Under the Private Education Act, legislated in December 2009, a Council for Private Education was set up to regulate the private education industry in Singapore.

From 03 October 2016, the Council for Private Education became part of a new statutory board – SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG). Under the new structure, the SSG Board appointed the Committee for Private Education (CPE) to carry out its functions and powers relating to private education under the Private Education Act.

All Private Education Institutions (PEIs) are required to comply with the regulations under the Act in order to continue operations.

Following are the requirements which Singapore Institute of Management Pte Ltd (SIM PL) has put in place:

PEI-Student Contract

CPE, in aiming to enhance the confidence of students and their parents in the quality of education in Singapore, has stipulated that all PEIs must sign a PEI-Student Contract with students.

The contract sets out the terms and conditions governing the relationship between the student and PEI. SIM PL will honour all terms and conditions in the contract and in all communication materials. Students may request for a copy of the PEI-Student Contract from SIM PL or view it on the SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) website.

 

Cooling-Off Period

There will be a cooling-off period of 7 working days after signing the PEI-Student Contract.  Students have the right to cancel the contract within the 7 working days and be refunded the highest percentage (as indicated under the refund table in the student contract) of the fees already paid if the students submit written notice of withdrawal to SIM PL within the cooling off period  After the cooling-off period, SIM PL’s refund policy will apply.

Fee Protection Scheme

SIM PL adopts a mandatory Fee Protection Scheme (FPS) to protect the paid fees of both local and international students. The FPS serves to protect the student’s fees in the event that the PEI is unable to continue operations due to insolvency, and/or regulatory closure. In addition, the FPS protects the student if the PEI fails to pay penalties or return fees to the student arising from judgments made against it by the Singapore courts.

SIM PL has appointed Lonpac Insurance Bhd (Lonpac) as our FPS insurance provider. Under the FPS insurance scheme, students’ fees will be insured by Lonpac. In case of events as stated above, students will be able to claim their paid fees from Lonpac.

More details of the FPS can also be found in the FPS Instruction Manual, available at https://www.tpgateway.gov.sg/resources/information-for-private-education-institutions-(peis)

Withdrawal due to non-delivery of course

SIM PL shall refund the entire Course Fees and Miscellaneous Fees already paid by the Student if:

1. It does not commence the Course on the Course Commencement Date;
2. It terminates the Course before the Course Commencement Date;
3. It does not complete the Course by the Course Completion Date;
4. It terminates the Course before the Course Completion Date;
5. It has not ensured that the student meets the course entry or matriculation requirement as set by the awarding institution within any stipulated timeline set by CPE; or
6. The Student’s Pass application is rejected by Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA).

Refund for withdrawals due to non-delivery of course shall be made within 7 working days of the above notice should the student decide to withdraw.

 

Withdrawals due to other reasons (for qualification-based courses)

In the event that the students withdraw due to reasons other than those stated above, refund to students will be computed based on the table below.

1. The refund policy below would be effective for academic terms and admit terms FROM April 2022 for all programmes except the ones listed under s/n 2 and 3.
 

Percentage of aggregate amount of the course fees and where applicable, the miscellaneous fees paid	If student’s fully completed request for withdrawal is received:
95% refund	More than 60 days before the course commencement date
50% refund	60 days OR less before the course commencement date
No refund	On OR after the course commencement date

Students with academic terms and admit terms BEFORE April 2022, please refer to your student contract for the applicable refund policy.
 

2. The following refund policy is ONLY applicable for the programmes listed below:

• Graduate Diploma in Business Management (E-Learning)
• Graduate Diploma in Data Science (E-Learning)
• Graduate Certificate in Analytics (E-Learning)
• Graduate Certificate in Cybersecurity Management (E-Learning)
• Graduate Certificate in Digital Marketing (E-Learning)
• Graduate Certificate in Human Resource Management (E-Learning)
• Graduate Certificate in Information Technology Management (E-Learning)

Percentage of aggregate amount of the course fees and where applicable, the miscellaneous fees paid	If student’s fully completed request for withdrawal is received:
100% refund	Before the course commencement date
No refund	On OR after the course commencement date

 

3. The following refund policy, effective from 8 February 2024, is ONLY applicable for students who sign up from the October 2024 intake onwards for the University of Birmingham programmes listed below: 

• Master of Science International Business 

• Master of Science Financial Management  

• Master of Science Management 

  Percentage of aggregate amount of the course fees and where applicable, the miscellaneous fees paid	If student’s fully completed request for withdrawal is received:
  50% refund	More than 60 days before the course commencement date
  25% refund	60 days OR less before the course commencement date
  No refund	On OR after the course commencement date

Please refer to your student contract for the applicable refund policy.

Notes (Applicable for all refund policies above)

1. Application fee for courses is non-refundable and non-transferable.
2. Request for refund is to be executed by student, through the submission of an online refund request in SIMConnect, along with the supporting documents (where applicable).
3. Refunds (if any) will be processed not more than 7 working days from receipt of Student’s fully completed refund request.
4. For refund arising from a course-related request which requires approval from SIM PL and/or the University Partners  (where applicable), e.g. transfer of course or leave of absence application, the refund request will only be accepted and processed after the course-related request has been approved.

Effective 02 Jan 2018, students are to put up their request for course transfer, withdrawal and leave of absence via the relevant forms/platforms. For students who are below the age of 18, the supporting documents must include the parent’s/legal guardian’s written consent to the student’s request.
 

SIM PL will acknowledge the students’ requests in 3 working days and advise students on the final outcome within a reasonable time frame (not more than 4 weeks).

 

Course Transfer and Leave of Absence:

1. Approval for course transfer and leave of absence are granted on a case-by-case basis.
2. Students are subject to meeting each individual course’s admission requirements as well as the conditions for which a course transfer or leave of absence will be granted as part of the consideration. Such conditions will be made available in the Programme Handbook where applicable. In the case of external degree programmes, the conditions will be aligned with the conditions stipulated by the University Partners.
3. A transfer fee may be applicable for some programmes.
4. A fresh PEI-Student Contract will be executed between the Student and SIM PL when the a course transfer request has been approved or when the Student’s original student contract has expired at the point of student student returning from his/her leave of absence.
5. Students are deemed to have withdrawn from the original course when the application for course transfer is approved; the refund percentage as indicated in the refund table shall apply, if refund is applicable.
6. International students who wish to apply for leave of absence of more than 3 months duration, or transfer to another course offered by SIM PL will need to have their original Student Pass cancelled and submit a fresh application to Immigration and Checkpoints Authority of Singapore (ICA) for approval.

 

Withdrawal:

1. Transferring to another institution is deemed as a withdrawal from SIM PL. As such, for international students who transfer to another institution, their Student’s Pass will be cancelled and must be returned to ICA. Attendance record and other relevant documentation to facilitate the transfer will be provided upon request.

SIM PL is committed to maintaining the confidentiality of the student’s personal information and undertakes not to divulge any of the student’s personal information to any third party without the prior written consent of the student SUBJECT TO the obligation of SIM PL to disclose to any Singapore government authority any information relating to the student in compliance with the law and/or to the organisation conferring/awarding the qualification.