Witholding Exam certificates

pinkshoes

angelatgraceland wrote: »

My original question remains-you have not answered it-is it legal to withold exam certificates which are not their property after all?

Yes, it's perfectly legal.

The exam certificates are their property until you complete your course, which includes returning all property.

It's also made very clear in the T&Cs you get when you start your course, so if you don't like the T&Cs, you are then free to choose to study elsewhere.

(although I'm quite sure all universities have the same policy...)

isplumm

pinkshoes wrote: »

Yes, it's perfectly legal.

The exam certificates are their property until you complete your course, which includes returning all property.

It's also made very clear in the T&Cs you get when you start your course, so if you don't like the T&Cs, you are then free to choose to study elsewhere.

(although I'm quite sure all universities have the same policy...)

Pinkshoes ...

I am not sure that it is legal - I believe that universities could be on dodgy ground withholding degrees etc for non-payment - I think it really depends on what it is for ... so for example if the student owned money for university accommodation & the uni hold back the degree - is that legal .... hmmm not sure ....

What about books - the student could say that they have returned the books, so don't want to pay - can the uni hold the degree over that - hmmm ... I am not sure .... is it going to be worth the legal hassle / cost to the uni ....

Of course if it is for fees - then that is a different matter ....

Mark

Rosie75

isplumm wrote: »

I am not sure that it is legal - I believe that universities could be on dodgy ground withholding degrees etc for non-payment - I think it really depends on what it is for ... so for example if the student owned money for university accommodation & the uni hold back the degree - is that legal .... hmmm not sure ....

What about books - the student could say that they have returned the books, so don't want to pay - can the uni hold the degree over that - hmmm ... I am not sure .... is it going to be worth the legal hassle / cost to the uni ....

Of course if it is for fees - then that is a different matter ....

Mark

It seems to be a very grey area. There was a case last year where a student challenged her university for withholding her degree on the basis of accommodation costs owed. It was to be heard at the High Court, but the university settled beforehand, and it's not clear which way a verdict would have gone.

MDE

Big difference between the OP and some of the responses that are bing made here. With a university, the student pays tuition fees, exam fees, accomodation costs etc. They also buy the vast majority of their books and very few books are loaned by the universities.

In a school, the school pays the exam fees, provides tuition free at the point of delivery (yes, I know it's taxpayer funded) and provides any and all essential equipment for the course, including textbooks.

The 2 are non comparable beasts!

real1314

I wonder if anyone can advise on my position?

I'm a headteacher of a school. A number of students have failed to return books and study material as they should have done, over 4 weeks ago. As a school we may now have to spend £ thousands £ to buy new material for next years students before these materials are returned.

I've spoken to a number of the students (and in some cases their parents have become involved) and they have said they will not return the materials / books until they receive their certificates.

Is there anyone I can complain to about their bullying attitude which just costs the taxpayer / future students due to having to re-purchase books etc that we have already purchased?


(I'm not really a headteacher:))

angelatgraceland

real1314 wrote: »

I wonder if anyone can advise on my position?

I'm a headteacher of a school. A number of students have failed to return books and study material as they should have done, over 4 weeks ago. As a school we may now have to spend £ thousands £ to buy new material for next years students before these materials are returned.

I've spoken to a number of the students (and in some cases their parents have become involved) and they have said they will not return the materials / books until they receive their certificates.

Is there anyone I can complain to about their bullying attitude which just costs the taxpayer / future students due to having to re-purchase books etc that we have already purchased?


(I'm not really a headteacher:))

Thankyou Foggster and MDE for constructive comments. As to the fake headteacher Id agree that court action is fair(as in my ORIGINAL post). Oh Ive nothing to "get over" it was just a question I thought people might like to debate. It's amazing how offtrack people get! As for anyone asking ME a question I remind them that it was ME who started the thread and asked a simple question-the lagality issue.
What I cannot agree with is witholding certificates. A threat of court action to recover the costs of books(along with expenses)I would deem to be fair. Nobody is waiting for any book to be returned-it is the end of term after all-most people realise this!

Shelldean

well DD school sent us a letter demanding the return of four text books, total cost over £50. I went mental at DD and said you'd better get these back to 6th form. And she replied she already had.
Told her to deal with it. She emailed the teachers and apprently the letter was sent to EVERYONE!!! They've not even collated the books yet, so everyone got a letter demanding payment just in case!!!!
DD has kept the email explaining this!!!

Rosie75

Why should a school have to threaten court action to get their books back? Every summer they would have to engage a solicitor or fill in reams of court papers and pay fees to claim back what is rightfully theirs. What a great use of staff time and taxpayers' money. Perhaps it's time parents were asked to pay for their children's books if this is now the prevailing attitude.