1. Purpose

Nationwide Academy is committed to providing quality training and assessment in accordance with the Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2015. As such, Nationwide Academy is required to have and provide detail of a fair and reasonable refund process. The purpose of this policy is to provide for the appropriate handling of student refunds.

2. Policy Statement

Nationwide Academy is committed to ensuring fair and reasonable refund practices. Nationwide Academy will:

• Implement and maintain a process for fair and reasonable refund of fees paid; and
• Provide refunds for fees and charges paid by individuals / students, where training and assessment activities have not been delivered.

3. Policy Principles

The following principles underpin this policy.

1. Details of Nationwide Academy Refund Policy are to be publicly available.
2. Payment of all refunds is made within one (1)week of application for refund being approved by Nationwide Academy’s CEO.
3. With regard to all withdrawals, Nationwide Academy will firstly encourage a student to enrol on another course date, prior to processing refund applications.
4. Written notification of withdrawal from a training program must be provided by a student to apply for a refund for a course. This may be via letter, email or the completion of the refund form.
5. Nationwide Academy does not accept liability for loss or damage suffered in the event of withdrawal from a course by a student.
6. Nationwide Academy provides a full refund to all students, should there be a need for Nationwide Academy to cancel a course. In the first instance Nationwide Academy will (where possible) provide an opportunity for the student to attend another scheduled course.
7. If Nationwide Academy cancels a course, students do not have to apply for a refund, Nationwide Academy will process the refunds automatically.
8. There is no refund applicable where a student has commenced their course/unit.
9. There is no refund to participants who do not obtain their qualification after assessment.
10. There is no refund for recognition of prior learning assessments after enrolment, where Recognition resources and services have been supplied to the student.
11. Refunds for cancellation of enrolments are granted on a sliding scale (See Below2&0).

3.1 Qualifications

Refunds for enrolments on nationally recognised qualifications (workplace based/traineeships) and accredited courses are subject to the following refund formula.

	Fee Type	Description	Fee $
Qualifications	Enrolment cancellation fee	RTO administrative processes for processing of enrolment, reporting and other administrative actions related to cancellation	$150.00 per qualification
	Unit Fee – Commenced	For all individual units commenced/attended/ completed from within the qualification	Full Unit fee payable by the student Nil Refund
	Unit Fee – Not Commenced	For all individual units NOT commenced/attended/ completed from within the qualification	Full Unit fee paid by the student is Refunded

3.2 Short Courses

Refunds for enrolments in short course & unit of competency enrolments will be calculated in accordance with the following sliding scale.

	Reason for Refund	Notification requirements	Refund
Short Courses	Student withdraws	In writing, eight (8) calendar days or more prior to the course commencement	100% Refund of fees paid to date
	Student withdraws	In writing, within seven (7) calendar days prior to the course commencement.	75% Refund of fees paid to date
	Student withdraws	In writing, less than twenty-four (24) hours prior to course commencement.	Nil Refund
	Student withdrawn from the course by Nationwide Academy	After course commencement, due to inappropriate behaviour	Nil Refund
	Course cancelled by Nationwide Academy		100% Refund of fees paid to date

4. Nationwide Academy Responsibilities

Nationwide Academy’s CEO is responsible for ensuring compliance with this policy. Nationwide Academy’s Administration Assistant will process refund requests within one (1) week from the day of the refund is approved by Nationwide Academy’s CEO.

5. Access & Equity

The Nationwide Academy Access & Equity Policy applies. (See Access & Equity Policy)

6. Records Management

All documentation from Refund processes are maintained in accordance with Records Management Policy. (See Records Management Policy)

7. Monitoring and Improvement

All Refund practices are monitored by the Nationwide Academy’s CEO and areas for improvement identified and acted upon. (See Continuous Improvement Policy)

• REFUNDS POLICY

Traineeships Fees are only payable by your employer after the successful enrolment of the learner and registration of a Student Identifier Number. Refunds will only be offered under exceptional circumstances as outlined in the traineeship contract. Fee for Service/Individual Learning Training Experts Australia will pay a refund to learners or intending learners in certain circumstances:

1. Refund may be applicable if:
   • The course offered does not start on the agreed default date
   • Pro-rata Refund:

1. The course stops being provided after it starts and before it is completed
2. The course is not provided fully to the learners because the Training Experts Australia has been sanctioned

• The learner cancels or withdraws in writing from the course before the agreed default date

1. Partial Refund may be applicable if:

• The course starts on the agreed start date but the learner does not start on the agreed starting date and has not previously withdrawn from the course or advised of reasons for suspending training
• The learner cancels or withdraws in writing from the course after the agreed default date

TEA will not refund fees paid in advance unless training cancellation INCLUDES more than 14 days’ notice in writing. The following percentage of refund will apply to all training cancellations:

• Where 20% or less of the course has been provided to the learner a 100% refund less $200.00 admin fee will apply.
• Where less than 50% of the course has been provided to the learner a 50% refund less $200.00 admin fee will apply.
• Where 50% or more of the course has been provided to the learner no refund will apply.

TEA will process the refund within 2 weeks of receiving an approved written claim. In all circumstances Training Experts Australia will provide a statement and an explanation of how the refund was calculated.