School Policy

At Birmingham, we recognise students’ right to appeal decisions made by the Academic Board, Examination Board or other authorised sections where such decisions affect their academic progression, assessment outcomes, award status, disciplinary standing or student status.

NATURE OF APPEAL AND APPEAL REQUEST INITIATION

Students may initiate an appeal in relation to the following matters:

• Assessment results;
• Retention, suspension or expulsion decisions;
• Non-award decisions;
• Fee-related decisions, including outstanding fees, late payment consequences or withholding of results, awards or transcripts; and
• Other decisions affecting academic progression, disciplinary standing or student status, where applicable. Assessment Result;

The appeal process shall be fair and shall not compromise the integrity of assessment, academic, disciplinary, fee-related or student status decisions. Students must submit an appeal within seven (7) working days from the release or notification of the relevant decision. Appeals submitted after the stipulated timeframe will not be accepted, unless otherwise approved by the Academy under exceptional circumstances.

RESOLUTION OF APPEAL REQUEST

Student Support shall receive, verify and coordinate appeal requests relating to assessment results, retention, suspension or expulsion decisions, non-award decisions and other decisions affecting academic progression, disciplinary standing or student status. Appeals relating to fee-related decisions shall be referred to Finance for verification and recommendation, before being routed to the relevant approving authority.

The appeal shall be reviewed based on the nature of the matter and escalated to the relevant approving authority for decision or endorsement. This may include the Principal, CEO / Chairman, Academic Board, Examination Board, relevant external academic partner or other authorised section, where applicable. Findings, recommendations, decisions and communication records shall be documented and retained as evidence of the appeal review and outcome.

COMMUNICATION OF APPEAL OUTCOMES

Appeal resolution outcome is to be communicated within 10 working days from date of acceptance of appeal.

APPEAL RESOLUTION OUTCOME AND ESCALATION

Student Support will communicate the appeal resolution outcome to the student for matters relating to assessment results, retention, suspension or expulsion, non-award decisions, fee-related decisions and other decisions affecting academic progression, disciplinary standing or student status. Student Support will inform the student that the decision made by the relevant approving authority shall be final.

If the student is dissatisfied with the appeal resolution outcome of the appeal request, the Academic Office advises the student to initiate a Feedback/Complaint Resolution Form for subsequent resolution in accordance with the Dispute Resolution Procedure.

At Birmingham Academy, we regard our students’ attendance to be of utmost importance as this will affect the student’s criteria for graduation and award. For international students, violation of this attendance policy and procedure may result in students failing to comply to ICA’s regulations and therefore, having his student pass cancelled by the relevant authorities.

SCOPE

This policy applies to all students in Birmingham Academy.

ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENT

1. For International Students holding an ICA’s issued student pass, the course monthly attendance rate must not be less than 90% without valid reason.

2. For International Students holding an ICA’s issued student pass, absenteeism cannot be more than three (03) consecutive days without informing the school with a valid reason.

3. For students who do not require ICA’s student’s pass, course attendance rate must be at least 75% (in the absence of more stringent statutory requirements).

4. Students attendance will be marked at the start of the class and at just before the end of the class. The School considers students as absent if their attendance is not marked.

VALID REASONS FOR ABSENTEEISM

1. Evidence, such as medical certificate, on medical ground;

2. Evidence, such as death certificate, on compassionate ground.

CONSEQUENCE

1. Students who do not meet the attendance requirement will not be able to graduate and/or receive an award.

2. In addition, international students who do not meet the attendance requirement as stipulated under the ICA’s regulation may have their student pass cancelled.

RIGHT OF APPEAL

Students will not have any right to appeal for cases pertaining to attendance intervention and judgement.

At Birmingham, we regard confidentiality and security of data and information to be of utmost importance.  As such, individuals employed by Birmingham must follow the Confidentiality and Security Policy outlined below:

COMMITMENT

Birmingham is committed to ensure that the staffs and students data (including course assessment materials and results) will be safeguard confidentially. We will limit the data collection to the minimum essential to process required application.

