Optional Coverage for Overseas Campus-Based Students (OCBS)

CLA Higher Education Licence 2024-27

GUIDELINES

Summary

Included in the CLA HE Licence is an option for HEIs to cover any or all overseas campus-based students (‘OCBS’) they may have.

What are OCBS?

OCBS are separate from overseas Distance Learners (who study directly with a UK HEI – e.g. via online courses – and have no, or minimal, contact hours / face-to-face tuition). Instead, OCBS are students that are registered at your HEI, but - under a range of possible models - based at a campus overseas (either of an overseas branch of your HEI, or of a third-party organisation with whom your HEI is in partnership - for example, collaborative/franchised provisions, consortia and joint awards).

What does the optional OCBS element of the Licence provide?

• Access for declared OCBS to Paper and Digital Copies made in the UK, in connection with the course on which they are registered. In practice, this will generally mean extracts digitised in the UK and then made available via a Secure Network.

• Access to the same copies for any staff teaching those courses that have been declared to us.

Eligibility

Students for coverage must:

• Be enrolled/registered on a Course of Study that leads to a UK HE qualification (joint enrolment/registration is fine).

• Be registered/enrolled at your HEI, and, if your HEI is a member of Universities UK or GuildHE, reported to HESA under one of its following categories (although we do not use this data for invoicing, see ‘Fee’ section). 

− ‘Registered at reporting provider – studying overseas for UK HEP award at overseas campus of reporting provider’

- ‘Registered at reporting provider – studying overseas for UK HEP award other than at an overseas campus of reporting provider’

• Have access to your HEI’s Secure Network (for example, a password-protected VLE), with some or all of their learning material provided through this means (remember that if the Secure Network is managed overseas then, in accordance with the CLA HE Licence terms and conditions, it must also be accessible from the UK as and when appropriate, e.g. for any audit purposes).

How can I arrange coverage for OCBS?

Ahead of the commencement of any licence year (1 August), we will contact you with an Annual Data Request. As part of this, please complete and return to us the OCBS Declaration Form. The information required on the Declaration is as follows.

• The names of those courses for coverage.

• For each course listed:

− The number of OCBS FTES you would like coverage for, using data from the previous academic year. Each OCBS should be counted as a single FTES, unless an OCBS is taking more than one course, in which case please contact us. For upcoming courses (i.e. where student data is not yet available), please just indicate this next to the name of the course; 

− The location (by country) of the overseas campus in question;

- Where a third-party organisation is involved (for example, an overseas HEI with whom your HEI is in partnership), the name of that organisation. There is no requirement to declare the number of staff teaching your declared courses.

Fee

The fee for each OCBS FTES that you declare to us is £6.19 + VAT. Any OCBS on new courses of study (i.e. where the previous year’s data does not exist) will not be charged for, but should be added retrospectively to your Declaration the following year. The total OCBS fee for your HEI will be included as a separate line on your licence renewal invoice.

Secure Access

In line with the Licence terms and conditions, any access to digitised extracts for OCBS must be via a Secure Network. This also applies to any staff teaching those courses declared to us. In particular, with regard to partner organisations, remember that no other OCBS or staff may have access to such extracts.

Reporting of Digital Copies

Digital Copies made for OCBS should be reported in exactly the same way as for your main FTES, each June. If your HEI uses the Digital Content Store (or an analogous system) to report Digital Copies, this process will be automated. Please note, there is no requirement to identify which of those students Digital Copies are made available to are OCBS.

CLA Higher Education Licence Terms and Conditions

Don’t forget that all the other terms and conditions of the CLA HE Licence continue to apply.

Please note

CLA has no mandate to permit the making of further copies outside of the UK; such copying is subject to local laws (and possibly exceptions), and there may also be a need or option to secure permission directly with a rightsholder or via a local licensing/ collecting organisation.

Further Information and feedback

If you have any further questions, require more information, or would like to provide feedback, please contact us at support. [e-mail].