All students are issued with your institutions terms and conditions of enrolment. Students are asked to actively confirm that they have been provided with the terms and conditions on enrolment.

We will assess the evidence provided for this target to ensure that students signing up for tuition at your institution are given all appropriate information on their courses prior to enrolling and committing to paying for tuition.

By reviewing your institution's terms and conditions, we ensure that there is transparency around the terms and conditions and there are no hidden policies that students should be aware of. We should be assured that your institution manages the expectations of ACCA students at all times.

Terms and conditions should areas such as:

• Refunds - under what circumstances can the student claim a refund for a course they have paid for? If your institution will not issue any refunds, this should be included in your terms and conditions.
• Deferments - under what circumstances can a student defer a course they have paid for to a later start date? If your institution will not allow any deferment, this should be included in the terms and conditions.
• Waivers - eligibility criteria for any available fee waivers or discounts, and the student's responsibilities in return for any entitlement. If your institution will not allow any waivers, this should be included in your terms and conditions.
• Course transfers - under what circumstances can a student transfer to a different course once they have paid? If your institution will not allow any course transfers, this should be included in your terms and conditions.
• Visa applications - how much responsibility does your institution take for visa applications, and what is the student's position if visa applications are refused? If your institution does not help students with visa applications, it should be included that it is the full responsibility of the student to comply with any visa requirements in your terms and conditions.

If you do not have terms on the above topics, you should create these. However, for example, if you do not issue refunds to students, we are not advising that you must, but you must state in your terms and conditions that you do not issue refunds.

We would expect a disclaimer line within the terms and conditions to confirm that all students has read and understood all terms.

Also, if the terms and conditions are located on a different document, this should be referenced on the enrolment form.

Evidence required

• A copy of the terms and conditions provided to students at enrolment.
• A copy of the enrolment form and information about how your institution communicates the terms and conditions to students.
• Please make us aware if visa applications are not applicable to your institution when making the application.

Sample document

• Terms and conditions (Word, 24KB)

A formal, transparent complaints procedure is in place and available to students. Complaints are investigated thoroughly and promptly, within specified time frames.

We will assess the evidence provided to ensure that students are aware of how to make an informal or formal complaint about your institution's product or service. Any student that wishes to make a complaint to ACCA regarding your institution will be advised to follow your institution's complaints procedure first.

The contents and conditions around the complaints policy should be at your institution's discretion, and we do appreciate that the policies will be unique to your institution and the type of tuition offered.

Complaints policies normally include:

• How informal complaints can be made - who should these be raised with in the first instance?
• How formal complaints can be made - is there a standard template, how should it be submitted, etc.
• How long the complainant can expect to wait for acknowledgement of their complaint, and for a response.
• How complaints will be treated - who will be involved in reviewing the complaint and will they be treated confidentially? Whether the student has any right to appeal the outcome of their complaint, and any related processes.

Evidence required

• A copy of the complaints policy and information about how it is communicated to students (for example, a student handbook or on a notice board). 
• A copy of the complaints log (which shows how your institution dealt with the complaints and any action taken as result).
• If your institution has not received any complaints, we would still expect to see a complaints policy and blank log to evidence that you have the policy in place if a student wishes to log a complaint.

Sample documents

• Complaints log (Word, 11KB)
• Student handbook (Word, 38KB)

Clear guidance is provided to students on how to get in touch and engage with your institution relating to ACCA matters.

Students should be given advice on how and when they should contact your institution. This is important to ensure that students know where, when and how to pose questions.

Students should be directed to the Student section of the ACCA website which provides information on relevant topics, for example:

• examination progression rules
• study materials
• past examinations
• PER
• ethics
• minimum entry and exemptions
• ACCA Connect contact details
• study guides
• past examination papers
• progression rules
• the ethics module.

It's important that students are not provided with out-of-date information, so your institution should not publish information that could go out of date quickly - for example, information on exemptions.

It's more beneficial to direct students to ACCA's website which will always have the most current information; we would expect support staff to know relevant sections of the ACCA website and tools such as the exemption calculator to give the best service to students.

Students also need to know how and when they should get in touch with us directly - your institution should ensure that contact details for ACCA Connect are provided to students.

Evidence required

Evidence of where students are provided with information on:

• Contact details for students to contact your institution
• ACCA website 
• Confirmation that support staff are trained on relevant sections of our website. 
  
