Fees, Policies & The Code of Practice

After your application has been accepted, we will create an invoice specifically for you. The invoice will specify all of the costs for your stay, including tuition, accommodation, insurance etc., and contains everything you need to know about making the payment.

Policies

Wellington College has a fee protection policy for international students to meet the requirement of Outcome 8:  Managing Withdrawal and Closure of the July 2016 Code of Practice for the Pastoral Care of International Students.

The Board wishes to ensure that international student fees are handled according to normal accounting practices.

  • International student fees are secure from misappropriation and are only made available to the School in accordance with the School’s Refund Policy. The intent of this policy is to ensure systems are in place for students, and parents or legal guardians, to understand refund processes where a student withdraws from a course, does not attend the course, or the school removes a course or the school closes.

Aims

  1. To ensure that in the event that the school is unable to provide tuition the unspent proportion is returned to the payee. This may be the students’ parents’ dependent upon the source of the International Student Tuition Fee.
  2. To ensure that the funds received for international students are accounted for separately from other School accounts and in such a way that individual students contributions are protected and monitored.
  3. To ensure that international student’s payments may be drawn down in accordance with the school refund policy.

Guidelines

  1. Accounting procedures are in place to ensure that monies are available for release.
  2. International Student Tuition Fees are placed into a separated coded account for International Student Tuition Fees and drawn down monthly throughout the academic school year with the balance held in Funds in Custody.
  3. These monies will be available for approved refunds resulting from withdrawal from the School or in the event of the School not being able to provide tuition.

In addition all International Students must have comprehensive travel and health insurance. The travel and health insurance organised through the school includes section 2.3 Non-Recoverable Student Fess “If due to an Unexpected Event, you are unable to continue your studies in New Zealand, We will pay you for the value of your unused prepaid student fees.

Fees Refund Policy for International Students.

[This policy is based on Section 4B (7) of the Education Amendment Act (No.4) 1991]

Tuition Fees

  • There will be in principle, no refunds after the first two weeks a student is at the College, except under exceptional circumstances and at the discretion of the Headmaster and International Director.
  • If a student withdraws from the College before the completion of the year for which he has been enrolled, the student may apply in writing clearly stating the circumstances of his withdrawal and requesting consideration of a refund.
  • In arriving at the decision of the amount to be refunded to the student, the school will take into account:
  1. the costs already incurred by the College (including the Government levy and any agent’s fees)
  2. the salaries of staff already committed for the duration for the course
  3. the amount covering the use of facilities and resources to the date of withdrawal.
  4. Fees refunded exclude all non-fundable fees and 10 weeks tuition fee following withdrawal notification.

No refund will be made in the event a student is excluded from school by the parents or Board of Trustees for breach of contract. Homestay Fees* If the student moves out of his homestay before the end of the time that has been contracted for, the portion of the prepaid homestay fees not used will be refunded. The Homestay placement fee will not be refunded.* The refund must be applied for in writing to the Board of Trustees, giving two weeks’ notice, or paying two weeks’ accommodation fees in lieu of notice.* If a student does not take up his homestay for any reason there will be a full refund less half the Homestay placement fee.

The Code of Practice for the Pastoral Care of International Students 2021

Wellington College has an important responsibility to ensure international fee paying students are well informed, safe and properly cared for. The New Zealand government was the first in the world to develop legislation specifically for the care of international students.

Click here for your “Know the Code” guide.

Download the printable version of the Code of Practice including amendments 2021 (PDF, 736KB).

The full, legislative version is also available here on the New Zealand Legislation website.