RESPONSIBILITY

Birmingham shall seek the written permission from the students and/or staff before using the data unless requested by government agencies. For example, student’s information in the course application form should only be used for the purpose of course administration and should not be used by Birmingham for course advertisement. The Management shall ensure that all staff does not divulge any of the student’s or / and staff’s information to any unauthorized third party without prior written consent of the concerned student or / and staff.

ASSIGNING ACCESS RIGHT

Access right shall only be granted by the Management to relevant staff that need to utilise the applicable data / information for fulfilling their duly duties. The Management shall ensure that the access right is to be terminated shall the relevant staff does not need to utilise the applicable data / information for fulfilling their duly duties anymore.

COMMUNICATION

The Management shall ensure all staff acknowledge this policy and undersign the Confidentiality and Security Agreement.

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

We shall review our Confidentiality and Security Policy as part of our continual improvement process.

This policy establishes the framework for managing organisational data and information to support planning, decision-making, performance monitoring, regulatory compliance and continual improvement. Detailed procedures, roles, records and retention requirements may be developed separately to support implementation.

SCOPE

This policy applies to key organisational data and information relating to students, graduates, staff, academic operations, administration, stakeholder feedback, performance outcomes and quality assurance.

POLICY STATEMENT

Birmingham Academy shall ensure that organisational data and information are accurate, reliable, timely, protected, accessible only to authorised users, and used appropriately for review, reporting, planning and continual improvement.

1. collect, manage and review data needed for performance monitoring, student and graduate outcomes, staff indicators, strategic planning and quality improvement;
2. maintain appropriate controls for data collection, storage, protection, analysis, reporting and authorised access;
3. verify data for accuracy, completeness, reliability and timeliness before use in reporting or decision-making;

GOVERNANCE AND RESPONSIBILITY

1. Top Management shall provide oversight on the use of data and information for planning, review and improvement.
2. Process owners and relevant departments shall maintain data collection, validation, access control and record management practices according to approved procedures when established.

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

This policy shall be monitored through data review, management review, internal audit and performance reporting, and reviewed periodically for continual improvement.

Birmingham aims to ensure that students are provided with an accessible, safe and inclusive learning environment so that they are able to derive the maximum benefit from their course of study. This policy and procedure will ensure elimination of unfair components such as ignorance.

SCOPE

This policy applies to all students in Birmingham Academy.

CLASSIFICATION

All students must abide by the following conduct. Any non-compliance is tantamount to a disciplinary issue.

• Unacceptance Behaviour

1. Poor punctuality for lessons;
2. Having food and drinks (except bottled drinks) in class;
3. Disrupting to the learning of others such as talking, playing, etc;
4. Not participating in the lesson and failure to complete homework, assignment, etc as instructed by the teacher/lecturer;
5. Absenteeism from lesson without valid reasons / supporting documents;
6. Non-compliance to the school’s policies and regulations such as leave application condition
7. Not respectful to teachers, lecturers and all staffs in the School;
8. Not adhering to academic calendar for their course;

• Serious Offence

1. Audio taping, photography and videotaping;
2. Non-compliance to related agencies’ (such as ICA, SWDA, MOM) regulations and policies;
3. Scurrilous, profane, or obscene language;
4. Engaging in conduct that is racist, sexist, or in other ways discriminatory;
5. Actions that will cause fear and/or harm to people. Actions such as threatening, fighting, rioting, etc;

CONSEQUENCE

Students that contravene the disciplinary policy will face disciplinary action and may result in suspended from the course for a period of at least 6 months or terminated from course.

RIGHT OF APPEAL

Students have the right to appeal to the Principal. Birmingham will act according to the Appeal Policy & Procedure. The school reserves the right to follow the disciplinary policy and procedure.

At Birmingham, we regard stakeholders like staffs, students and partners’ satisfaction to be of utmost importance. This is to enable an environment where our staffs, students and partners can mingle unrestrictedly so as to cultivate a spirit of enthusiasm among all at Birmingham in their pursuit of their visualization.  However, Birmingham recognises that inevitably disagreements within the community or dissatisfaction with the service provided can arise. As such, Birmingham has instituted a program where staffs, students and partners can air their grievances (including appeals for retention, suspension, expulsion, awards, etc) and escalate their concerns if they feel that they have not received a satisfactory answer.

COMMITMENT

Birmingham commits that every feedback will be handled fairly, considerately and timely.

RESPONSIBILITY

All feedback (which includes complaints and compliments) must be recorded into the Feedback Form by the person giving the feedback or Student Services.

The Student Services must acknowledge and evaluate the feedback for follow-up action to all feedback within 3 working days.

The Student Services must resolve the negative feedback or complaint within 7 working days from the day the negative feedback or complaint was received.

The Student Services must escalate the case to the Top Management if the person making negative feedback or complainant is still not satisfied with the outcome by the 7^th working days from the day the negative feedback or complaint was received.

ESCALATION

The case must be escalated to the Top Management if remain unresolved by the 8^th workings day from the day the negative feedback or complaint was received.

In the event that the Student and Birmingham are unable to resolve the dispute by the 21^st working day, the complainant will be advised to redress the case via Private Education Mediation-Arbitration Scheme prior to instituting any legal action unless the complaint does not want to. Under the scheme, the dispute will be referred to the Singapore Mediation Centre (SMC). If the dispute is not resolved through mediation, the dispute will be referred for arbitration by an arbitrator appointed by the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators (SIArb). The student and Birmingham shall agree to such procedures and to pay such fees as the Singapore Mediation Centre (SMC) or Singapore Institute of Arbitrators (SIArb) may prescribe from time to time for the purpose of proceeding their dispute.

COMMUNICATION

The Management shall ensure all students, staffs and partners are able to access this policy.

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

We shall review our Dispute Resolution Policy for our continual improvement.

Refund Events

Withdrawal During the Cooling Period

Student shall be entitled to, without any liability whatsoever to BA, forthwith terminate the Contract at any time within the Cooling-Off Period by way of a written notice to BA. BA shall return all Course Fees and Miscellaneous Fees paid to it within seven (7) working days of the receipt of the written notice.

Refund for Withdrawal Outside the Cooling-Off Period

Without prejudice to Clauses 1 and 2 above, Student may terminate the Contract at any time before the Course Completion Date by providing a written notice to BA. Upon receipt of such notice, BA shall within seven (7) working days, refund to Student such amount (if any) as determined below.

Note: The course application fee, enrolment processing fee, Fee Protection Scheme Setup Fee, GST (if applicable) and matriculation fee or onboarding fee (if applicable) are non-refundable.

Charges occur during refund, such as exchange rate and bank charges, will be deducted from the refund amount

Initiating Refund

Students shall submit duly completed Birmingham’s Refund Request Form. A refund procedure will not be executed without these duly completed documents. Birmingham shall, within seven (7) working days of the receipt of the duly completed Refund Request Form.

Dispute Arising From Refund Process

Any dispute arising shall be act according to Birmingham Dispute Resolution Policy and procedure.

Birmingham aims to ensure that student protection is to the fullest to provide student with a safe and inclusive learning environment so that they can derive the maximum benefit from their course of study. This policy will ensure elimination of unfair components such as ignorance.

SCOPE

This policy applies to all students in Birmingham Academy.

DEFINITIONS

1. Transfer: Student changes the course or period of study (from full-time to part-time or vice versa) but remains as a student of Birmingham.
2. Deferment: Student delays or postpones the course (or module).
3. Withdrawal: Student discontinues all courses with Birmingham.

CONDITIONS FOR TRANSFER, DEFERMENT AND WITHDRAWAL APPLICATION

Transfer

The school facilitates students’ transfer under the following conditions:

1. If they attained a minimum of 90% attendance rate. This is to satisfy ICA requirement; and
2. If they have paid all outstanding fees and do not have any arrears in their payment; and
3. Meet new course minimum entry requirement.

The school takes efforts to prevent students from transferring from one course to another through conducting exit interview and establishing sufficient communication channels to disseminate appropriate information to the student prior to enrolling into the course. Refund if any will act according to refund policy.

Deferment

The school execute and/or facilitates students’ deferment under the following conditions;

1. Due to medical ground personnel or immediate family’s member (such as father, mother, spouse and kids)
2. Due to student persistently violated the School’s or relevant authorities’ regulation

Students are only allowed to defer once. The duration of deferment should not be longer than the course duration and depend on the availability of the course or module(s) that student missed.

