INTRODUCTION
The purpose of these standards is to ensure that the school has adequate resources, fair and equitable policies, procedures and services to support student admission, progression, personal and professional development. Learners for all qualifications specified above must be registered with Council and have paid-up annual registration fees.
MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR STUDENT ADMISSION CRITERIA, POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
| (a) | The school must apply specific criteria, policies and procedures for admission to its programmes. |
| (b) | These criteria, policies and procedures must be published in clearly stated terms and made available to students and prospective students. |
| (c) | Admission criteria must include information about the satisfactory completion of secondary education requirements, including subjects required for admission to its programmes. |
| (d) | In the selection of students to its programmes, the selection criteria must be clearly stated and made known to prospective candidates. |
MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR STUDENT AFFAIRS AND SERVICES
| (a) | A unit within the institution must deal specifically with student affairs. |
| (b) | The school must provide leadership in the development and provision of student services, including activities intended to develop professional attitudes and values and foster the professionalisation of students. |
| (c) | Student support services must be offered to provide and promote socialisation, mentoring, counselling, healthcare and responsible sexual conduct. |
| (d) | There must be close cooperation between the school and the organisation’s student services. |
MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR TRANSFER OF CREDITS
| (a) | The school must have available to students and prospective students a written policy and procedure for credit accumulation and transfer, which must comply with statutory requirements based on rational procedures and defensible assessments. |
| (b) | The school must apply policies and procedures for the evaluation of the equivalence of educational courses. |
MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR STUDENT INFORMATION
| (a) | The institution/school must have and must make available to students and prospective students complete and accurate descriptions of the programmes offered, including their current accreditation status. The following matters must be described: |
| (i) | the goals and objectives of the school |
| (ii) | the curricular plan, courses, and credit hours |
| (iii) | criteria, policies, and procedures related to admissions, progression, exclusion and access to student records |
| (iv) | the school’s assessment policy and standards |
| (v) | student conduct requirements, including ethics, conduct, and professional behaviour |
| (vi) | off-campus curricular requirements, such as WBL and practice experiences in other geographic locations |
| (vii) | graduation requirements |
| (viii) | tuition and fees, including refund policies |
| (ix) | financial aid guidance |
| (x) | statement of nondiscrimination |
| (xi) | current accreditation status of programmes and contact information for Council |
| (xii) | where applicable, recent pass rates of graduates in the preregistration examinations (to be provided by Council) |
| (xiii) | a description of policies regarding student life, such as provision for and responses to disabilities, harassment, violence and other threats |
| (xiv) | immunisation and other health or WBL site requirements |
| (xv) | professional indemnity insurance |
| (xvi) | registration with Council as a PT or pharmacy student. |
MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR STUDENT REPRESENTATION
| (a) | The school must show evidence that professional programme student representation exists on appropriate committees and policy-development bodies of the school. |
| (b) | Students must be given the opportunity to be heard during regular meetings within the school. |
MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR STUDENT PROGRESSION
| (a) | Requirements for promotion within and completion of programmes must be clearly described and readily available to students. |
| (b) | The maximum permitted duration of programmes must be clearly stated, including limits to the number of repeat modules and years of study. |
MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR STUDENT APPEALS AND COMPLAINTS PROCEDURES
| 6.1.1 | Appeals policy and procedure |
| (a) | Assessment systems must include clearly described appeal policies and processes whereby candidates can seek independent assessment in case of disagreement regarding the outcome of an assessment. |
| (b) | Appeals against assessment decisions on the demonstration of competence by candidates must be considered in terms of the appeals processes of the institution. |
| 6.1.2 | Complaints procedure |
| (a) | The school must make available to students procedures to be followed in the event of a written complaint, relating to the offering of the course, student rights to due process, and appeal mechanisms. |
| (b) | Students must receive information on how they can submit a complaint to Council for unresolved issues on a complaint. |
| (i) | The school must maintain a chronological record of written student complaints and allow inspection of the records during on-site evaluation visits by Council. |
| (ii) | The school or institution must inform Council at any time if any of the student complaints relating to the offering of the course have led to legal proceedings and the outcomes of such proceedings. |
MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR STUDENT FINANCIAL SUPPORT/FUNDING
| (a) | Full details of student support and the support application process must be readily available, in compliance with the institution’s policy on student support. |
| (b) | Application and award procedures for scholarships, bursaries and loans must be widely available, easy to follow and transparent. |
