New DLC Course Fees effective from 1st September 2011
How does it affect me?
All students who's course start date was before the 1st September will not be affected by the increase. The only exception is any students on an Access Diploma who go beyond the maximum 1 year under the normal Course Fee and are transferred to Monthly Payments after this date. In this case, the new fee will apply.
Enrolments before the 1st September - if you Enrolled before this date you were charged the lower Enrolment Fee. However, if your Course Start Date was on or after the 1st September, the new Course Fee was applied. This did not show up on the fees you selected when you set your start date but there was a disclaimer on the page where you set your dates and payment options which said that by setting up these dates you were agreeing to have the new fee applied from 1st September, along with a link to the page detailing the new fees.
New Access Diploma Fees
DLC Enrolment Fee increased from £21.28 + VAT to £25 + VAT = £30.
Full Access Diploma Course Fee (60 Credit Course, 365 days max. period for this fee) increased from £510.64 + VAT to £660 + VAT = £792.
Monthly Course Fee (for Unit Accreditation, Partial Diplomas, Short Courses and extensions to time contrained Full Course Fees) increased from £42.55 + VAT to £50 + VAT = £60 per month.
Additional Credits (on top of Access Diploma) therefore changed to £50 + VAT = £60 per month or £11 + VAT per Credit = £13.20 per Credit, whichever is greater.
Access Diploma Moderation Fee (for completing students) is no longer payable. Any students leaving the course before they complete will receive a DLC Certificate of Achievement for the credits they have completed.
OCNNWR (Awarding Body) Access Diploma Registration Fee (valid for 3 years) is not set by the DLC and was £100 (No VAT payable) at the time of the fee increase. Any changes by the Awarding Body will be passed on to students at cost should they change the amount in future.
Late Payment Penalty Fee remained unchanged at £20.00 (inc. VAT).
Why increase Course Fees?
DLC has not raised its fees in terms of income coming into the organisation since October 2009. In fact this amount has actually gone down significantly, due to us having to become VAT registered. The only increase that has been passed to students was 2.5% when the VAT rate changed from 17.5% to 20%. Both the financial impact of VAT registration and the time when it rose from 15% to 17.5% were absorbed by the DLC.
Unfortunately, the economic downturn, slower than forecast recovery and rising inflation mean that we have had no option but to raise fees.
GCSE Equivalence (GCSEE) Course Fees
GCSE Equivalences (available from 1st September) are extensions to an Access Diploma, not stand-alone qualifications. Their costs are added on to the cost of an Access Diploma and they are studied one after the other in an order agreed with your Tutor(s), just the same as with Access Diploma Course Modules.
DLC Enrolment Fee only has to be paid once at the start of the course, you will not have to pay it again when you move on to the Access Diploma.
Maths GCSE Equivalence (18 Credits, 110 days max. period for this fee) £198 + VAT = £237.60.
English GCSE Equivalence (12 Credits, 73 days max. period for this fee) £132 + VAT = £158.40.
Science GCSE Equivalence (15 Credits, 91 days max. period for this fee) £165 + VAT = £198.00.
GCSE Equivalence OCNNWR Registration Fees (only payable on successful completion, at the end of the course). The exact fees charged depend on a number of factors and can be affected by qualifications you have when you start the course, your preferred university entry requirements etc. Calculating these is quite a complex process.
- Maths between £15 & £36
- English between £0 & £15
- Science between £0 & £48
- English & Maths £60
- English & Science between £60 & £72
- Maths & Science £63
- Maths, English & Science £105
Any changes by the Awarding Body will be passed on to students at cost should they change the amount in future.
Adding GCSEEs as an extension to your Access Diploma basically adds days (and costs) on to your maximum 365 days for the Access Diploma so if you take longer over your GCSEEs than the maximums this will start to use up days from the Access Diploma. However, as ever, if you run over the maximum number of days you can still transfer to the Monthly Course Fee to complete your Qualification.
