Adult Learning Learning Agreement 2024 to 2025

We would like to welcome you to Adult Learning and wish you every success in achieving your learning aims. We hope that you find your learning experience rewarding and fulfilling. Adult Learning welcomes learners from all backgrounds and abilities and our staff will give you the opportunities to develop your learning and skills. Please take a moment to read through this agreement as it outlines what you can expect from us as a training provider.

Learning with a Subcontractor

You may be enrolling on an offering with a subcontractor of Adult Learning. If the offering is being delivered by one of our subcontractors, then your official training provider by law is ‘Westmorland and Furness Council’. Therefore, you maintain the terms and conditions of enrolment as laid out in this agreement. It is a contractual obligation between Adult Learning and the subcontractor that this is the case.

What I can expect from Adult Learning

  • Your tutor will work with you to plan a tailored learning programme and will carry out an initial assessment to identify your starting point.
  • Your tutor will develop a learning plan with you and recognise and record your current level of knowledge and skills.
  • Your tutor will support your development by delivering high quality teaching to enable learning.
  • Your tutor will encourage you to complete a tailored learning programme and achieve your learning aim.
  • Your tutor will offer appropriate information and advice before, during and at the end of your learning programme.
  • Your tutor will abide by Adult Learning’s Health and Safety policy and carry out an induction.
  • For accredited learning aims, Adult Learning will ensure that appropriate examination, assessment, and internal verification procedures are in place. 
  • For portfolio based accredited learning aims, Adult Learning will ensure that portfolios submitted to the awarding body are suitable for external moderation.
  • Adult Learning will ensure that all learners are entitled to learn in an environment which is physically safe and free from abuse.

Equality and Diversity

Adult Learning is committed to ensuring that all learners, staff, and visitors are treated equally and, where possible, have full access to our sites and services. Please help us to achieve this by bringing to our attention any potential discrimination. If you are a disabled learner or have any specific needs, we will ensure that reasonable adjustments are made to the learning environment to ensure that you will not be placed at a disadvantage. By disclosing your specific needs to us at the earliest opportunity, you will enable us to put in the required support. If you do not wish to disclose your needs or request that this information remains confidential, we cannot guarantee that appropriate adjustments will be made.

Learning Support

Learning support is provided to meet the needs of learners who have an identified learning difficulty and/or disability. If eligible you will have access to a support package designed to help you achieve your learning aim. This includes providing funding for reasonable adjustments as set out in the Equality Act 2010. 

Learning support is available to individuals enrolling on accredited and certain nonaccredited learning aims. If you feel you are eligible for this support, you can inform us during enrolment by completing the ‘Supporting you in your learning’ section. If you require further information or prefer to speak with someone in person, then please discuss this with the relevant Adult Learning Centre.

Safeguarding

We do all we can to ensure Adult Learning provides a safe environment for our learners and have several procedures designed to ensure that learners, staff, and visitors are able to learn in a safe environment.

Security

Adult Learning will make every effort to safeguard learner personal effects however we cannot accept liability for personal belongings.

Remissions

Adult Learning concessions are applicable to individuals who are looking to upskill, are disadvantaged, or are facing financial hardship. If you fit into one of the following categories, then you may be eligible for a concession:

  • Unemployed and in receipt of a state benefit or seeking employment.
  • Employed and in receipt of an income related benefit or receive a low income.
  • Enrolling on a legal entitlement, including English, Maths, or Essential Digital Skills learning aims.
  • Are an active staff member employed by Cumberland Council or Westmorland and Furness Council.

If you feel you are eligible for a remission, then we invite you to self-declare this during enrolment. If you require further information, please contact the appropriate Adult Learning Centre.

By signing the Adult Learning enrolment form, you are self-declaring that you fit the appropriate category of eligibility. All enrolments are subject to final verification and approval by Adult Learning. Should the concession selected not meet our terms, you will be contacted in order that your enrolment can be corrected. You will be asked to pay for fees where remissions are not permitted.

Enrolment Requirements

Some of our learning aims require learners to satisfy certain criteria before they enrol. You should ensure that you read all the offering information before enrolling. By enrolling, you are confirming you have read these details and meet any enrolment requirements specified on the offering information.

Minimum Age of Students

You must be aged 19 or over on the 31 August 2024 to be eligible to access Adult Skills Fund funded provision.

Offering Fees

Current fees are published in our brochure and on the Adult Learning website. These prices are subject to change. The total fee advertised is the amount payable to secure your place. The total fee includes tuition costs, material fees, where applicable, and in some cases, additional costs which relate to the learning aim. Other optional materials, which may be associated with the offering, are available for purchase as identified in the offering information.

Unless details are provided in the offering information, you are advised not to buy equipment, books, or materials until after the first session.

Start Date of the Offering

Please check the start date of the offering on the Adult Learning website or as outlined on your enrolment form. If you require any further information or assistance before the offering starts, please contact the Adult Learning Centre delivering the offering.

Terms and Conditions of Enrolment

These terms apply to all enrolments for learning with Adult Learning. You (the Learner) must ensure that you are aware of our terms before proceeding with your enrolment. Once enrolled, you are deemed to have accepted these terms. In signing the enrolment form, you confirm that you agree to the following:

  • You have received initial information and advice in preparation for your learning programme covering choice, entry requirements and suitability and you are satisfied with the process. You accept that your enrolment as a learner is subject to the regulations of Adult Learning and the professional judgement of the staff relating to your level of study.
  • You will ensure that any fees are paid by the agreed date (usually the start date).
  • Adult Learning reserves the right to withdraw or cancel a programme whenever its viability cannot be assured. In such circumstances, every effort will be made to offer an alternative programme. However, Adult Learning cannot guarantee that an acceptable programme will be available as part of our curriculum.