• ACCA Connect: contact us

Sample document

• Student handbook (Word, 38KB)

Promotional material contains accurate information regarding ACCA. In addition, promotional materials should make no unsubstantiated or potentially misleading claims.

We will assess the evidence provided to ensure that the information on your website and promotional material is accurate, up to date and contains no unsubstantiated claims, which are potentially misleading for students and leads to student dissatisfaction.

In general, we expect any promotional activity from an institution that is seeking to be approved by us to be legal, decent, honest and truthful. In addition, your institution will be expected to comply with our Advertising Regulations which will be provided upon approval.

You must not use ACCA's Corporate Logo and Think Ahead logo.

Evidence required

• What promotional literature/brochures are used pre and post enrolment.
• Your institution's website and social media.

Sample document

• Promotional material (PDF, 2.2MB)

Students are provided with guidance on their programme of study, including a detailed breakdown of their course into modules or study sessions.

We will assess the evidence provided for all ACCA papers taught by your institution to ensure that students are aware of the topics that will be covered each week and relevant references to study materials. This will allow them to undertake further reading by your institution prior to their lectures taking place.

It should also highlight when mock examinations are due to be conducted to allow students to include this in their revision plan.

In addition, references to our Practical Experience Requirements (PER) should be included. We expect your institution to link the syllabus to the practical elements of our performance objectives as part of PER requirements. This will help students apply their knowledge to what is expected of them in the workplace.

Evidence required

• Samples of teaching/study programme/scheme of work provided to students for all ACCA papers taught.

Sample document

• Scheme of work (Word, 20KB)

Regular review of course structure and delivery, student performance, retention and feedback is conducted and documented.

We will assess the evidence provided to ensure that your institution reviews the topics specified above.

We would expect that your institution will investigate issues and trends with a view to creating an action plan for improving your tuition provision. Also, we expect to see evidence that a review like this has taken place by submitting minutes of the meeting, for example, where the results of the review are discussed along with a record of any planned actions.

Evidence required

• Course review meeting minutes or evidence of course review conducted, including actions taken.
• Evidence of meetings covering but not exclusive to course structure and delivery, student performance, retention and feedback.

Sample document

• Course review meeting minutes (Word, 25KB)

Study environment must be appropriate for mode of delivery, course type and be conducive to study.

We expect that there are mitigations in place if your normal teaching arrangements become no longer viable.

Face to face

We will assess the evidence provided, to ensure your institution has secured premises for ACCA students. An initial approval site visit during the application process is conducted to ensure that the area is fit for purpose and the study environment is appropriate for mode of delivery, course type and be conducive to study. The initial approval visit will include a tour, a discussion with your tutor and a meeting with your students.

Distance learning/e-learning/blended learning

For those institutions that offer distance learning/e-learning/blended learning tuition, we expect to review a current lease in respect of the administration base and demonstration of the online learning platform provided to students.

The demo should include:

• Access to your institutions online platform (eg login details)
• Access to view either a pre-recorded lecture or a recording of a live lecture.

Evidence required

Face to face

A copy of lease agreement/proof of ownership or any other evidence confirming arrangements in place to secure the teaching premises.

A lease should include:

• Name of institution
• Address of premises (same as address on application form)
• Start date
• End date
• Signatures of lessor and lessee.

If your lease has an option of renewal, we would require the lease along with confirmation from the owner of the start and end date of the renewal period.

Distance learning/e-learning/blended learning

• A demo of online product and related guidelines should be supplied for review.
• Details of registered office.
• A copy of lease agreement/proof of ownership or any other evidence confirming arrangements in place to secure the premises.

A lease should include:

• Name of institution
• Address of premises (same as address on application form)
• Start date
• End date
• Signatures of lessor and lessee.

If your lease has an option of renewal, we would require the lease along with confirmation from the owner of the start and end date of the renewal period.

Sample document

• Premises (PDF, 463KB)

Learning provider is financially viable.

We will assess the evidence provided to ensure that your institution is in a healthy financial position to operate while ACCA students are attending your tuition. If a student has committed to attending your institution's courses, then we must be assured that your institution will be in a position to honour this agreement.

Evidence required

• An audited financial statements or confirmation of appropriate government funding.
• Officially prepared financial statements. 
• Confirmation of financial viability from an appropriate independent third party.
• Projected financial statements with at least 2 years of information.