The request for course deferment is not granted automatically and Birmingham does not guarantee the relevant course to be conducted upon the students’ return. For programme awarded by external partner, final approval must be sought from the external partner. Refund if any will act according to refund policy.

Withdrawal

The school facilitates students’ withdrawal under the following conditions:

1. If they are liable to pay any outstanding fees, they must not have any arrears in their payment.

The school takes efforts to prevent students from having to withdraw from an educational course through conducting exit interview and establishing sufficient communication channels to disseminate appropriate information to the student prior to enrolling into the course. Refund if any will according to refund policy.

MAXIMUM PROCESSING TIME

The school will inform student and/or parent/guardian of the outcome in writing within 28 days from the point of student’s request via duly completed request form.

UPDATING OF RELEVANT AUTHORITIES

School will inform Immigration & Checkpoints Authority of Singapore (ICA) of any change to the status of the Student’s Pass (STP), if applicable.

The school will also update other authorities like Fee Protection Scheme Provider.

PARENT’S/LEGAL GUARDIAN’S WRITTEN CONSENT

If student is under 18 years of age, school will only consider the request valid and proceed to process if the school has obtained the parent’s/legal guardian’s written consent or the acknowledgement in the request form.

DISPUTE ARISING FROM TRANSFER, DEFERMENT AND WITHDRAWAL REQUEST

Any dispute arising shall be act according to Birmingham Dispute Resolution Policy and procedure.

CONSEQUENCE

Transfer:

1. Student pass application is subjected to ICA’s approval.

Deferment:

1. Student pass application is subjected to ICA’s approval.
2. The course / modules may not be running or ‘teach-out’

Withdrawal:

1. Student pass will be cancelled

RIGHT OF APPEAL

Students have the right to appeal to Principal. Birmingham will act according to the Appeal Policy & Procedure.

Birmingham Academy recognises both the need to protect individuals’ personal data and the need of the Academy to collect, use or disclose personal data for legitimate and reasonable purposes.

PERSONAL DATA

Personal data refer to;

1. Data about an individual who can be identified from that data itself; or
2. Data about an individual who can be identified from that data and other information to which your business has or is likely to have access

EXCLUSION

Data that can be obtained in public.

COLLECTION OF DATA

Birmingham Academy collects essential personal data from students, staff and partners for study, employment, partnership and related administrative purposes, including course registration, pass applications and grant applications where applicable.

USAGE OF DATA

1. Students’ personal data shall be used for student administration, academic matters, pass or grant applications and related services.
2. Staff personal data shall be used for employment, payroll, statutory, claims, registration and work pass matters.
3. Partners’ personal data shall be used for evaluation, compliance, contractual and partnership matters.

DISCLOSURE OF DATA

Birmingham Academy shall obtain consent before disclosing personal data, unless disclosure is already covered in the relevant application form or agreement, or required by statutory authorities.

PROTECTION OBLIGATION

Birmingham Academy shall collect, use, disclose, protect, retain and access personal data only for reasonable, lawful and work-related purposes, with consent or notification where required. Personal data shall be kept accurate, secured, and retained only for as long as necessary.

RETENTION LIMITATION OBLIGATION

Personal data shall be retained only for as long as necessary to fulfil business, legal or regulatory requirements.

DATA BREACH NOTIFICATION OBLIGATION

Birmingham Academy shall notify PDPC and affected individuals of any notifiable data breach that is likely to cause significant harm or involves 500 or more individuals.

POLICY REVIEW

This policy shall be reviewed at least once every two (2) years or in response to regulatory changes.

Birmingham Academy Pte. Ltd. values feedback (complaints and compliments) from students for the improvement of processes and services. Student’s feedback (complaints and compliments) may be undertaken via:

1. Student Survey conducted for each course and/or module

2. Informal chat session with Birmingham Academy Pte. Ltd. (initiated by the management)

3. Complete a Student Feedback Form and drop it in the Feedback Box which is available from our school

4. Submit your feedback (complaints and compliments) via Birmingham Academy Pte. Ltd. Website http://birmingham.edu.sg/

5. Send your feedback (complaints and compliments) via Emails to School Officer or enquiry@birmingham.edu.sg