to the required standard.
(b) You have paid any and all fees owed to us. If you still owe us any money at the time you complete any course(s), we will not issue your CMP diploma or your Quality Licence Scheme certificate until everything has been paid in full.
8.26. Award you our CMP diploma and the Quality Licence Scheme certificate on successful completion of the course(s), provided you have passed every assignment with a grade of C or above, and have achieved an overall average grade of C or above, and have paid for your course fees in full.
We will send you your CMP diploma as a PDF, by email only, within seven days of your requesting it.
Your Quality Licence Scheme certificate will be sent by surface mail within 21 days of your requesting it.
8.27. PLEASE NOTE: [We will] Not be responsible for delays or cancellations, or for any related losses, which are caused by an event outside our control; for example (but without limitation) the act or omission of ISPs, Moodle, web hosts, an exam board, epidemic or pandemic, war or terrorist attack, cyber-attack or cyber warfare. If our supply of course materials, digital content and/or related services is delayed by an event outside our control then we will contact you through the Online Learning Area, email, text message or whatever mode of communication is available, as soon as possible to let you know, and we will take steps to minimise the effect of the delay. Provided we do this, we will not be liable for delays caused by the event.
9. Your responsibilities
You agree to:
9.1.a. Read the relevant course information pages on this website prior to enrolment, to establish that the course is appropriate for you, and that you have the academic ability and the relevant IT and language skills needed to study and complete it. You may email us or phone us if you wish to discuss your options and your suitability.
9.1.b. By enrolling, you agree that you have studied the course details on our website course page(s), and are completely satisfied that the course is appropriate to:
(a) Your level of academic achievement.
(b) Your level of written English, if English is not your first language.
(c) Your level of IT knowledge.
(d) The IT equipment that you use on the course(s).
We take no responsibility and will offer no refund if you discover that a course is too difficult for you or if you decide that any course is inappropriate for you, for whatever reason.
9.2. Read the Enrolment pack thoroughly, so that you are fully aware of how we work. Note: please refer only to the Enrolment pack, which we email you upon enrolment, for information about our procedures, etc. Do not refer to any other website or document for this information, as they may be out of date and unreliable.
9.3. Proceed with the course(s) in the way prescribed in the Enrolment pack. We may not be able to support you fully, or at all, if you decide to proceed with the course(s) in a different way.
9.4. Ensure that all course instalments are paid on time. If an instalment is late or you cancel it, the entire course fee then becomes due if your studies or your downloads of course learning materials from the Online Learning Area have progressed beyond your rate of payments. In these circumstances, we will calculate what you owe us, pro rata, according to the charges listed in clause 6.2. above, and invoice you for the amount that you owe us.
9.5. Accept that instalments are automatically debited from your credit / debit card, with your consent. If you wish to cancel your instalment plan, please email us five working days before the instalment is due. We cannot guarantee to cancel your plan without five days’ notice. All instalment plans are paid monthly. For example, if you enrol on a course on the first day of the month, your next instalments will automatically be taken on the first day of each month, until the balance has been settled.
9.6. Undertake sufficient private study to maintain progress on your course(s). This will involve doing your own research to supplement our teaching materials.
9.7. Submit work that is your own original work, clearly presented, and which is a true reflection of your knowledge and abilities. Learners who commit plagiarism by submitting work that is not theirs will be removed from the course immediately, without refund of fees. We have a zero-tolerance policy on plagiarism and cheating.
9.8. Conduct yourself in an ethical, legal and professional manner when using the name or services of the College of Media and Publishing Limited or any of our tutors in job applications, work experience applications, or references.
9.9. Submit work in the format and by the method explained in the Enrolment pack.
9.10. Ensure that your IT and software equipment works efficiently so that you can participate in the course(s). All our course files are created in standard Windows Microsoft software and can all be opened, and / or played. We cannot accept responsibility if your IT system does not open them or play them. If files will not open or play, this is because of problems at your end such as incompatible software, broken file associations, or firewalls and other programs, etc, that are blocking access. We cannot provide IT support for these issues, though we may advise when we can.
9.11. Keep in contact with your tutor by using the OLA’s contact system only, without making unnecessary demands upon their time. We only provide tutorial support for our course materials and directly related issues such as careers / job / work advice. While our tutors will try to help with other queries, this is entirely at their discretion. Tutors will only respond to messages sent via the OLA. They do not engage in social media contact with learners.