Sample document

• ACCA financial statements (PDF, 663KB)

Tutors are knowledgeable and experienced in their chosen field and hold qualifications appropriate to the subjects they teach. Tutor performance is monitored and development opportunities provided.

We will assess the evidence provided to ensure that your institution's tutors are appropriately qualified and experienced and ACCA students have the best possible teaching experience at your institution.

We would not expect to find that part-qualified tutors are teaching papers beyond their own qualification level. Monitoring of tutors would typically include analysis of pass rates of all students within the class.

Evidence required

• Copies of tutor CVs/summaries of tutors' qualifications and experience.
• Details of internal monitoring in place (including individual tutors' pass rate performance) and any actions taken to improve tutor performance.
• List of tutors and which ACCA paper each tutor teaches.

Sample documents

• Sample CV (Word, 26KB)
• Tutor performance monitoring (Word, 20KB)

Course completion figures are documented and reviewed for each paper taught, and the reasons for losses are investigated.

We will assess the evidence, for all of our papers taught your institution provided, to ensure that your institution compares how many students start tuition for each ACCA paper, in comparison to how many complete tuition for each ACCA paper.

For example, if your institution offers tuition for paper AB, how many students started the course? How many completed? If there were any losses, the reason why and any resultant actions taken by your institution.

Course completion can be misinterpreted as measuring how many students return for a second course of study or progress through the ACCA Professional or Foundations in Accountancy qualifications. This performance target is about closely monitoring if students withdraw or drop out of their tuition with your institution, and not about how quickly they progress through their ACCA studies.

We expect to see evidence of an investigation into the reasons for students not completing their study at your institution and any resulting actions, and this is used as a basis to improve your policies and procedures. The key aspect of this target is to understand the reasons for any students leaving your institution.

Evidence required

• Records of the number of students enrolled for each ACCA or Foundation Level paper taught and each session.
• Student numbers successfully completing each course taught statistics of student pass rates (if available).
• Details of action taken to improve retention, if relevant.
  

Sample document

• Course completion (Word, 23KB)

Mock examinations are set, reviewed and returned with constructive criticism within a specified turnaround time.

A mock examination is taken as a trial exam before an official ACCA examination. The purpose of a mock examinations is:

• To provide the students with experience of writing answers under exam conditions, so they get a good sense of time management and other exam techniques.
• To provide the students with feedback on the adequacy of their technical knowledge and understanding of the syllabus and highlight areas where more work may be required.
• As a basis for providing feedback to sponsors/employers on the progress of their students and the likelihood of success in the examination. We expect to see your institution using mock examinations that reflect the structure and content of a real ACCA examination.

We will assess the evidence provided to ensure that students have completed a mock examination prior to their final ACCA examination and are therefore better equipped to pass. This is to ensure that students’ mock examination attempts have been adequately marked and returned to your students, for all of our exams taught by your institution. This will allow them to tailor their studies to fill any gaps in their knowledge and/or examination technique.

We expect to see:

• Detailed comments and feedback provided - if students have received a poor mark in a mock examination, they need to know how they can improve in time to attempt the ACCA examination.
• Turnaround times - students need enough time to be able to rectify any issues in their knowledge or examination technique and therefore should be informed of when they will receive their marked mock examination from their tutor.

Please note that our past examination papers should not be amended in any way when being used in a classroom environment.

Evidence required

Samples of marked mock examinations scripts for all of our papers taught by your institution:

• Summaries of performance at mock examinations.
• Evidence of turnaround times being provided to students prior to taking the mock examination.

Sample document

• Mock examination (PDF, 1.3MB)

Student feedback on performance is actively sought, reviewed and acted upon where appropriate.

Student feedback questionnaires should include questions on study environment, tutor performance, and course content and delivery.

We will assess the evidence provided to ensure that your institution collates, summarises and analyses student feedback. We must be assured that your institution is proactively identifying issues and trends with the tuition provision and identifying resulting actions.

It is good practice to schedule feedback at specific times throughout a course - perhaps midway through and again at the end of the course, to gauge the impact of any improvements.

Evidence required

• A copy of a feedback form.
• Information regarding how your institution would regularly conduct and review student feedback. 
• Evidence of feedback received being collated for all ACCA papers taught.
• Analysis of any trends for all ACCA papers taught.
• Evidence of how your institution would use action plans for necessary improvements.

Sample documents

• Student feedback analysis (Word, 23KB)
• Student feedback questionnaire (Word, 41KB)