Payment and Enrolment Procedures for Franchise Courses
In an effort to improve the process by which payments are made to the University’s UK partners with
respect to franchised courses and Foundation Degrees, the following procedures were introduced in
October 2002 and have been subsequently refined to reflect changes in enrolment processes. The
rationale for introducing these procedures is two fold.

Firstly, they should ensure that the Higher Education Student Early Statistics Survey (HESES)
generated on the 1st December contains: accurate information on all students enrolled on
partnership courses as of that date; an estimated forecast of the probable drop out rate on
partnership course (for that academic year); and where applicable, an estimated forecast of the
number of students likely to start each partnership course between the 1st December and the
end of that academic year. Secondly, they should ensure that the Higher Education Statistics
Agency (HESA) return that takes place in July is accurate and comprehensive.

It is the information contained in the 1st December HESES return that forms the basis of the
annual survey of student numbers that the University submits to HEFCE, and which determines
the University’s funding revenue for that academic year. In turn, it is this funding that forms the
basis of the University’s payments to its regional partners. These procedures should mean that
by the 1st December, both the University and its Partner will be in agreement on the payment that
is due in the academic year.
Procedures
1. Application Procedure
Applications come through to eCSIS electronically from UCAS between 1st September and 30th
June. After this period, late applications will be accepted by Admissions on completion of a
Record of Prior Acceptance (RPA) form. These RPA forms will be input by Admissions into
eCSIS up until the end of Week 1. After this point, blank enrolment forms will need be completed
as the Admissions Office will have closed down the previous year’s application cycle.
2. New Student Enrolment
Enrolment and Student Payment Instruction (SPI) forms are produced by the Academic Registry
and sent to students prior to the start of the course. Administrators should agree detailed
enrolment arrangements and timings with the Deputy Academic Registrar (Admissions) well in
advance of the start of the course. It is recommended that Administrators visit the college and
organise for the completion of the enrolment and any SPI forms that have not already been
returned, during the visit. This will ensure the appropriate and timely collection of enrolment and
payment information as well as provide the opportunity to pass on more information about the
University facilities that students are entitled to use during their course. All completed forms
should be returned to the Academic Management Office within the deadlines agreed with the
Deputy Academic Registrar (Admissions). The Academic Management and Student Finance
Offices will then enrol the students, produce library cards and PIP passwords and return them to
the School Administrator who will organise for them to be given out to the students.
3. Continuing Student Enrolment
Students are expected to enrol on a yearly basis. The Academic Management Office will
produce enrolment instructions and SPI forms one month before the anniversary of the start of
the course (e.g August for September enrollers). These forms will be sent to School
Administrators for checking so that the University can be assured that the correct students are
being asked to re-enrol. These forms should then be sent directly to the students for reenrolment. Students are able to re-enrol by post or using the University’s Personal Information
Portal pages (PIP).
4. Post Enrolment Processing
After enrolment has been completed, the School Administrator and Programme Leaders at the
college will check the course lists on the PIP pages to ensure that all students are fully enrolled
and that the University course lists match college course lists. Any discrepancies, should be
followed up by the School Administrator.
The Systems Team within the Academic Management Office will send out up-to-date course lists
to School Programme Administrators in October, February and May so that they can ensure that
all students are recorded correctly. It is the responsibility of the School Administrators to send
these lists on to the appropriate Programme Leaders at colleges. It is the responsibility of
Programme Leaders at colleges to check these lists and liaise with the School Administrators to
make any corrections. Specifically, it will be an opportunity to both highlight any students who do
not appear on the list and any students who have withdrawn from the course. In both of these
instances, it will be necessary for the partner to complete the appropriate University forms. This
process is also an opportunity to note and take action on any other errors within the student
data, with respect to a student's expected completion date, mode, and fee status.
At the end of October, the Partnerships Liaison Manager will send the appropriate course list(s)
to the HE Coordinator at the Partner institution (copied to the School Programme Administrator
as a FINAL CHECK in advance of the HESA census of December 1st. These course lists will
show course information as it stands on eCSIS. They will display the names of all students on
the appropriate partnership course and indicate whether they are enrolled or on temporary
withdrawal (funding is only received for enrolled students). Furthermore, these lists will show
students’ date of entry, expected completion date, mode and fee status (i.e. home or
international).
Partner institutions will be expected to flag any students on the May course list sent by AMO who
are classified as non-completions using the HEFCE definition. This will ensure that students can
be returned correctly to HESA and form the basis of future years predicted rates of noncompletion.
On December 1st, student data will be exported from eCSIS. This data, in addition to the
predicted drop out rate and post semester / term 1 intake will form the basis of the HESES
return. This information will then be submitted to HEFCE for the purpose of claiming funding.
Partners will also be required to indicate on the May student list whether each student is a
completion or non-completion according to the latest HEFCE definition, guidance on which will
be provided by the Academic Management Office.
5. Payment Arrangements
In January, the programme leader at each Partner institution will be sent a letter by the
Partnership Liaison Manager, copied to the named HE Coordinator and School Programme
Administrator, outlining the amount they should claim payment for in that academic year. This
amount will be based on the student numbers (agreed by virtue of the return made in point 4
above), and the predicted drop out rate(s) and post semester / term 1 intake(s), the appropriate
payment (per student). For further details of the financial arrangements, see below.
Once the Partner institution has received this letter, an invoice should be sent directly to the
Partnership Liaison Manager. Assuming there are no problems with the invoice, it will be
processed and paid within 30 days (the University's standard payment terms).
All of the financial agreements between the University and its Partners are based on the notion
of the University paying its Partner a proportion of the total income that it receives for the
programme - the total income being the student FTE claim submitted in the University's HESES
funding return multiplied by the standard HEFCE student resource (funding income plus tuition
fee) for that year. The student FTE claim is defined as the total weighted number of students on
the programme, plus the predicted weighted post semester / term 1 entry rate, minus a predicted
drop out rate.
The weighting of a student is calculated as follows:
Period of Study
2 Semesters / 3 Terms
2 Terms
1 Semester
1 Term
Part-time
.5
.33
.25
.16
Full-time
1
.67
.5
.33
Any amendments to the financial arrangement should initially be discussed with the Partnerships
Liaison Manager. The matter will then be discussed with the Director of Finance and Legal
Services at Oxford Brookes and the appropriate School.
Adam Lambert, Partnership Liaison Manager, Corporate Affairs
Julie Poulton, Deputy Academic Registrar (Academic Management)
Krys Daniels, Deputy Academic Registrar (Admissions)
Charlie Williams. Head of Student Finance
Last updated: August 2010