9.12. Treat our staff and tutors with courtesy and respect. We have a zero-tolerance policy on rudeness and will exclude you from the course(s) without refund of fees, if this occurs.
In addition, if a learner makes critical comments or allegations about the college or any individual(s) who work for it, on any social media channel, website or blog, whether using their own name or an identifiable alias, we reserve the right to:
(a) Remove them from their course(s), without refund of their fees, and
(b) Take legal action for defamation, malicious falsehood, breach of privacy, copyright or data protection laws, against any such person, whether or not they have used our Complaints Procedure (please also see clause 12.6).
9.13. Message your tutor on the OLA to ask for help if you are stuck or need support.
9.14. Take reasonable precautions against computer viruses if communicating with us online.
9.15. Register with any external awarding body if we ask you to do so. Please note that there may be third-party charges in connection with such registration, and that you are entirely responsible for paying them. This clause only applies to our NCTJ journalism learners.
We take no responsibility if your learning or learning outcomes are not fully or partially achieved because of any failure on your part to register, or pay fees to, an external awarding body.
9.16. Notify us in advance, if you wish to take a break from your course(s) and tell us for how long (please note: we do not chase learners who take a break from their studies without notifying us).
9.17. Notify us if you are going to lapse from the course(s) for any reason (please note: we do not chase learners who discontinue their course(s)).
9.18. If you take a break from your studies lasting more than three months, we may require you to start the course(s) again from the beginning. This is to ensure that you study materials and complete assignments that are up to date, so that the quality and integrity of our CMP diploma and Quality Licence Scheme certificate are maintained. Courses are regularly updated which may include substantial changes. Your enrolment may be lapsed if you remain out of contact with us for more than 12 months. You may rejoin the course(s) at any time, but you will have to pay a rejoining fee. See our additional fees.
9.19. Accept our Refunds Policy.
10. Learner chat
The following conditions will apply to you when using the Learner Chatroom (the Chatroom). You agree to accept and be bound by these conditions, as outlined below. Should you reject the following conditions and not wish to be bound by them, then use of the Chatroom is prohibited to you.
10.1. We may update these conditions from time to time without giving you any notice. In addition to the following conditions, you agree to be bound by any guidelines or announcements that are made during your membership of the Learner Forum.
10.2. In addition, when using particular sections of the Chatroom, you shall be subject to any guidelines or rules applicable to such services, which may be posted from time to time. All such guidelines or rules are hereby incorporated by reference to the conditions.
10.3. You must not:
(a) Post, transmit, upload, email or otherwise make available any material that contains software viruses, computer code, programs or files that are designed to interrupt, limit the functionality of, or destroy any computer hardware, software or telecommunications equipment.
(b) Impersonate any person or entity. This includes, but is not limited to, any College of Media and Publishing Ltd team member, learner or administrator, or falsely stating or otherwise misrepresenting your affiliation with another person or entity.
(c) Manipulate or forge headers or identifiers with the intention of disguising the origin of any content that you provide to the Learner Forum.
(d) Register or post more than one account with us. If it comes to our attention that you have registered for more than one account, we may remove your use of the Chatroom.
10.4. You accept that we cannot be held responsible for any third-party websites that you may access through the Learner Forum or Chatroom, and further agree that any third-party content is not our responsibility.
10.5. We do not endorse any third-party websites or content, unless clearly stated, and therefore cannot be held liable or responsible for any promotion, content, service or product that is located on a third-party website.
10.6. We further cannot be held liable or responsible for any loss or damage, or offence that may be caused, or that you allege has been caused, by third party content or websites.
10.7. All and any contact that you have with third-party traders or websites during your use of the Learner Forum, or Chatroom, including but not limited to payments for products or services, any conditions made, warranties offered, or contracts entered in to, are your responsibility and not the responsibility of the College of Media and Publishing Ltd.
10.8. You acknowledge and accept that we are neither liable nor responsible for the content that you submit to the Chatroom. We will only remove objectionable material if there is a complaint.
10.9. You acknowledge and accept that we have the right to temporarily or permanently remove your ability to post content, and that we further have the right to ban you from the Chatroom, should you break any of these conditions.
10.10. We reserve the right to terminate any user’s access to the Chatroom for any reason at any time.
10.11. You acknowledge and accept that in certain circumstances we have the right to provide information to your Internet Service Provider at our discretion, following (but not limited to) severe disruption by you, the provision of illegal or abusive content, any attempts made by you to reregister after being banned, or for any other reason that involves your breaking these conditions.
10.12. You acknowledge that reproduction of material from the Learner Forum without prior written permission is strictly prohibited. All contributions to the Learner Forum are also copyright of the College of Media and Publishing Limited.
10.13. You acknowledge and accept that if you are banned from use of the Chatroom, you will not in any way attempt to reregister using any other name or identity not known to us, or any other email address not known to us. If you do so, we will pursue the maximum penalty available under your Internet Service Provider’s Acceptable Use Policy.
10.14. Contributions to the Chatroom are governed in their entirety by section 6, above.
11. How we may use your personal information
To find out how we use the personal information you provide to us, see our Privacy and data protection policy.
12. Other important terms
12.1. We may transfer this agreement to someone else. We may transfer our rights and obligations under these terms to another organisation. We will always tell you in writing if this happens and we will ensure that the transfer will not affect your rights under the contract.
12.2. Nobody else has any rights under this contract. This contract is between you and us. No other person shall have any rights to enforce any of its terms.
12.3. If a court or relevant authority finds any part of this contract unlawful, the remaining parts will continue in full force and effect, as each part operates separately.
12.4. Even if we delay in enforcing this contract, we can still enforce it later. If we do not insist immediately that you do anything you are required to do under these terms, or if we delay in taking steps against you in respect of your breaking this contract, that will not mean that you do not have to do those things and it will not prevent us from taking steps against you at a later date. For example, if you miss a payment and we do not chase you and we continue to provide the products, we can still require you to make the payment at a later date.
12.5. Which laws apply to this contract and where you may bring legal proceedings. These terms are governed by English law and you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the products in the English courts. If you live in Scotland, you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the products in either the Scottish or the English courts. If you live in Northern Ireland, you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the products in either the Northern Irish or the English courts.
12.6. If you have a complaint
We hope that all of our learners will have an enjoyable experience with us.
However, if you have a complaint about any aspect of the course(s), or your learning experience, please email us and tell us about it.
It is best not to make complaints on social media. However, if you deal with an issue publicly, we will respond publicly. (Please also see clause 9.12.)
You may find it helpful to reread this Learning Agreement before you make a complaint. Also, please read through our Complaints Procedure.
The agreement, which you accepted when you enrolled, explains our responsibilities, and yours, and may help to prevent any misunderstandings.
When we receive a complaint, we promise to:
(a) Reply within two working days.
(b) Do what we can to put things right.
(c) Let you know the outcome by email.
If a complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction, please email us. Put the word “Complaint” in the subject field.
We promise to:
(a) Acknowledge your email within two working days.
(b) Investigate the issue within seven working days.
(c) Let you know the outcome by email.
(d) Do what we can to put things right.
You may then approach our accreditors or associations, if you are not satisfied with our formal complaints procedure:
(a) EADL if you believe we have breached their Quality Standards.
Their contact details can be found on their website. (b) The Quality Licence Scheme if you believe we have breached their code of practice.
Their contact details can be found on their website.
13. For learners who purchased courses via a third party
13.1. CMP grants reseller licences to other Organisations who sell courses on its behalf.
These Organisations are:
- NCC Resources Ltd (NCC).
- Inter-mission Industrial Development Association (IIDA).
13.2. A learner who purchases a course(s) from a licensed Reseller Organisation creates a financial agreement with that Organisation, once payment is complete, and not with CMP.
13.3. All queries and complaints about the purchase are the sole responsibility of the Organisation, not CMP.
13.4. Such learners are also required to complete CMP’s Learning Agreement, which creates a legal agreement between them and CMP.
13.5. CMP is solely responsible for fulfilling its responsibilities under the Learning Agreement, with the exception of the 14-day Refunds Policy. See clause 13.8 below.
13.6. When a learner has purchased a course from a Reseller Organisation, the delivery of the course and all further contact with the learner on all matters related to the course are the sole responsibility of CMP.
13.7. Learners who purchase a course from a Licensed Reseller Organisation are entitled to a full refund of the course fees for a period of 14 days after purchase, but not after this period has elapsed.
13.8. Learners who require a refund within the 14-day period should contact the Organisation, not CMP.
Learning Agreement v18.14 © College of Media and Publishing
