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1.  Tuition assurance protects students in the event a course provided by an approved VET Student Loans provider ceases to be provided after it starts but before it is completed. Affected students are offered a replacement course, sometimes with another provider, and where this is not possible, the students' FEE-HELP balance for the affected part of the course will be re-credited.
2.  As an approved provider under the VET Student Loans Act 2016, Holmesglen Institute ABN: 40 096 756 729 must be a party to an approved tuition assurance arrangement or have an approved exemption in place.
3.  It is intended that, from 1 January 2018, Holmesglen Institute will be exempted from the requirement to be a party to an approved tuition assurance arrangement. Instead, Holmesglen Institute is required to comply with interim arrangements which ensure similar tuition assurance protection is provided to students.
4.  This statement sets out the interim arrangements for tuition assurance that will apply from 1 January 2018 and Holmesglen Institute's obligations from that date.
5.  If any changes occur to the proposed arrangements outlined below, a revised statement will be provided on Holmesglen Institute's website and advised to all students that have enrolled in the intervening period.

Information for affected students:

1.  Holmesglen Institute will notify affected students in writing that an approved course is no longer provided within 2 business days after Holmesglen Institute ceases to provide the course after it starts but before it is completed.
2.  As soon as practicable, Holmesglen Institute will also update its website to reflect that the course is no longer being delivered and to give students information about the relevant tuition assurance arrangements.

1.  Holmesglen Institute will work with affected students to identify a replacement course and arrange for students to be placed with replacement providers.
2.  Replacement courses must meet the following requirements:
   •  the course must lead to the same or comparable qualification as the original course;
   •  the mode of delivery of the replacement course must be the same as or, with the student's consent, similar to the mode of delivery for the original course;
   •  the location of the replacement course must be reasonable, having regard to the costs of, and the time required for, a student's travel; and
   •  the student will not incur additional fees that are unreasonable and will be able to attend the replacement course without unreasonable impacts on the student's prior commitments.
3.  Affected students will be offered a replacement course and may seek a review about whether the course offered to them meets the requirements for replacement courses.
4.  A student who accepts the replacement course offered will not be required to pay the replacement provider for the replacement components of the replacement course. However, the fees payable for the remainder of the replacement course may be different from the fees payable for the original course.
5.  A student who accepts the replacement course offered will also receive course credits for parts of the original course successfully completed by the student, as evidenced by:
   • a copy of a statement of attainment or other Australian Qualifications Framework certification document issued by the course provider or an authorised issuing organisation in accordance with the Australian Qualifications Framework; or
   • a copy of an authenticated VET transcript issued by the Student Identifiers registrar.
6.  Each affected student will have a period of six (6) months in which to accept the replacement course offer. The Department may extend that period in circumstances that justify an extension.
7.  If an affected student enrols in a course that is not a replacement course, the student may be required to pay additional tuition fees and might not receive the course credits the student would have received if the student had enrolled in a replacement course.

Where there is no suitable replacement course for a student, Holmesglen Institute will re-credit the student's FEE-HELP balance for the affected parts of the original course. The amount re-credited will be equal to the amount of VET student loan used to pay tuition fees for the student for the course, or parts of the course.

A Government loan fee amount may apply to you if you are a full fee paying student. This loan fee amount is 20% and will be added to the HELP debt amount for the qualification.

1.  For tuition fees paid up-front greater than $1500, Holmesglen Institute, as a Government Entity, has implemented a policy addressing learner fee protection arrangements for the provision of services, under the Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2015 Schedule 6, requirements for protecting fees prepaid by individual learners, or prospective learners. This policy details how, if the Holmesglen Institute is unable to provide services for which the learner has prepaid, the learner will:
   • Be placed into an equivalent course such that:
     • the new location is suitable to the learner; and
     • the learner receives the full services for which they have prepaid at no additional cost to the learner; or
   • Be paid a refund of any prepaid fees for services yet to be delivered above the threshold payment amount that is prepaid fees for services more than a total of $1500.
2.  For tuition fees paid up-front below $1500, students should be aware that there is no formal protection in place and students will be responsible to seek a refund for these fees directly from Holmesglen Institute if Holmesglen Institute fails to provide the agreed services. Refer to Holmesglen Institute's Refund Policy for more information.
   
   If Holmesglen Institute comes under external administration, this may require the student submitting a proof of debt with the external administrator.

It is suggested best practice for students to retain assessments, records of competencies or statements of attainment that they receive from their education provider.