Where passion meets education
Policies & Procedures
(For Diploma courses only)
Admissions
Entry into the Course is based on successful fulfilment of the following:
- Completion of Pre-Course Counselling
- Verification of applicants’ suitability for the course
- All course admission requirements
- Attend a Pre-Course Counselling session to get advice on course selection and suitablilty
- Complete Student Application Form and submit required documents
If the applicant does not meet the entry requirements of the Diploma course, he/she can request for an appeal through an interview with the Head of Academic.
Applicant must have one or more of the following:
- Practical or Theory music qualifications from an accredited examination board,
- Relevant working experience to the course of study,
- Songwriting or Production or Performance portfolio of past works,
- Letter of Recommendation by current teacher or school.
Transfer
The definition of transfer is when a student changes the course or period of study (from full-time to part-time or vice versa) but remains as a student of the school.
A course transfer will be approved based on the following conditions:
- All outstanding fees must be settled prior to request,
- Student must fulfil admission requirements of the new course and adhere to admission procedures,
- For International Students, transferring courses requires approval from ICA for a new Student Pass. ICA will be notified through the application process for the new Student Pass,
For course transfers, the existing Student Contract will be terminated and a new contract will be signed.
- Student submits a Student Request Form, including the valid reason and any supporting documents,
- Upon receipt of the Student Request Form, Student Experience Team will meet with the student for consultation,
- After consultation, should the student decide to proceed, this request will be processed within 3 working days and student will be informed of the outcome in writing.
Withdrawal
The definition of withdrawal is when a student discontinues all courses with the School.
A course withdrawal will be approved based on the following conditions:
- All outstanding fees must be settled prior to request,
- For International Students, ICA will be informed through the cancellation of the Student Pass. Student Pass holder is required to submit his/ her Student Pass to the school for cancellation of the Student Pass with ICA.
For course withdrawals, the existing Student Contract will be terminated.
- Student submits a Student Request Form, including the valid reason and any supporting documents,
- Upon receipt of the Student Request Form, Student Experience Team will meet with the student for consultation,
- After consultation, should the student decide to proceed, this request will be processed within 3 working days and student will be informed of the outcome in writing.
For any eligible refund cases, the ‘Refund’ section of the Student Request Form should be completed as well.
Deferment
The definition of deferment is when a student delays or postpones the course end date. Deferment also refers to a student who wishes to delay a module outside of the standard schedule planned by the school.
A deferment will be approved based on the following conditions:
- Deferment request can only be made before the start of the module,
- Deferment request will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the management team and must be supported with valid reason and supporting evidence.
- For International Students, course deferment requires approval from ICA for a new Student Pass. ICA will be notified through the application process for the new Student Pass,
If the Student Contract is still valid, an addendum would be signed to reflect the affected course end date. An addendum will not be issued if the course start or end date is unaffected.
The maximum duration allowed to complete a course should not be more than twice the registered course duration. If the student is unable to complete the course within this maximum duration, their deferment application will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
- Student submits a Student Request Form, including the valid reason and any supporting documents,
- Upon receipt of the Student Request Form, Student Experience Team will meet with the student for consultation,
- After consultation, should the student decide to proceed, this request will be processed within 3 working days and student will be informed of the outcome in writing.
Refund
The School adopts the Refund Policy as per the standard Student Contract as set out by CPE. This policy will act as a framework in guiding the implementation of detailed refund processes and procedures in the following areas:
- Refund for Withdrawal Due to Non-Delivery of Course
- Refund for Withdrawal Due to Other Reasons
- Cooling off Period
SOMA will notify the Student within 3 working days upon knowledge of any of the following:
- It does not commence the Course on the Course Commencement Date,
- It terminates the Course before the Course Commencement Date,
- It does not complete the Course by the Course Completion Date,
- It terminates the Course before the Course Completion Date,
- It has not ensured that the Student meets the course entry requirements as stated in Schedule A of the Student Contract,
- The Student’s Pass application is rejected by Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA).
If the Student withdraws from the Course for any reason other than those stated above, SOMA will refund to the Student an amount based on the table in Schedule D of the Student Contract, within 7 working days of receiving the student’s written notice of withdrawal request,
Student will be refunded the highest percentage of the fees already paid if the Student submits a written notice of withdrawal within the cooling-off period, regardless of whether the Student has started the course or not.
- Student submits a Student Request Form, including the valid reason and any supporting documents,
- Upon receipt of the Student Request Form, Student Experience Team will meet with the student for consultation,
- After consultation, should the student decide to proceed, this request will be processed within 3 working days from the date of request and student will be informed of the outcome in writing,
- Any refund amount will be subjected to approval by the Management Team, after which Finance Team will issue the refund amount to the Students’ preferred option.
Dispute Resolution
SOMA handles all feedback/complaints with strict confidentiality, and will respond within 3 working days:
- All feedbacks/complaints must be resolved within 14 working days unless otherwise specified, and the student will be notified with the reasons for delay.
- In the event that the student and SOMA cannot come to an agreement, or the student does not accept the final decision made by the Management Team, the student will be referred to Singapore Mediation Centre (SMC) or Singapore Institute of Arbitrators (SIArb).
- Student submits a Student Request Form or Feedback Form for any feedback or complaint to the School,
- Upon receipt of the Student Request Form, the Student Experience Team will acknowlege the feedback/complaint received within 3 working days,
- Student Experience Team will review the feedback/complaint and discuss with relevant parties. A formal investigation will be carried out if necessary,
- Within 7 working days upon receipt of the feedback/complaint, Student Experience Team will meet with the student to propose a solution. Student will acknowledge whether he/she accepts the proposed solution.
- If the student is not satisfied with the proposed solution, he/she can escalate the matter up to the CEO (for non-academic issues) or the Head of Academic (for academic issues), who will further investigate and take necessary actions to come to a resolution. This will be done within 14 working days upon receipt of the feedback/complaint.
- If the student is still not satisfied with the outcome, he/she will be referred to SMC or SIArb.
- Student will be informed of the final outcome in writing and the entire process should not take more than 21 working days unless otherwise specified.
Late Payment
For fees that are not received by the payment due date, an administrative fee of $10 will be charged for every calendar day. This applies to all fees, including instalment payments.
