Start your learning journey - Training with a difference

1. General terms and conditions of use

 1.1 This document, together with the documents referred to in it, set out the terms and conditions for using our website.

1.2 Please read this document carefully before you use the website. By using the website, you accept these terms, and you agree to comply with them. If you do not agree to these terms, please do not use the website.

1.3 You are responsible for ensuring that all persons who access the website through your internet connection are aware of these terms of use and other applicable terms, and that they comply with them.

1.4 We may make changes to these terms from time to time. Every time you wish to use the website, please check these terms to ensure you understand the terms that apply at that time.

1.5 We may also make changes to the website from time to time.

2. Disclaimer

 2.1 The website is intended to provide guidance only. Nothing in the website is intended to be a substitute for formal legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. You should take appropriate steps to verify independently the accuracy of any information and take any legal and/or professional advice as you consider necessary.

2.2 We have made every effort to ensure that the information contained on the website is accurate and up-to-date at the time of publication. We do not give any express or implied warranty as to the quality, accuracy, timeliness or completeness of the information provided on the website. We do not accept liability for any errors, omissions or inaccurate information on the website.

3. Access and service availability

 3.1 While we will always endeavour to make the website available without interruption, we cannot guarantee the availability or uninterrupted access of the website or any content on it. We reserve the right to suspend or withdraw service of, or access to, the website without notice, either in whole or part for scheduled maintenance, business, operational or any other reason without prior notice being given.

3.2 You must keep your account details safe. If you choose, or we provide you with, a user identification code or password or any other piece of information as part of our security procedures, you must treat such information as confidential and you must not disclose it to any third party.

3.3 We have the right to disable any user identification code or password, whether chosen by you or allocated by us, at any time, if in our reasonable opinion you have failed to comply with any of the provisions of these terms of use.

3.4 If you know or suspect anyone other than you know your user identification code or password, you must promptly contact us.

4. Liability

 4.1 We are not liable for any loss or damage whether direct, indirect or consequential arising in contract, tort or otherwise arising under or in connection with the use of, or inability to use the website or any material contained in it, use of or reliance on any content displayed on the website or from any action or decision taken as a result of using the website.

4.2 We accept no liability for damage resulting from virus infection and cannot guarantee that the website will be secure or free from viruses or bugs. You are responsible for configuring your computer hardware and software to access the website. You should use your own anti-virus protection software.

4.3 You must not misuse the website by knowingly introducing viruses, trojan horses, worms, logic bombs or other material that is malicious or technologically harmful. You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to the website, the server on which the website is stored or any server, computer or database connected to the website. You must not attack the website via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of service attack. By breaching this provision, you would commit a criminal offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. We will report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement authorities and we will co-operate with those authorities by disclosing your identity to them. In the event of such a breach, your right to use the website will cease immediately.

4.4 We accept no liability for any loss of profit or contracts, loss of business or goodwill, loss of income or revenue, business interruption or loss of business opportunity.

4.5 This does not affect our liability for death or personal injury arising from our negligence, nor our liability for fraudulent misrepresentation, nor any other liability which cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.

5. Acceptable use policy

 5.1 You may not use the website:

a. in a way prohibited by law, regulation, governmental order or decree;

b. in any way that is fraudulent or has any fraudulent purpose or effect;

c. to violate the rights of others;

d. to try to gain unauthorised access to or disrupt any service, data, account or network by any means;

e. to transmit, or procure the sending of, any unsolicited or unauthorised advertising or promotional material or any other form of similar solicitation;

f. to spam or distribute malware;

g. in a way that could harm the services we provide or impair anyone else's use of them; or

h. to knowingly transmit any data, send or upload any material that contains viruses, trojan horses, worms, time-bombs, keystroke loggers, spyware, adware or any other harmful programs or similar computer code designed to adversely affect the operation of any computer software or hardware.

 5.2 We exclude liability for actions taken in response to breaches of this acceptable use policy. The actions described above are not exhaustive and we may take any other action we reasonably deem to be appropriate. We may revise this acceptable use policy at any time by amending this page. Some of the provisions of this acceptable use policy may be superseded by provisions or notices published elsewhere on the website.

6. External third-party websites

 6.1 The website contains links to external third-party websites to assist visitors to the website. The inclusion of a link does not imply that we endorse or have approved the linked website or information you may obtain from them. We have no control over and accept no responsibility for the content of such websites. We are also not responsible for any transmission received from any linked website nor do we accept responsibility or liability for any losses whatsoever that may be incurred as a result of the use of any links to any other websites.

7. Copyright and Trademark

 7.1 All information on the website, all motifs, designs and logos are protected by copyright unless specifically stated otherwise. You can use extracts of our information on our website for purposes of review, discussion, academic study and other legitimate pursuits without prior authorisation. Any unauthorised use of these materials may violate copyright, trademark and other laws. Materials on the website may not be modified, reproduced or publicly displayed, performed, distributed, or used for any public or commercial purposes.

7.2 We will vigorously pursue any breach of our copyright that seeks to exploit our material for commercial gain or to misrepresent our regulatory position.

7.3 We do not give permission for any use of any such trademark, service mark or trade name by any person other than the holders. Any such use may constitute an infringement of the relevant holder's rights.

8. Privacy notice

 8.1 We collect personal data to comply with legal obligations e.g. providing information to other regulators, law enforcement and statutory bodies. Please see our privacy notice. We will only process your personal data in accordance with our privacy notice.

9. Liability

 9.1 These Terms of Service will be governed by, and construed in accordance with, English and Welsh laws and the Courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction, except that if you are a consumer and a resident in either Northern Ireland or Scotland you may also bring proceedings in Northern Ireland or Scotland as appropriate.

10. Referral agents

 10.1 Succesful candidates are individuals that have signed up and have made payment for their chosen course.

10.2 Candidates that have signed up and cancel within 14 days are not classed as a succesful sign-up and payment would not be made to you.

10.3 Payments would be made to you every 30 days for each succesful sign-up. 

11. Cancellation Policy

 11. 1 Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit is fully aware that the decision to study a course is a very important decision and many things to consider, including your academic/career aspirations, personal, family circumstances and financial situation. Before deciding to enroll, please ensure that the courses are right for you and that you can commit fully to the course through to successful completion. If for any reason you consider withdrawing from your course, we would encourage you to discuss your options with our admissions officer first, prior to making your final decision. They are best placed to give you advice and guidance. The College’s policy outlines our position regarding cancellations and refunds and you will be expected to pay should you withdraw at any point. Courses require a minimum number of students to run, and a reduction in attendees can impact both the course’s viability and the experience of other students. This policy applies to all students who have enrolled on a course/ programme regardless of payment method i.e., in full, in installments or by Advanced Learner Loan. 

a. Minimum deposit of £200 applies to all of our training courses.

b. Once paid and enrolled for a course but not started, admin fees of £200 will be deducted from the fees if canceled 24 hours prior to course start. This is applicable to all courses £200 and over. For courses less than £200, £60 will be deducted. 

c. Once paid and enrolled for a course and not started, full fees are non-refundable if canceled later than 24 hours prior to course start.

d. Once the course is started, the total fees is payable and non-refundable. 

Failure to pay an installment on the due date, can result in £30 late fees if delayed fro one week, then £5 can be added for each week thereafter. 

e. We will offer you alternative options to take the course when it’s convenient for you to resume.

f. If enrolled for one course and course not complete it for any reason, the fees cannot be transferred to any other courses. 

 11.2 We will offer alternative options to take the course when it’s convenient for you to resume but, if you withdraw from your course and feel that exceptional circumstances prevent you from continuing, you have the right to appeal with supporting evidence. You can email your appeal to us at admin@fsecentre.org but this must be done within 28 calendar days of your withdrawal letter. 

*Administration Fee is non-refundable and cancellation fees applies.

**Advance Learner Loan recipients should refer to the terms and conditions of the loan. 

12. Contact us

 12.1 If you have any questions about these terms, please contact us.

Modern Slavery Act 2015 Structure, business and supply chain

Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit is one of the, incorporating the Education, Training and Recruitment.

We are serious about our brand FSEC Non for Profit because it’s part of our identity and so is our commitment to corporate social responsibility. We believe transparency is the best way we can ensure the public that we are doing our best as an ethical corporate citizen. In that spirit, we have published our annual statement for slavery and human trafficking, made in compliance with section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, in which we explain how slavery and human trafficking can affect our business and the steps we are taking in the fight against it. This slavery and human trafficking statement also addresses the steps taken by our subsidiary companies, Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit. This statement is intended to fulfil the legal requirement for a slavery and human trafficking statement on behalf of all companies within Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit, as relevant. Our efforts against slavery and human trafficking complement our broader Policy and our adoption of the Ethical Trading Initiative.

Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit is headquartered in Harrow, London and sells its products throughout Europe, including the United Kingdom. Our product range makes use of the highest quality of education, training and recruitment, which for the most part is from, United Kingdom respectively. This allows us to focus our oversight and influence over three discrete geographic regions. We have employees within our organisation in addition who are engaged through our supply chain. Where possible, we engage suppliers who have relationships with existing suppliers so that we can contain our supplier network and improve consistency in ethical practices throughout the supply chain. For a more detailed breakdown of our supply chain composition, please see the Supply Chain.

Building on our FSEC Non for Profit Policy and our commitment to the Ethical Trading Initiative, we have embraced the requirement to publish an annual slavery and human trafficking statement. This will allow us to share our efforts against slavery and human trafficking and improve and measure our success each financial year. This past financial year ending 31 March 2016, we took the following key steps to ensure slavery and human trafficking did not occur within our organisation or supply chain.

2. Slavery and human trafficking policies

Notably, we developed our Slavery and Human Trafficking Policy, which can be found within our Policy. We also updated our Supplier Code of Conduct. It sets out clear objectives for 1-, 3- and 5-year slavery and human trafficking plans around the following themes:

• Relationships: Strengthening our supplier engagement process

• Feedback: Establishing grievance mechanisms and channels for individual worker feedback

• Knowledge: Improving our knowledge base by collecting relevant data and improving product traceability

• Third party engagement: Building strategic alliances with independent social auditors, unions and NGOs

• Measurable change: Developing verifiable KPIs to measure progress

• Supplier collaboration: Encouraging suppliers to collaborate to address slavery and human trafficking issues

• Incentivisation: Developing mechanisms to incentivise employees and suppliers to address slavery and human trafficking and improve labour standards

• Accountability: Establishing a framework for organisation accountability to allow for raising issues, making suggestions, voicing grievances and reporting slavery and human trafficking

3. Due diligence procedures

We understand that our biggest exposure to Modern Slavery is in our product supply chains, where we have undertaken activity to minimise the risk of Modern Slavery. Within these areas, new suppliers and factories/sites are subject to due diligence checks in the form of ethical/compliance audits. Such audits are also regularly conducted for existing suppliers and factories/sites. These audits assess compliance with the Global Sourcing Principles and are, amongst other things, intended to identify any Modern Slavery practices. If issues are identified, appropriate investigative and remedial actions will be taken.

4. Identifying, assessing and managing risk

We set out to identify the extent of any slavery and human trafficking in our supply chains by:

• Conducting internal spot-checks at factors in training and recruitment

• Engaging third party auditors to conduct social audits at supplier sites

• Interviewing 200 workers to discuss their conditions and their rights

• Suppliers to develop an improvement plan to address new and previously identified slavery and human trafficking issues

• Instituting an annual review questionnaire for existing suppliers to understand suppliers’ self-assessment of slavery and human trafficking issues, allowing us to better identify slavery and human trafficking issues as they develop over time and to collect supplier-provided data to track improvement in suppliers’ attitudes.

We discovered slavery and human trafficking to be most prevalent in the parts of our supply chain involved in cotton production in India. Reducing the incidence of slavery and human trafficking on our suppliers’ cotton farms will be our focus point for the next financial year.

5. Key performance indicators

In order to assess the effectiveness of our modern slavery measures we will be reviewing the following key performance indicators:

• Staff training levels

• Number of slavery incidents reported in the supply chain

6. Training available to staff

A key part of our slavery and human trafficking strategy is to promote cultural change through training. This last financial year we:

• Delivered online training modules on modern slavery to all staff

• Distributed more information on slavery and human trafficking and workers’ rights.

• Ran a training seminar for our suppliers’ factory managers at our office.

• Started development of a dedicated training and resources webpage which individual workers in the supply chain will be able to access to learn about modern slavery and human trafficking, understand their rights and anonymously report any slavery and human trafficking issues in their workplace.

Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit is a progressive training organisation providing mandatory training to a range of organisations. We provide a range of First Aid, Health and safety, food safety, education and training, assessing qualifications through various awarding bodies.

At Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit we are committed to providing high quality training and qualifications, and to ensuring that equality of opportunity underpins all aspects of our work. 

This policy relates to our commitment to equality and diversity in all aspects of our work.

It is important that all appeals/complaints are raised directly with Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit.

Our equality and diversity policy statement are set out below.

Policy statement

Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit recognises its responsibility to eliminate unlawful discrimination, challenge anti discriminatory practice, promote equality of opportunity and diversity in all aspects of its activities: as an employer and a provider of training and consultancy. 

Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit are committed to promoting equal opportunity and to adopting proactive measures to address unlawful discrimination in the execution of its services. 

Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit will ensure that equality of opportunity is prominent throughout our work; in making policy, managing the business, service delivery i.e., training, consultancy and assessment, in complying with current UK regulations, and in our employment practice. 

Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit will provide a working environment that is free from any form of harassment, intimidation, victimisation or discrimination in accordance to the Equality Act 2010 on the grounds of:

• sex
• race (including nationality, colour, ethnic or national origin)
• gender and gender reassignment
• sexual orientation and identity
• disability 
• marital status and civil partnership
• pregnancy status and home responsibility
• HIV or AIDS status
• age
• work status (part-time or fixed term), 
• religious and or belief
• political belief 
• socio-economic background

All individuals will be treated with dignity and respect and valued for who they are and for their contribution.

All Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit directors and staff are responsible for ensuring that the Equality and Diversity Policy is put into practice and that they have due regards to the need to: 

i) challenge all forms of discrimination 

ii) eliminate unlawful discrimination 

iii) promote equality of opportunity.

Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit will review its Equality and Diversity Policy annually. The following opportunities are taken to invite feedback from staff, clients and students: 

• Recruitment and Selection 

• Initial Assessment

• Induction Assessment and Planning 

• Learner Reviews 

• Internal Verification 

• External Verification 

• Examinations 

• Exit Interviews

This feedback will be included in the annual review of our policies.

Scope of Policy

Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit will adhere to all relevant Statutory Legislation and the Code of Practice as per Appendix .1

In accordance with its commitment to equal opportunities, Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit will ensure that positive steps are taken to identify and combat all forms of discrimination so that no potential or existing members of staff, clients or students are discriminated against from any of the four main types of discrimination – Direct discrimination, Indirect discrimination Harassment and Victimisation.

• Direct discrimination is treating one person less favourably than others because of, for example their race, gender, sexuality or disability (a fuller list has been provided above).

• Indirect discrimination is creating a condition, term of employment or requirement of service delivery which cannot be justified and which, in practise, prevents people from certain groups from receiving a service

Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit will not tolerate any form of harassment when offensive or intimidating behaviour, or encouraging or allowing other people to do so, aims to humiliate, undermine or injure its target, causing any physical or mental harm.

Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit will not tolerate any form of Victimisation, which means treating somebody less favourably than others because they tried to make a discrimination complaint. 

Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit will ensure that we comply with the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, to ensure that all relevant protection is afforded to all relevant parties. This legislation is;

 “An Act to protect individuals who make certain disclosures of information in the public interest; to allow such individuals to bring action in respect of victimisation; and for connected purposes"

Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit recognises that the implementation of the Equal Opportunity Policy is vital to its development and continuing success, and the Directors will take full and frank responsibility for ensuring effective implementation of the policy and code of practice.

We will ensure that all individuals and organisations which provide services for or on behalf of Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit, are aware of and fully complying with our commitment to equality of opportunity.

Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit will investigate any alleged breach of this policy by Directors, staff, clients or students. If the allegation is upheld, action will be taken which could result in disciplinary proceedings against the Directors, staff, clients or students, as detailed in our Maladministration and Malpractice Policy. 

Aims of the Policy

• To comply with the general and specific duties of all UK Equal Opportunities Legislation. 

• To fulfil our statutory obligation to raise awareness of the policy to all staff, clients and students. 

• To ensure that all potential, new and existing staff, clients and students are informed of the policy and its implication.  All students will be issued with a copy of the policy on registration, all job applicants will receive the policy when applying to work with us. 

• To ensure that all students have access to a fair and well managed examination and assessment process, in accordance with both Functional Skills Education Centre and Qualifications Network guidelines for Maladministration and Malpractice.

Publishing Arrangements

Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit will ensure the policy statement is displayed and distributed throughout our business, in a variety of media, including but not limited to, paper copies issued at registration, the policy will be published online on the company's website (and will be available on our Facebook page).

Organisation, Consultation and Participation

As the employers, Functional Skills Education Centre Directors have the ultimate responsibility for ensuring compliance with Equal Opportunity Legislation.

The Directors shall carry out an annual review of the policies that are in use, ensuring the policies are up to date, reflect current good practice and legislation. We will consult as widely as possible with all stakeholders i.e. staff, training centres, students and any other relevant parties.

Equal Opportunities: Functional Responsibilities

The Directors are responsible for: 

i. personnel related policies and strategies. 

ii. developing and delivering a programme of (or arranging delivery of) staff development in all aspects of diversity and equality of opportunity matters.

iii. advising and supporting staff to identify and disseminate good equal opportunity practice, particularly in relation to equal treatment in all aspects of the staff and client and student experience. 

iv. ensuring that all HR policies and procedures meet legal and ethical standards in relation to equal opportunity.

v. advising staff on procedures in relation to the Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit Equal Opportunities Policy.

Making an Equal Opportunities Complaint

An employee or service user who feels they have not been fairly treated within the scope of this policy should raise the matter through Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit Grievance and Disciplinary Procedure.

Dealing with discrimination and harassment as a Training Provider

As a Training Provider Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit complies with anti-discrimination and human rights legislation and promotes the wellbeing of candidates. (Companies name) actively seek to eliminate all forms of discrimination and harassment - whether towards candidates or staff. We will use the following model for challenging discrimination: 

• Recognising individualism and value difference. 

• Breaking down stereotypes 

• Challenging discrimination. 

• Role modelling appropriate behaviour.

In general, this is dealt with through our own disciplinary policy, but in all circumstances the safety, well-being and support needs of the victim is our first priority.

Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit will comply with its legal responsibility to make a written record of any racist incident which takes place on our premises or any satellite office.

Certain racist incidents may also be criminal offences in England and Wales under the Crime & Disorder Act 1998. These include: 

i) Racially aggravated assaults, including common assault, actual bodily harm, grievous bodily harm and wounding 

ii) Racially aggravated criminal damage, including racist graffiti, damage to property and arson (lighting fires). 

iii) Racially aggravated public order/harassment, including engaging in behaviour which causes (or is likely to cause) harassment, distress or fear of violence.

The police not Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit are responsible for investigating and dealing with any racist incidents where criminal offences may have been committed. All racist incidents of this kind will be reported to the police as soon as possible

Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit will also report the incident to the police if asked to do so by the victim or their parent.

In addition to the general principles for dealing with discrimination or harassment, Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit will adhere to the specific rules which exist for dealing with sexual harassment and discrimination. If the perpetrator is an employee of Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit or other professional in a position of authority, then this will normally be either a criminal matter (in which case it should be referred to the police) or a disciplinary offence under Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit Disciplinary Procedure.

Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit Ethical Code of Conduct means we will:

• respect the rule of law and comply with regulations and legislation

• not participate in or condone corrupt or otherwise unacceptable business practices

• treat our employees with respect at all times, act as an equal opportunities employer and not exploit labour; observe human rights and seek assurance that suppliers meeting our selection criteria maintain similar standards

• promote a strong culture of health and safety and environmental and social awareness for the benefit of our customers, suppliers, employees and third parties

• have concern and consideration for all people affected by Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit operations and the products and services we offer

• aim to provide continuous improvement of the products and services we supply

• require equivalent levels of conduct from any party with whom we interact or who acts on our behalf

• never knowingly engage in areas of business activity incompatible with social inclusion

Integrity and ethical behaviour is expected of all our employees at all times, whether dealing with colleagues, customers, suppliers or the public. Our objective at all times is to behave with integrity and to carry out our work and operations in a socially responsible and ethical manner. We believe in respecting the dignity and rights of individuals and cultures and avoiding conflicts of interest.

Although Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit operates in the UK primarily, we recognise that human rights are universal.

We have an Ethical Code of Conduct to which Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit and our staff adhere and we apply the principles throughout our activities.

Our Conflicts of Interest Policy, which applies to directors and employees alike, prohibits staff from engaging in outside business activities without written consent. Staff are also required to disclose any external business interest or commercial activity that may create a conflict with their role and duties within Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit.

Staff are not permitted to privately employ, or arrange for work to be carried out by a Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit subcontractor. If our staff receive business gifts a strict monetary limit is placed on them. 

We induct our employees in Functional Skills Education Centre Non for Profit social and ethical standards and we expect them to understand and carry out their duties in accordance with our established values. 

To access our safeguarding policy, please click the button below to download the file:

To access our quality assurance policy, please click on the button below to download the file: 

To access our Privacy Notice, please click on the button below to download the file: