Studying at Kensington and Chelsea College
We are a publicly-funded institution of further education, on the DFES register of providers. We specialise in vocational (work-related) subjects. We offer courses leading to degree-level education, but do not offer degree courses. Most of our students are between 20 and 40 years old. To apply as an international student, you must be over 18 at the start of your studies, unless you are living in London with your family. We do not have our own college accommodation.
Choosing a course
We have a number of options full and part-time and you are welcome to join any of our courses in the day or the evening so long as there are places available, the course is at the right level for you and your English is good enough. If you need a student visa to come to the UK, you must show you intend to study for at least 15 hours per week in the daytime, each week for more than six months. Most of our more substantial courses start in September. If you apply for a student visa for more than six months, you will usually be given the right to work part-time, while you are in the UK. This is up to 20 hours a week during the term time and as long as you wish in the holidays.
Some of our courses are quite short; a day or evening a week for 10 weeks, or an intensive week or month block. You can study on these with a visitor’s visa if it covers the duration of the course, so long as ‘classroom activity’ is not specifically excluded, but will not be able to apply for a visa for study purposes unless you join a full-time course. You will probably have to return home to make the visa application, if you enter the UK as a visitor.
Check our main website http://www.kcc.ac.uk for the most up-to-date course information. You do not need an interview for courses with an envelope symbol. You can enrol on-line and pay by credit card in advance. Please note only payment of the fees guarantees a place on these courses. Non EU students will be charged the Overseas fee; £4,635 for one academic year - September to June, for a full-time course of fifteen hours a week.
Many of our students use our courses to gain entry to Higher Education (degree level study) in the UK. We have courses that can help you do this and we work closely with several universities including the University of Westminster, who will look favourably on successful students wishing to progress to degree level study.
Courses tailored specially for you
We have many part-time courses, covering a wide range of subjects. If you do not find a suitable ready made course, we may be able to put together a course to meet your needs. You should email our international office with your requirements, your current qualifications, your level of English, your career or study aims and the amount of time you would like to study each week; we will try to help by suggesting course combinations. Please note however, that if you are planning to apply for a student visa, and need a letter from us to help you, your course must be a coherent programme of study, must lead to a qualification, last for at least 15 hours each week for six or twelve months and must be studied in the daytime.
Applying and being accepted on a course
You can apply for a course on line, by downloading our application form from http://www.kcc.ac.uk If your course requires an interview, as most substantial courses do, you will need to come into the college in person so we can assess your work and check your level of English before we can offer you a place. In some cases we will be prepared to offer you a place without seeing you in person, our course leader will conduct an on-line or telephone interview with you to check your previous experience in the subject and make sure the course is at a suitable level. For most of our vocational courses, you will also need to show your English is at Intermediate level or above. All our full-time courses have an induction for students. If during the induction, we or you feel that the course is not at the correct level for you or that your English is not good enough, we reserve the right to move you to a more suitable course of study.
We also have English courses at all levels, so if you decide to come to Kensington and Chelsea College for the purpose of studying English, we can accept you whatever your level and will put you in the most suitable class after you have taken a short placement test.
We will do everything we can to help make your studies relevant and successful. However, if you decide not to study with us after being offered and taking up a place and paying your fees, or you do not attend college regularly, we are obliged to inform the Home Office and your rights to a student visa might be at risk.
When you have been accepted on a course you must pay your fees to confirm your place. If you need a letter confirming your place, to apply for a visa, we can provide this once your full fees have been paid.
We can accept payment by Visa or Mastercard, sterling travellers cheques, an international money order, a sterling cheque drawn on a British mainland bank, a bank transfer or in pounds sterling cash - if you pay in person at one of our centres. We regret we cannot accept cheques in currencies other than sterling.
If you have paid your fees and your visa has been refused, before you begin your studies with us, we will give you a refund, less £100 administration charge, so long as you can provide us with proof that you cannot gain entry to the UK. In all other cases our standard refund policy applies, please see our website for details.
Fees
If you are a visitor from outside the European Union (EU) and have not lived in the UK for the last three years, you will be asked to pay the overseas student fee. For a full-time (15 hours a week) course of study, for one year, this will be £4,635. This includes all the components of the course, tutorials, your exam fees and access to our general facilities like study centres, also some English support, where necessary, the advice of our guidance team and access to our college counselling service. Like all students, you will probably need to buy stationery, materials and perhaps some small tools as needed for your course. Your course lecturer will advise you about likely costs.
If you are an EU national and have been resident in any of the current European Union countries for the last three years, you will not need a special visa to study or work here and therefore may study any number of hours you choose. You will be charged a home fee unless you are eligible for a concessionary fee. Full details are in our publications and on our website. If you normally reside outside the EU and have been in the EU for the last three years, but your main purpose was to receive full-time education, you will still be charged an overseas fee.
Getting a student visa
Student visas are usually issued for 6 or 12 months. In order to get one you must be able to show that you have been accepted at a college on a course leading to a qualification and you must be studying in the day on a course of 15 hours a week or more at a single institution. You will not usually be granted the right to work on a six month visa.
Visa application rules have changed recently and it is not usually possible to change from a visitor's visa to a student visa, while you are in the UK. If you plan to study, but have not yet found a suitable course and are visiting the UK, you should apply for entry clearance as a prospective student.
Even though as a student you may be allowed to work in the UK, you will need to show, through a bank statement or other means, that you have enough money to support yourself for the intended study period. This needs to include paying fees, accommodation, travel and keeping yourself.
Rules on entry and student visas change regularly and differ from country to country. You must check the most recent rules for your situation, locally. The UKCOSA website is a good source of information www.ukcosa.org.uk Some twelve month student visas allow you to work for up to 20 hours a week during term time and as long as you wish in the holidays, for the duration of your course, most six month visas do not. You need a national insurance number to work in the UK and can apply for this when you have your visa and have arrived in the UK.
These details were correct January 2006. You should always verify information for yourself. Kensington and Chelsea College cannot take any responsibility for errors, omissions or changes to information given about ourselves or third parties.