Compliments, Comments and Complaints

Adult Learning accepts that sometimes things go wrong, and it is important that you contact us if you are unhappy with a service. Please also let us know what you would like us to do to put things right.

We would also like to hear your feedback on the services we provide or if you have a suggestion on how we can make improvements. Your comments will be passed on to the services involved.

You can make a complaint or provide a complement using the following contact details:

Individual Learner Record Privacy Notice

This privacy notice is issued by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) on behalf of the Secretary of State for the Department of Education (DfE) to inform learners about the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) and how their personal information is used in the ILR. Your personal information is used by the DfE to exercise our functions under article 6(1)(e) of the UK GDPR and to meet our statutory responsibilities, including under the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009. Our lawful basis for using your special category personal data is covered under Substantial Public Interest based in law (Article 9(2)(g)) of GDPR legislation. This processing is under Section 54 of the Further and Higher Education Act (1992).

The ILR collects data about learners and learning undertaken. Publicly funded colleges, training organisations, local authorities, and employers (FE providers) must collect and return the data to the ESFA each year under the terms of a funding agreement, contract or grant agreement. It helps ensure that public money distributed through the ESFA is being spent in line with government targets. It is also used for education, training, employment, and well-being purposes, including research.

We retain your ILR learner data for 20 years for operational purposes (e.g. to fund your learning and to publish official statistics). Your personal data is then retained in our research databases until you are aged 80 years so that it can be used for long-term research purposes. For more information about the ILR and the data collected, please see the ILR specification at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/individualised-learner-record-ilr

ILR data is shared with third parties where it complies with DfE data sharing procedures and where the law allows it. The DfE and the English European Social Fund (ESF) Managing Authority (or agents acting on their behalf) may contact learners to carry out research and evaluation to inform the effectiveness of training. For more information about how your personal data is used and your individual rights, please see the DfE Personal Information Charter (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education/about/personal-information-charter) and the DfE Privacy Notice (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/privacy-notice-for-key-stage-5-and-adult-education)

If you would like to get in touch with us or request a copy of the personal information DfE holds about you, you can contact the DfE in the following ways:

If you are unhappy with how we have used your personal data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at: Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. You can also call their helpline on 0303 123 1113 or visit https://www.ico.org.uk
(Version 31 January 2024)

Learning Records Service Privacy Notice

The information you supply is used by the Learning Records Service (LRS). The LRS issues Unique Learner Numbers (ULN) and creates Personal Learning 
Records across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and is operated by the Department for Education (DfE) in England. This privacy notice explains how we use your personal information. For the purposes of relevant data protection legislation, the DfE is the data controller for personal information processed. The LRS supports the DfE by collecting learner information from training providers and awarding organisations. For the purposes of relevant data protection legislations, the DfE is the data controller for personal information we process.

We receive your personal data from:

  • schools, colleges, local authorities, and training/learning providers
  • accredited achievement data supplied by awarding organisations

The aims of LRS are to:

  • create a trusted and verified record of learning for citizen across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland
  • enable education organisations to access these records when required to support individuals with enrolment to education and careers advice, ensuring they get access to the correct education and government funding
  • issue you with a Unique Learner Number (ULN)
  • create your Personal Learning Record (PLR)
  • collect entries and results data that is used to create national statistical publications 

The categories of personal data that can be processed in LRS includes:

  • personal contact details
  • data related to an individual’s learning
  • data and information about your learning, including offerings and qualifications you are taking or have taken

To ensure that our records are accurate, it may be necessary for training providers to collect further personal information from you. This information will be used to identify the correct learner where their personal information is similar to other learners (e.g. name(s) and date of birth):

  • where further information is required to distinguish between learners, the following personal information is deemed as mandatory:
    • last known post code
    • date of birth
    • gender

For our use of your personal data to be lawful, we need to meet one (or more) conditions in the data protection legislation. For LRS, the relevant conditions are:

  • Article 6(1)(e) UK General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), to perform a public task as part of our function as a department

We also rely on legitimate interests, where we may need to collect additional personal information, to distinguish you from another individual. This is:

  • Article 6(1)(f) of the UK General Data Protection Regulations

We sometimes need to make personal data available to other organisations. These might include contracted partners (who we have employed to process your personal data on our behalf) and/or other organisations (with whom we need to share your personal data for specific purposes).

Where we need to share your personal data with others, we ensure that this data sharing complies with data protection legislation. For LRS we share your personal data with the following:

  • schools, colleges, local authorities, and training/learning providers when you enrol onto a offering
  • awarding bodies to record achievement/attainment information such as exam or offering grades
  • permitted organisations such as Federation for Industry Skills & Standards (FISSS) and Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) to record or verify individual’s qualifications

The PLR is a lifetime record of achievement for all learners.

All data in LRS will be retained until a learner is 80 years old and has not engaged with a learning provider for 7 years.

You have specific rights under data protection law. You can:

DfE processes your personal information on LRS in the exercise of its official authority under the Education Act 2011 and the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children & Learning Act 2009. This allows us to ensure that training providers are claiming for the correct government funding, safeguard public money and prevent fraud. 

More information about how the DfE handles personal information is published in the DfE Personal Information Charter (https://www.gov.uk/government/ organisations/department-for-education/about/personal-information-charter).

If you need to contact us regarding any of the above, please do so via the DfE site at DfE - Contact Us (https://www.gov.uk/contact-dfe). If you are unable to use the online contact form, you can write to us at the address provided under Contact Information below.

Further information about your data protection rights appears on the Information Commissioner’s website at Information Commissioners Office - Individual Rights (https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/individual-rights/individual-rights/).

(Version 27 November 2023)

Version: July 2024

Download a copy of the Learning Agreement below: